I replaced all the seals in my Thetford toilet about 4 years....it cost about $60...rediculous. Last fall the blade seal started slowly leaking again. I tried cleaning it, scrubbing the groves with a brush, etc without success. I figured they should last a little longer. I decided to order an entirely new mechanism service package(another $60 from amazon).....4-6 weeks delivery time. When I was dewinterizing and cleaning I decided to throw a littlte CLR in the bowl and it has since stopped leaking. There must have been some sort of mineral buildup on the blade that the CLR has removed. I'm not sure if anyone else has tried this but it might be worth a shot before replcing you seals.Moved to Tech Issues forum from DIY.

CLR is some great stuff, we have such hard water here you can drink it with a fork, so we use CLR in dang near everything in our stick and brick, sinks, dishwasher, toilet, tub, you name it. :)

Rub some vegetable oil on rubber seal once a year, keeps it from drying out

YEP....when cleaning seal gotta scrub blade/ball valve.CLR works well. Just be sure to not let CLR sit too long and rinse seal then lube it with veg. oil/olive oil/plumbers grease....not vasoline/petroleum.When I winterize I poor some oil in bowl for the winter.

$60 for the seal kit? I got TWO kits for mine for under $30 by shopping on-line.

Won't oil cause the seal to deform?

Leaking toilet blade seal fix | Good Sam Community

Gjac
Explorer III
May 21, 2014
psa0298 wrote:
I replaced all the seals in my Thetford toilet about 4 years....it cost about $60...rediculous. Last fall the blade seal started slowly leaking again. I tried cleaning it, scrubbing the groves with a brush, etc without success. I figured they should last a little longer. I decided to order an entirely new mechanism service package(another $60 from amazon).....4-6 weeks delivery time. When I was dewinterizing and cleaning I decided to throw a littlte CLR in the bowl and it has since stopped leaking. There must have been some sort of mineral buildup on the blade that the CLR has removed. I'm not sure if anyone else has tried this but it might be worth a shot before replcing you seals.
Moved to Tech Issues forum from DIY.
I tried all kinds of things to stop the leak. Olive oil, silicone spray, made a tool to clean out groove where blade goes, kept it working for 16 years. When this no longer worked I finally decided to replace the seals and removed the toilet and took it apart. What I found was a hard mineral build up that I had to carefully scrap off. The bottom part of the blade was in-crusted with mineral build up that was preventing the seal. I decided to lubricate and re install old seals and parts. It has not leaked since doing this. So yes I agree with you conclusion and would try the CRL first, if it does not work removing and cleaning the seals and parts was no a difficult job.
steveh27
Explorer
May 21, 2014
Well the hot water tip has not worked for me today. I've tried it 3 times. Also, my blade has no buildup of minerals, etc, on top or bottom. Thetford said that once the blade has pulled back the seal edge it must be replaced. I am not looking forward to this removal due to the custom (poor) installation in my B. Have to drive up on blocks so I can crawl underneath & unbolt the unit. It really is a 2 person job as a wrench needs to be on the head of the bolt inside to prevent it turning while I'm underneath. I have jury rigged the wrench inside the last 2 times. Hope it works again. Sad.
ralphnjoann
Explorer
May 21, 2014
What's CRL?
partsman01
Explorer
May 21, 2014
ralphnjoann wrote:
What's CRL?

it is clr.
ralphnjoann
Explorer
May 21, 2014
partsman01 wrote:
ralphnjoann wrote:
What's CRL?

it is clr.

Ah-so. Thank you.
Thunder_Mountai
Explorer II
May 21, 2014
Just a stupid suggestion here. I had a bad blade seal in the Thetford in our MH after 6 years of use. I did ALL the things suggested here to no avail. I replaced the seal. No problems. Then I'm not holding water in the bowl. I pull the stool to check it out. I find that the four bolts that hold the bowl to the base were loose. I had not tightened them down enough fearing I would break the bowl. Tightened everything down, and I'm holding water.
kaz442
Explorer
May 22, 2014
Dave H M wrote:
kaz, do you mean that you sprayed the silicone in there until it puddled in the bottom of the toilet? Right now i am using plumbers grease (silicone grease) on mine.

Yes, sprayeg till I had a 1/4" and let IG sit. I just checked it today getting river ready for holiday weekend. Been holding water two weeks.

JKaz
ernie1
Explorer
May 22, 2014
CLR stands for calcium,lime and rust.
Dave_H_M
Explorer II
May 22, 2014
On my dometic/sea land the seal can be replaced simply by holding the valve open and reaching in and taking the seal off by hand. It is kind of a nut roll to get the new one mounted back in but is is doable. Kaz - thanks for the reply, I am gonna shoot some in there today.
steveh27
Explorer
May 22, 2014
The new blade seal is installed. It didn't take 2 days, only 5 hours of back breaking work, half of it under the MH. I did such a good job 4 years ago & replaced the through floor bolts with stainless steel, that it went faster than expected. Now I have to remember to keep it lubricated. I took some pics, but probably no one is interested due to the custom (& bad IMO) install on my class B.

Forum Discussion

Leaking toilet blade seal fix

About Technical Issues

Related Content

Toilet blade replacement

toilet seal leaking

Toilet Leaks

Toilet leaking?

Help toilet hose leak