On three occasions in the past year, I have experienced extremely limited water flow in my Thetford Aqua Magic IV toilet. The problem is small particles of what looks like ground, white plastic that come through the water supply line and jam in the metering hole in the flush valve. The fix is simple; remove the toilet; take out the particle; replace the toilet. My plan for the ultimate fix is to put a particulate filter just upstream from the toilet intake. My question is this: I use a particulate filter at the city water intake, so where are these particles coming from? I have had no trouble with particulate matter collecting in the faucet strainers in the kitchen or bathroom sinks. Thanks for your input.

Very tough to diagnose where they are coming from without knowing what they are. So how about I give you a SWAG. Calcium that is dissolved in the water that is coagulating and settling out of the water and plugging the screen.

Are you sure it's plastic particles? Could it be minerals/sediment from water? We used to not run a filter in our camper. Then we got some water that created all sorts of issues. All the faucet screens were almost clogged, and the toilet valve stopped working. I took it off, cleaned it out the best I could and it clogged again. I finally just drained everything, rinsed the water tank, drained and then started running fresh water through all the lines, especially the toilet line and tried to get the chunks out. I ended up replacing the toilet valve, started using the hole house filter and didn't have any more problems after that.

I don't know how your's is set up, but in my camper, that particle filter is right before the water pump, which pumps water from the fresh water tank. When using city water, there is no particle filter. The line bypasses the on-board water pump, a check valve prevents the water from back-feeding into the fresh water tank, so with the city water connected, nothing ever passes this screened filter. Are you sure you have the screened filter at the fresh water city intake, and not just the water pump for the fresh water tank?

A city water inlet has a screen filter with a mesh screen size of #50. 1st pic shows a typical screen filter on a city water inlet. The Shurflo inline filter also has a #50 mesh screen size. #50 mesh is equivalent to 297 microns as shown in this info.: mesh screen size to microns297 microns for filtration is very coarse and won't help a whole lot. You want something more like an absolute min. of a 100 micron rated filter. 50 microns would be better, and 5 microns would be the best option. If buying an inline sediment filter, look at the specs very closely as they can vary from 5 to 100 microns and some filters have no specs.A better option is a "whole house" housing with a replaceable filter element. Can be mounted on a stand outside or permanently installed inside. RVwaterfilterstore.com has a good selection of such filter cartridges here.If you do go with a filter cartridge, also look for flow rating specs. Some have low flow rates and the flow rates are rated for when new. As they plug up during use, they slow down a lot. A bigger cartridge generally will last longer too. Some specs will list the lifespan in terms of total gallons of use.Even a 5 micron filter will not be enough in some cases, depending on the water quality you are using. We're on a well at home with a 50/5 micron filter and sediment/particles smaller than 5 microns can get through and cause problems (and have occasionally).A problem you can run into is if you sometimes use city water and sometimes the fresh water tank, you can't put a filter in a location that will filter both sources. That Shurflo filter may not do much for your issue and would look at doing something better. I would also do a good flushing of the holding tank, but sometimes a lot of water still remains in the tank. You may need to elevate one side of your camper.A filter cartridge of some description is always a good idea rather than relying on just a coarse screen. 2nd pic shows a biological mass that showed up on our city water filter screen after an early season camping trip. After that, I installed a 3-stage filtration setup inside that is good down to 0.2 microns.

I have always run a .5 micron charcoal filter to eliminate any **** from getting in to the water tank or the pipes when on city water. On our Class A I ran a 1.0m sediment filter followed by a .5 charcoal filter. We have down sized to a 15' hybrid and it runs on a .5m charcoal filter. Not a drop of water should enter any RV that is not filtered. There are water systems through out this country that have garbage water at best. Filter and forget.Randy

Plugged toilet metering hole | Good Sam Community

16 Replies

tarnold
Explorer
Feb 10, 2016
Happened to me at the bathroom sink, I also always use an external filter. Reading this now, am wondering where all the dissolved bits and pieces of the anode rod end up? This would occur past all the filtering. Is your toilet at the end of the water run? Several times a year I flush the hot water heater an all kinds of crud comes out, though maybe not all of it.
dougrainer
Nomad
Feb 10, 2016
Chris Bryant wrote:
A caveat- the filter you have pictured is for the suction side of a pump- it is not rated for pressure.

That filter connects to the input side of the water pump. IF you do NOT have one installed now, INSTALL one and that will prevent any future plastic problems from the Fresh tank. Doug
jodeb720
Explorer
Feb 10, 2016
Having been to this movie myself, I had the same problem on my thetford toilet - and like others, I disassembled the fill valve, remove the particulate and then reassembled the valve and haven't had a problem since.

If the problem was throughout the system, it would have plugged my two sinks and my shower; However, that's not the case. Only the toilet was affected.

I chalked it up to something in the manufacturing process that wasn't flushed during the assembly process.
3oaks
Explorer
Feb 09, 2016
How can someone say definitely what the substance is without ever seeing it is beyond me. :@

I think the OP would know best.

Hard mineral deposits will also clog all your freshwater faucets. Which happens to be the most prevalent cause of restricted flow at the faucets other than an internal mechanical flow restrictor on the end of the faucet. :R
dougrainer
Nomad
Feb 09, 2016
If it was plastic from the fresh tank, ALL your Faucets and the Toilet would be plugged up. I see this all the time and it is hard mineral deposits. It looks like plastic, but is really minerals. If you want to use some type filter, I would use the standard Canister Filter a lot of RV's use and install at the outlet section to the Water Pump. That way, ALL water is filtered. Doug

https://www.freshwatersystems.com/p-6025-culligan-rvf-10-rv-water-filter-system.aspx?utm_source=Googlebase&utm_medium=Feed&utm_campaign=Product&utm_term=RVF-10&gdftrk=gdfV213098_a_7c3846_a_7c14580_a_7c6025_11076_0&gclid=CJ76xcX56soCFQgcaQodiRQGeQ
3oaks
Explorer
Feb 09, 2016
Yep, as someone already eluded to, I also think the small particles of what looks like ground, white plastic is saw dust from when the manufacturer cut holes in the fresh water tank for the plumbing.
punomatic
Explorer
Feb 09, 2016
Thanks, Chris. I didn't notice that. I'll continue looking.
Chris_Bryant
Explorer II
Feb 09, 2016
A caveat- the filter you have pictured is for the suction side of a pump- it is not rated for pressure.
Canadian_Rainbi
Explorer
Feb 09, 2016
wing_zealot wrote:
Very tough to diagnose where they are coming from without knowing what they are. So how about I give you a SWAG. Calcium that is dissolved in the water that is coagulating and settling out of the water and plugging the screen.

If it's calcium it will dissolve in vinegar. Simple test.
punomatic
Explorer
Feb 09, 2016
Thanks for all the thoughtful and helpful replies. I am using a 5 micron charcoal filter as well as a 50 mesh screen at the city water inlet.

Almot, I think you have the answer to my question. I once had a sailboat with a diesel auxiliary engine. Going up the coast of Washington, the engine began to slow down, then it would speed up again and cycled like that throughout the night. When I got to my destination, I opened the inspection plate on the diesel tank and pulled out handfuls of sawdust and plastic shavings.

Not sure why manufacturers don't do better quality control. These things don't do sales any good.