Toilet Repair - Crappy Job Made Easier by Thetford

[Justaguy]

I was dreading this job - REALLY dreading this job. But there may be others out there that have a Style II and are hesitant to start.

It isn't hard at all and, truth be told, should have been done a while back. The Style II is made to be easily removed AND maintained. I have to say that the mechanical parts could be made out of brass or metal but the design cannot be better for maintenance. I ordered all the parts on Amazon and it cost about $75. Two screws to pull the toilet out- 3 minutes. Placed a doubled up rug on the tailgate of my truck and laid the unit down on its side. Watched the Youtube video on removing and installing the pedal. Removed/replaced gate ball arm after greasing with plumbers grease, greased spring and replace water valve and vacuum breaker, installed new waste ball and screwed in the waste ball arm,replaced pedal- paying attention to placement of spring into pedal = 45 minutes. (Because I wasn't paying attention to that danged spring placement.) I could do all that now in less than 10 minutes. Set the toilet up and removed two screws from behind- turned the bowl counter -clockwise and removed porcelain upper. Removed/replaced the gate ball seal after applying plumbers silicon grease. Replaced the upper and screwed the two screws back in. Pay attention and make sure you use the plastic washers first against the porcelain and do not over- tighten. Replace closet bowl seal and reinstall the toilet. BAM - all in about an hour and most of you could probably do it in less that thirty minutes once you know how. So the Style II is made to be easily serviced and maintained. Of course I drained the Blank tank first and I cleaned the toilet prior to removal. I used latex gloves but man, this was really easy. I am thinking maybe you should rebuild maybe every 225 nights if you use the commode like one does in the sticks and bricks. (OK..maybe I over did it with the plumbers grease but I don't like those parts sticking)So there ya go...if you have a Style II, get 'er done.

[topjimmy]

Most brands of 5er's use this POS toilet that people have complained about on many Brand forums for years,I went through 2 on Warranty on my 2012 Montana and my Buddy has his go out on his Grand Designs 5er as well,I finally gave up and bought a Dometic 310 and Problem solved and easy install when I bought my 2015 first thing I did is took the Thetford out and Threw it into the Dumpster and bought another Dometic this time a 320,I cannot believe Thetford does not recall this things or a least Redesign them,If the Mfg's would stop buying and putting these things in their Rv's Maybee they would wise up but they probably get them for real CHEAP

[Justaguy]

These plastic parts have only so many "cycles" in them before they fail. The trick, or so it seems to me, is to replace all the plastic parts once one of them fails. I may be wrong but I think the correct measure would be to say how many "days" or nights in the rig as to say when to do a total refurb ($70 or so dollars. Amazon) as opposed to measure the failure in time. Obviously, full timers would put those plastic parts through more "cycles" than a couple that use the rig 20 nights a year. Thus requiring service more often. The long-short is that stuff just wears out - some things faster than others. That Thetford Style II was easy to remove, replace parts and reinstall as part of a repair/maintenance program.

[tallpall888]

On my '06 Alfa See Ya Gold it wasn't foot pedal problems that caused me to work on it three times between buying it used in '08 til a couple years ago. It was the valve that is screwed in to the innards of the toilet, just in front of the water supply. For some reason it just starts leaking...and left long enough, it will start to fill up the bowl. I always first notice this when sitting on the toilet and feeling a very fine spray cooling off my sack.
The third time working on this I broke something, I forget what, but I needed to get a new toilet so got another style II.
Now two years later I am starting to feel that ole familiar spray.
Thinking about putting on a pressure regulator on the water supply to see if that helps.

[WeBeFulltimers]

When my Stye II ***** out again I am replacing with a Dometic 320.

[Justaguy]

I know....I was thinking about just replacing the whole thing. I talked to my wife and told her I was just going to buy a new one. She was ok with that but I needed to learn about that thing. I have been dreading it forever. I think the trick to it is to remove the toilet. In our rig we have quite a bit of room to remove it. Once removed, you have access to all parts. I just saw a video a lady posted about her replacing the gate ball ring. She did the same thing as I did...but I rebuilt all the parts since I had the thing apart. Putting the plumbers grease on makes things very smooth too.

[edatlanta]

Thanks for the post about the Style II. I full time since August 2010 and I'm on my 3rd Style II. The first two pooped (no pun intended) out the same way. The foot flush arm pivot hole wasn't round and the entire flush arm would wobble each time it flushed and eventually wouldn't control the flush valve properly. Thetford replaced the first one under warranty and Jayco replaced it the second time. Now I'm on my own and so far so good. The current one seems to be built better at the prior fail point so my fingers are crossed.

I have made the statement before, but I still feel this model isn't designed for full time use and just isn't up to the task. I do appreciate your comments on the repair, but I'm not sure I would do it. I'm thinking a brand new one for $200.00 would be a better deal for me. I know that flush pedal pivot isn't a durable design and I would hate to spend $75.00 and then still have a problem.

I agree that spring is a bear to work with. I guess I need to look at the video if I ever have to remove the arm.