Thetford C-200 S/ CS LOO (1 Viewer)

Hammie

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Hi everybody I have this loo in my Motorhome. It flushes when on EHU but it doesn't when on 12v I have checked the fuse and Halfords tell me that the fuse is fine. Does anybody have any ideas what might be the problem or is this normal practice?
All best. Mary
 
Jul 30, 2015
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What m/home is it in??
Does everything else work that is on 12 volt when not on hookup??
as your van got a leisure battery fitted does it have a fuse near to the battery mine does??
If so is it OK.
Try this for now and let us know if you sort it.
Cliff
 

Popeye

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Your Loo if it has an electric Pumped Flush is 12 volt regardless of whether you are connected to 230 volts or not, so I fail to see how it fails when on 12v and not on 230v unless your 12volt battery is totally knackered, I believe that someone with far more knowledge than me will be able to help, try @pappajohn or @Techno

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alfandM

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Hi Hammie, as the Thetford is designed to run on 12v only,an only works when on electricity hook up, I would suggest you get the leisure battery checked out , it seems as if your charging unit is working the 12v system ok indicating a duff battery, good luck regards AlfandM.
 
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Hammie

Hammie

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The battery read out is coming up with the right numbers and everything else works fine. The man in Halfords was shocked that the fuse in the cassette cupboard was only 3amp (pink one?) could it be the wrong fuse?
It is an Arto (n&b) I think there may be another fuse system near the battery LS so will look in the morning. Thanks everybody for the help.
 
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Hammie

Hammie

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I bought some spare fuses today just to be a Girl Scout anyway.

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Minxy

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If it works on mains it isn't the fuse that's at fault as it wouldn't work at all. It appears to be, as others have said, your 12v system generally that is the problem. When you say it's coming up with the right numbers, what EXACTLY are the numbers?

12.7 is fully charges
12.0 is flat as a pancake!

Do all of your other 12v bits work off hook-up such as lights?
 
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Hammie

Hammie

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Just checked and one of the batteries is showing 14.1 the other 14.2? I couldn't find another loo fuse but will get the book out again now armed with the info given. Thanks

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TerryL

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Those battery readings suggest a charging rate, that is, the voltage that the charger is putting in and thus confirms the onboard charger is working okay. Next check would be to disconnect the 240v hookup, wait for half an hour for the batteries to "settle" then take the readings again. Along with the other suggestions, I would guess that you'll get much much lower readings, confirming that your batteries are more or less dead. Incidentally, how are you checking the batteries? Via the vans control board or by separate multimeter?
 
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Hammie

Hammie

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Sorry blonde moment forgot about it being plugged in. The readings are normally 12.5 when unplugged

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Hammie

Hammie

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I was looking at the vans display
 
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Hammie

Hammie

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I don't know how to check with multimeter do you put the probes onto the terminals. It is broken anyway need to go to Toolstation to get one
 
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Hammie

Hammie

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When the van isn't in use is the preferred option to keep it plugged in, or have I wrecked the batteries?

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pappajohn

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The battery read out is coming up with the right numbers and everything else works fine. The man in Halfords was shocked that the fuse in the cassette cupboard was only 3amp (pink one?) could it be the wrong fuse?
It is an Arto (n&b) I think there may be another fuse system near the battery LS so will look in the morning. Thanks everybody for the help.
The numbers you see are from the charger, not neccessarily the battery,
Try unplugging the hookup and see what the voltage is a hour later.
Do you still have a 12v an hour later ?
The fuse is correct at 3amps....please dont upgrade to a higher ampage or wiring damage could occur.

Halfords maybe understand vehicle electrics (he said jokingly) but they know sod all about motorhome habitation electrics.
 

JeanLuc

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In order for the toilet to flush, the pump has to run. The symptoms you describe suggest that the battery alone does not have sufficient power to run the pump. When on hookup, the charger is acting as a 12v supply, relieving the battery of its task. I would suspect that your habitation battery(ies) is not working properly.
The voltages you quoted above (14+ volts) suggest to me that you may have a solar panel? If so, that could be giving you a false sense of security regarding the state of the battery. The panel, if you have one, will be causing the system to show an apparently fully charged voltage when in fact all you are seeing is the output from the solar regulator.
 
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pappajohn

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When the van isn't in use is the preferred option to keep it plugged in, or have I wrecked the batteries?
Definately plugged in with the charger turned on....even a couple of hours a week will do.
Batteries have a self discharge.....left a few weeks and they can be discharged to a point they wont recover when charged.

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pappajohn

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I don't know how to check with multimeter do you put the probes onto the terminals. It is broken anyway need to go to Toolstation to get one
Yes, connect meter to the pos post first and a good earth......use the.battery neg post as a last resort.
The battery may have been gassing if its damaged and a spark could ignite the explosive gas...
Connecting to a distant earth means any spark is away from the battery.

In this instance, checking voltage, it doesnt matter which way round but usually red probe to positive + terminal
 
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just to add to your potential confusion, when you quoted 2 different battery readings was that cab and hab, or do you have 2 x hab batteries. If you do have 2 x hab batteries they will need to be disconnected from each other otherwise they will both read the average of them both. We once changed both of ours then found out only one had failed

if your batteries are 3 years old or more then changing them is not a bad idea anyway (y)

good luck :)
 
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Hammie

Hammie

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Thanks for all the info. Yes there is a solar panel on the roof and two batteries in the underfloor compartment, I assumed they were one of each but they are both about two feet behind the LHD drivers seat which seems a long way from the engine. Before I bought the van I hadn't needed to check oil and water in a vehicle for thirty years so I am pretty clueless but learning fast. There is also a box with what looks like a couple of circuit breakers in it and another box I need to take a closer look at to find out what it is. I have had a look at the fuse box yesterday but nothing about the loo. I rushed out and bought an RCD then found the book mentions the vehicle RCD so a bit more digging about in the underfloor compartments is needed. .Definitely need to visit Toolstation then for a multimeter. And a visit to Autolux batteries might be on the cards. I keep Bertha plugged in to the garage when she isn't travelling

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Hammie

Hammie

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Erm time to fess up. It wasn't the batteries but the nitwit operator!!!
 

pappajohn

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Go on then, what was the nitwit operator not doing....we're all itching to know.:LOL:

My guess....the main 12v switch was turned off.
 
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Hammie

Hammie

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Go on then, what was the nitwit operator not doing....we're all itching to know.:LOL:

My guess....the main 12v switch was turned off.

Erm yes. Newbie you see and it was my first trip out in the beast and didn't have time to do some head scratching as we were at a doo. Since then I have been plugged in.

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