Advice on toilet bowl not holding water pleas

[Sidders]

Hi, I put some water and pink chem into our toilet bowl (thank god I didn’t fill it) and it seems to have poured right through with a little puddle inside the van too. I removed the fascia where you pour stuff in but couldn’t really see anything. I can hear the pump working when I try to flush but there’s obviously nothing left in the tank. The van hasn’t been used much over the last year and wondering if something has become clogged. Any help/advice much appreciated, I’ve attached some pics.

 

[Landy Andy]

Just to confirm.

You put pink toilet chemicals into your toilet bowl when the cassette wasn’t in place? Is that correct?

If so it won’t stay there as the seal is on the top of the cassette, not on the bottom of the toilet bowl.

 

[Razamataz]

Pink stuff is Absolutely Nothing to worry about
Just be aware of the mess you will have after doing a
Sh1t

 

[Janine]

Mine does that too. Haven’t been able to cure it yet. It’s to do with the seal on the cassette.

 

[XxAnthxX]

As Landy Andy says the cassette must be in place. (sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised)

You could try lubricating the seal on the top of the cassette, Thetford do a silicone seal lubricant aerosol Spray, but you could try any silicone spray.

Failing that probably replacement of the cassette or the port opening assembly may be required.

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[Reallyretired]

Seals are replaceable about £8 the last time I did one. Just a screwdriver needed.

 

[AndyPK]

Seals are replaceable about £8 the last time I did one. Just a screwdriver needed.

....but empty the cassette first!

 

[Shrimp]

Think you need to do some cleaning!

 

[2657]

I recently had that problem, cured it by stripping and cleaning the seal mechanism.
Not a pleasant job, the seal itself was ok but a build of crystals on the sliding plate mechanism caused the leak, used an online video of how to replace the seal, not difficult if you do it correctly.
If stripping and cleaning is not possible then new mechanisms are available.
One tip, don't overtighten the screws, it is very easy to break the plastic boss that they screw into, managed to fix mine with plastic adhesive luckily.

 

[Janine]

My problem started when I bought a new cassette! Someone mentioned building up the height of the cassette by putting shims of plastic underneath.

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[Sidders]

Thanks muchly for your comments/advice guys, we were due to go away and was tearing my little hair out lol
Shrimp - yup, just recently acquired the van and the clean up mission goes on, very elderly couple had it so hadn’t been touched for a while. I had to take some brave tablets
Reallyretired & matamoros - I found the below video, but from what you guys are saying it sounds like I just need to clean/change the seal on the cassette before stripping anything down?

Thetford c200 toilet bowl removal?

Hi all , anyone know how to remove the bowl? I have a leak in the flush pipe somewhere under the bowl !!

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[Sidders]

Thinking about it, if it was just the seal then surely the water would only pass through when flushed would it not? This is actually passing through as soon as I pour anything into the bowl which makes me this one of the pipes must be gone too?

 

[2657]

Thinking about it, if it was just the seal then surely the water would only pass through when flushed would it not? This is actually passing through as soon as I pour anything into the bowl which makes me this one of the pipes must be gone too?

What do you call the bowl?
As I understand it you have a flush tank, does this drain without flushing? If it does then it will probably be from the connecting pipe.
If you are pouring water into the actual toilet bowl and it is leaking onto the top of the cassette then it is the seal leaking.

 

[nicholsong]

Why do you want water to stay in the bowl? It does not work like a domestic toilet, where the water 'seals' the 'U' bend to stop sewer smells.

Geoff

 

[kevenh]

If you’re filling up the flush reservoir and it’s leaking into the cassette area, is the little rubber bung loose or missing for the flush reservoir drain point?

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[2657]

Why do you want water to stay in the bowl? It does not work like a domestic toilet, where the water 'seals' the 'U' bend to stop sewer smells.

Geoff

If it does not seal then it leaks onto the top of the cassette when you are using it and believe me the results are not entirely pleasant

 

[kevenh]

If you’re filling up the flush reservoir and it’s leaking into the cassette area, is the little rubber bung loose or missing for the flush reservoir drain point?

Hard to tell 100% as it's not quite like our drain point or clear if the bung is fitted, but is the place marked dry & bung fitted securely?

 

[tonka]

If its a Thetford toilet, there are many videos on youtube including Thetfords own channel.
Will give you some pointers and they cover a lot of the simple re-furb / repair jobs on their toilets like changing seals etc...

ThetfordEurope

At Thetford we have a passion for camping and travelling, no matter whether this is by caravan or motor home, camping in tents or enjoying a leisurely holida...

www.youtube.com

 

[NicandJay]

By the look of the pic edited by kevenh looks like no bung.

 

[Abacist]

Why not buy a refresh kit which gives you a brand new cassette and a new toilet seat - ideal when buying a secondhand van. You can then refurbish the existing cassette with a new seal and give it a good clean. You then have two cassettes, one in use in the van and the other primed and ready for when the other is full and someone is desperate to use the toilet before anyone is dressed and ready to empty the full one! Just keep it in the garage primed ready and waiting with Elsan and some water! Also ideal if you wild and need to store a full cassette until you can find a proper dump to empty it!

I also echo all the comments about your leak from the bowl down into the area where the cassette goes. This is all down to the worn black rubber seal on the top of the cassette unit. I take it that the top plastic slide is not missing from the top of the cassette.

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[denisejoe]

 

[2657]

By the look of the pic edited by kevenh looks like no bung.

That's what I thought, looks like the bung is attached to the side and not fitted in the drain tube.
Ours doesn't have a flush tank so am not familiar with this type.

 

[Landy Andy]

The OP needs to explain what the problem is, to be able to help in reality.

Are they putting water into the toilet bowl, and it runs out, but then appears in the cassette locker
or
Are they putting water into the flush tank, and that is disappearing into the cassette locker.

 

[Minxy]

The OP needs to explain what the problem is, to be able to help in reality.

Are they putting water into the toilet bowl, and it runs out, but then appears in the cassette locker
or
Are they putting water into the flush tank, and that is disappearing into the cassette locker.

Hi, I put some water and pink chem into our toilet bowl (thank god I didn’t fill it) and it seems to have poured right through with a little puddle inside the van too. I removed the fascia where you pour stuff in but couldn’t really see anything. I can hear the pump working when I try to flush but there’s obviously nothing left in the tank. The van hasn’t been used much over the last year and wondering if something has become clogged. Any help/advice much appreciated, I’ve attached some pics.

The bowl, so the seal is the culprit.

 

[kevenh]

The bowl, so the seal is the culprit.

Oddly, it’s the flush fill hole in 2 of the 3 pics
We’ll know more when the OP returns.

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[Minxy]

Oddly, it’s the flush fill hole in 2 of the 3 pics
We’ll know more when the OP returns.

How would that be the case with the water in the bowl?????

 

[kevenh]

How would that be the case with the water in the bowl?????

I agree. It is odd. The words aren’t fully matching the pics.
More later from the OP

edit: if just the “bowl” word was switched to “flush reservoir” then all words & pic lineup

 

[2657]

How would that be the case with the water in the bowl?????

Perhaps because the newbie OP does not know what they are called.
Having looked at the pic that@kevenh posted in #17 and assuming that the tube shown is the drain from the flush tank I would put my money on the bung not being in place and thus the cause of the leak.

 

[Speve]

What is the second picture as it looks like where the screws go the mounts are broken and could be the problem as they will not tighten.
whatever it is it looks pretty grotty.

 

[Landy Andy]

The bowl, so the seal is the culprit.

No. It doesn’t make sense.