Deep cleaning the cassette (1 Viewer)

Jaws

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Sep 26, 2008
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I am always pretty fastidious about cleaning the cassette out thoroughly, and after every extended trip really go to town on it.. Or so I thought !
Took the top off it today and was shocked at the state of the inside. Opening the flap and looking down the hole I could always see a bit of something grungy ever since we bought the van, but taking the top off.. oh boy !!
All around where I could not see it has a nasty coating of something pretty darned hard.. and seemingly impossible to shift without resorting to scraping it.
For obvious reasons scraping is not an option.. As the cassette is stripped and has no seals in it at the moment I tried straight bleach..
A couple of hours soaking and hey presto !! No bloody difference at all ! :mad:

Anyone got any suggestions ( to get it clean !!!!! ) ????
 
May 8, 2016
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silver coast, portugal
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Caustic soda (sodium hydroxide), "spirits of salts" (hydrochloric acid), muriatic acid?

Check with plastic before use tyhough

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John & Joan

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Mar 30, 2010
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I soaked mine in Caustic Soda and it is fine. Had to do it a few time though to get rid of all the hard stuff. Some of it is lime scale so a cleaner like Harpic/Cilit Bang could also do the trick. I put caustic in the waste tank after 5 months in Spain and the just used the tank as normal for a few days until it was full. The next empty was thick with the deposit it had removed from the tank surface as it swilled about.
 
Jan 2, 2015
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Ours was the same when we bought the van and decided to go down the greener route and simply use fairy liquid diluted in the flushing reservoir. Didn't solve the grunge problem overnight but after a couple of weeks I noticed like black flaky paint coming out when we emptied the cassette. After about three months the inside was more or less clean.
Our new van draws water from the fresh water tank to flush so we now have a small bottle of dilute Fairy near the toilet and give the pan a squirt before flushing and again no chemicals.Never have a problem with smell but we do empty daily where possible.
 

DBK

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Jan 9, 2013
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A change of diet may also be worth considering. :)

You may also have discovered something new, Type 8 - very difficult to remove. It says Bristol on the chart but I think it applies in other parts of the country. :)

Bristol_Stool_Chart.png

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Last edited:
Feb 24, 2013
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I would compare this to cleaning the manhole outside my house, it ain't gong to happen, do you also strip down all the pipework from sink to grey tank and grey tank to valve

I have all on keeping the outside of the MH clean, then the inside, nowhere near enough time left for inside the toilet :)(y), well I guess I could find the time if I didn't use the MH :)

Of course I am not yet retired, that might be the big difference (y)
 

Mags52

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Jun 2, 2010
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We have two cassettes. Just tried to save the oldest one that was in the same state as the one you describe. We tried descaler, strong solution for 24 hours - some came off but loads of hard stuff left. Then we tried the special cassette cleaner - still no good. Then we bought a new cassette.

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Feb 27, 2011
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I have been on the same cassette fulltiming for 7 years now. That is daily use. I have never felt the need to replace the cassette.
I do an annual deep clean and quarterly partial cleans. The annual deep clean is a full strip down. The partial cleans are full rinse out and soaks etc.
 

kevinktwo

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Oct 16, 2016
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pedantic science geek warning - Caustic Soda =Sodium Hydroxide is an alkali, not an acid, still can burn your hands and cause impaired vision and you would use a visor in industry. Good to get that off my chest! :)

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MillieMoocher

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Jul 18, 2015
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Wonder if the Coke trick will work? Seems to get rid of most similar issues?
 
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Jaws

Jaws

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Update..
Given all the advice so far I have tried:
Bleach
Limescale remover
Some stuff we got in Spain that will take your finger prints off if you aint careful ( Amonia based by the smell of it )
Drain unblocker

All worked a little bit
So now I have put half a bottle of each product in the bloody thing and mixed it all up !!!
There is a definite movement toward the clean end of the spectrum :)
I am gonna leave it all in there with regular swishing around and see what happens !
 
May 8, 2016
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Careful, mixing a number of chemicals can cause serious gas problems (e.g. bleach and alcohol, bleach and ammonia, bleach and hydrogen peroxide).

Just use that pressure washer on it, that'll redistribute it, at least :)
 
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Jaws

Jaws

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Careful, mixing a number of chemicals can cause serious gas problems (e.g. bleach and alcohol, bleach and ammonia, bleach and hydrogen peroxide).
Agreed.. but as it is sitting in the middle of the garden ( and has been for the past 20 minutes ) without any reaction I think its fairly safe..
In fact apart from a minor frothing it seems to be virtually inert !
 
May 8, 2016
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As long as the canary in the cage keeps singing, you should be fine then

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Jan 8, 2013
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Dronfield - Derbyshire
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Update..
Given all the advice so far I have tried:
Bleach
Limescale remover
Some stuff we got in Spain that will take your finger prints off if you aint careful ( Amonia based by the smell of it )
Drain unblocker

All worked a little bit
So now I have put half a bottle of each product in the bloody thing and mixed it all up !!!
There is a definite movement toward the clean end of the spectrum :)
I am gonna leave it all in there with regular swishing around and see what happens !


Here's one idea

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Thetford-...195024?hash=item5b0400f310:g:ZL0AAOxyEoFSUmSU

With the price of all those chemicals you must be getting near to break even:blush:
 

Minxy

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Wonder if the Coke trick will work? Seems to get rid of most similar issues?
That's exactly what I was thinking ... can't do any harm and cheapest too ... only 17p from Lidl!
 
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Jaws

Jaws

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Oct 13, 2016
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we visit Germany quite regularly and the friend there recommended me to use an Aldi product W5 toilet tabs, just drop one in the pan. So I don't like dirty cassette's either (which our's was when we brought our Hymer) so I put a few of those tabs in the cassette and left it for a few days, shaking it occasionally, after a few day's a thorough rinse out, and it was like brand new, all the limescale has now gone. This was done during the winter layup, but I shall be carrying this job out probably every quarter from now on.
 
Aug 18, 2014
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Update..
Given all the advice so far I have tried:

Some stuff we got in Spain that will take your finger prints off if you aint careful ( Amonia based by the smell of it )
!
That is just 'amoniaco' which is used for cleaning tiled floors. The fact that you have to vacate the premises for 2 hours after using means it doesn't get used a lot by us. :D
What you should have bought was 'Agua fuerte' , sold in Mercadona, & probably others, in 5 litre containers & which is dilute hydrochloric acid. Same strength as 'brick cleaner here but 1/3rd of the price.
Mines got a marine toilet, Thetford . Before dismantling that I used it & before I was using the bio tablets along with softner which shifted large amounts in both toilet & grey tanks.
 
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Jaws

Jaws

LIFE MEMBER
Sep 26, 2008
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Thetford Norfolk
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since 2006 ( I think ! )
we visit Germany quite regularly and the friend there recommended me to use an Aldi product W5 toilet tabs, just drop one in the pan. So I don't like dirty cassette's either (which our's was when we brought our Hymer) so I put a few of those tabs in the cassette and left it for a few days, shaking it occasionally, after a few day's a thorough rinse out, and it was like brand new, all the limescale has now gone. This was done during the winter layup, but I shall be carrying this job out probably every quarter from now on.
Now only available in Germany by the looks of it.. Last time Aldi had any in the UK was 2013 !

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Jaws

Jaws

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Sep 26, 2008
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Weird !! I will double check my local one if the present toxic mix fails..
 

golly

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When we got our first camper, the cassette had a load of calcification inside, i used thetford cassette cleaner, left it in overnight and it had loosened all of the plaque.

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