Dometic saneo BW toilet waste tank
Our new Coachman VIP has the new dometic toilet fitted, Has anyone else struggled to remove the waste tank from the housing either empty or full?
And has anyone else had a problem with the waste tank breaking where the wheels are fixed to the waste tank?
The tank is made from brittle plastic and ours burst the very first time I was emptying it once the weight was put on to the wheels.
No where near as robust as the Thetford waste tanks.
thanks in advance
Paul
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Thanks Harryb, yes blade fully home. I was told at pdi I had to press down on the top of the tank so as not to snap something! A strange thing to be asked to do!
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Thanks Molly’s mum, I really wish the new vip had the type of toilet you’re describing! Unfortunately it hasn’t and is I find not as good in terms of robustness and removing from the van.
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Absolutely!!!
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I completely agree that the plastic is brittle and weak. I have a 2018 Coachman VIP with this toilet and have smashed the tank after emptying and then refilling with a couple of litres of water. I picked it up with the wrong handle (very easy to do as it’s the one on the top when the tank is on its end) and as I closed my hand the handle released and the tank fell approx 1 foot. The seam around the tank broke and the fracture broke into the top part of the tank.
I agree that the Thetford equivalent product is much more robust.
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Thanks for that viatorem - I think it's Coachman that has taken the backward step by moving away from dometic, They did replace mine under warranty (well dometic did ) but I dread having to empty it as I don't trust it at all, very brittle and weak by design....there is a 'pun' but I'd better not use it!
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Thetford toilets aren't immune from problems. In September I managed to sheer off the blade mechanism and had to order a completely new tank whilst away. I have been using this sort of toilet for over 20 years without incident and I am still not sure what caused it but I imagine something wasn't close enough. I am ever so gentle now when I sort the toilet out!!!
David
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When I was working for a caravan dealer the Dometic toilet was introduced to Lunar.The whole design caused problems from day one!The filler for the flush tank was awkward to use,the toilet had to be removed to replace the flush pump,customers complained about "wee" sitting in the housing and we had to replace several holding tanks!Perhaps they should stick to making fridges (their fridges were less of a problem than Thetford!!!)
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Agree totally with all the above. Bought a VIP Coachman In 2018 and from the comments re the Dometic toilet l now know why the dealer asked if we’d had any problems with it. Since he asked, we have! The toilet is nowhere near as good or as well built as the Thetford one we’d been used to. The pull out flap is dangerous especially when the toilet is used by my youngest grandchildren, both girls, who have to be reminded not to use it as a step or to catch it when standing up. My wife also has to be careful. We also had an overspill into the cassette housing and yes we realised after it that the flap had not fully opened. It’s awkward to remove the cassette and my wife is frightened it’s going to break when emptying it (yes it’s one job she’s always done). Also it’s extremely hard to open the cassette flap to check it has been fully emptied of paper etc. Solution: Coachman to remove all of them and replace with the Thetford one with it’s stronger cassette and swivel opening lever that does not stick out and a flap that’s easy to open.
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Our new Knaus Starclass had the Dometic toilet fitted - and in a word, it was useless! In the first five months of use - it leaked from the blade, despite there being plenty of silicone grease on it. The blade was stiff to operate and had to be sprayed with silicone two or three times a week. Then the handle locked in the open position- caused by a flimsy and unnecessarily complicated design. It didn’t flush very well and finally the flush mechanism packed up altogether - of course, whilst we were on a CL with no toilet facilities! Add to that the tiny wheels which are useless on anything other than hard tarmac - and as stated already, the badly designed filler cap and difficulty in getting it in/out of the cassette compartment.
Given that our dealer admitted that they had had no end of problems with Dometic toilets, I got them to take it out and fit a Thetford (at my expense). The new one went in with no problems other than the flush water comes from the inboard tank - which actually has turned out to be a bonus.
I think I would go as far to say that I would never buy a caravan with the Dometic toilet fitted.
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Anyone know how to get a “cheap” new cassette for the Dometic Saneo as mine dropped as I picked up the wrong handle!
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I did exactly the same last weekend with our one from out of our 2019 Coachman Laser. Now looking for a replacement! The Dometic is not a patch on our Thetford one from our old 1996 Elddis which was as good as new when we sold it last year!
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If I were you, I would ask your dealer about replacing it with a Thetford and solve your problems once and for all. It was quite an easy conversion for our dealer to do and since it was replaced we haven't had a single problem (touch wood!). One other thing that I didn't mention in my post in August of last year was - has anyone worked out a way of pressing the air release valve whilst emptying without having to have three hands! Notwithstanding the flimsy materials, the whole design has been badly thought out by someone who has clearly never used it in anger.
There are, however a few 'downsides'. Firstly, the cost - about £650 because, clearly, it can't be done under warranty. In my case, having spent a shed load of money on a top-of-the-range Knaus caravan, it was the one thing that was spoiling an otherwise near-perfect van, and I felt it was worth it.
Secondly, the aperture for the cassette needs a 'surround' because the Thetford cassette housing is obviously slightly smaller than the Dometic. That said, our has been done and looks very professional and no one but me would give it a second glance.
Thirdly, it's not possible to fit a Thetford with a header tank because the filling apertures don't line up - so ours has a dummy header tank and inside looks just like the Dometic but the flush water has to be drawn from an alternative source - in our case, the internal domestic water tank, but supply from the Aquaroll can also be employed. The external filler aperture remains but is redundant.
I'm quite happy to put photos on here of our installation, if you're interested.
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Hi Everyone who responded
i hadn’t looked the chat for a few months and can see this is a common problem with this very poorly designed toilet.
Now we’re getting the van out for use the toilet remains a worry for us, since my last post we’ve had to replace the control on the electronic flush which was a major job for the dealer.
Can anyone help me with the model details of the thetford toilet they used to replace the dometic please and the cost of the change and any pitfalls? Does thetford still make the manual flush type rather than electronic?
I’m that fed up with this problem it’s spoiling our enjoyment of the van and feel this is the only solution. I will send an invoice to coachman once it’s changed
Paul
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Paul - if you read my post above, I mention what it cost me and the only real downside - having to have a surround fabricated to cover the 'gap' caused by the cassette housing being slightly smaller in the Thetford, plus you need to devise a way for the flush water to be obtained because the filler apertures don't line up. In our case, it comes from the inboard tank which I was a bit dubious about to start with but has turned out to be a good system and very convenient not having to think about topping the flush tank up. I will take some photos to show you the finished conversion and also post details of the model numbers etc.
You have my sympathy - that useless Dometic was spoiling what was an otherwise almost perfect van and changing it, although expensive, was a decision I don't regret at all.
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Thanks for getting back.Appreciate your feedback.
Community manager comment: Email removed, please feel free to email the Club communitymanager@camc.com images and I can forward on.
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Paul, you have just published your email address for the world to see. You may wish to edit it out or just put it in your profile which only members of CT can see.
R&R can always post the photos on here👍🏻
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Paul, I have published the photos on here in case anyone else is interested, but I will also forward larger versions to your email address. I think the Thetford model number is C263 - CS - it's the one without an integral flush tank, although as you can see from the pic, it has a dummy one, so looks almost identical to the Dometic in that respect. The base of the Dometic is a slightly different shape as compared to the Thetford, so the fitted carpet has a very slight gap - but again, no one would notice unless it was pointed out.
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I’ll post with photos once I’ve changed this and let you all know coachman response when I send the bill to them.
Appreciate the help.
Tinwheeler - I’ve tried to edit but failed! Duh 🙄
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You can only edit for a few minutes after posting.
Your best bet is to email Rowena, the Community Manager, and ask her to remove the email address. A mod could also edit it out if they chance to read these posts.
PS. I've reported your earlier post in the hope that may attract attention and result in an edit.
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Well everyone on this post, today (24 September) we’ve collected our van from ALV Tebay, who this week have changed our dometic toilet for a thetford, absolutely delighted with this now, the difference in quality and robustness is remarkable, we now have a caravan that we can enjoy and not worry about having to use and empty the toilet. Not a lot to ask from life
Next step is dialogue with Coachman! As to why this was necessary and why they haven’t recalled the vans on a quality issue.
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Just reading this post and replies with interest. The seal has gone on our Dometic loo and there is apparently no replacement part - you have to purchase the whole slider!!
Does anyone know if the Dometic seals are universal? You can certainly buy them online but not for the model in our Coachman VIP 2018 which is a Saneo BW.
Many thanks in advance.
Why oh why did Coachman go down the Dometic route??
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After experiencing far too many problems with the Dometic WC in our motorhome I decided t take it out and replace it with a Thetford one. Best thing I ever did and it was an easy swap. Don’t let the Dometic loo spoil the experience of your caravan.
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Anyone able to advise where i can get a replacement cap for the drain tube which i maniged to flush down the drain this weekend?
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