Dometic Toilet
Our Knaus is fitted with a Dometic toilet which has always been a nightmare because the sliding plate has always been difficult to open and close. We have always used spray silicone which only works short term. A couple on the same site on our last outing told us to use pure silicone grease on all the moving parts and it works great. The one they told us is made by FloPlast and can be brought from plumbers merchants.
Comments
-
Yes we also have a domestic toilet. We put silicon grease on the two bars under the flap lever - sorry that probably only makes sense if you have such a loo. And silicon spray on the sliding plate. We have always had a Thetford toilets before and we much prefer them. We think the inside of the loo is different with more places to trap solids!!
0 -
cgb - I don't know if you're aware of my previous 'rant' about that useless Dometic toilet fitted in the Knaus. I agree about the slider and I started off greasing it with silicone and it was OK for a day or so - and then back to it's normal behaviour. Plus it leaked both into the van and into the cassette compartment. The cassette handle jammed in the open position and I had to dismantle it to get it back in the compartment. The flush was rubbish, cassette wheels too small and you need three hands to operate the vent button at the same time as emptying the cassette. No measuring cap on the filler spout - and the horizontal filling mechanism for the flush tank meant that pink fluid invariable ended up being spilled down the side of the van.
When the flush stopped working one day - and all of the above incidents happening within the first five months of ownership of the van - I'd had enough and asked the dealer to swap it for a Thetford. It was an expensive fix - but thank goodness I did it. The van is nearly six years old now and (touch wood!), never had a problem with the new loo.
0 -
R & R we know the feeling, we have gone through the same problems as yourselves, in the end the flush button packed in and the replacement was £126.00.
Our son sourced five for £2.95 and worked perfectly, however we ran into problems with a dry joint which we could not find and after all the problems we bit the bullet and replaced the Dometic with a Thetford which a local caravan engineer fitted and so far so good.
0 -
We have made enquiries about replaceing to a Thetford toilet but have been told it's not possible for us because we don't have an on board water tank to tap into in our starclass 565, so maybe you a twin axle with a tank to tap into. Apart from the toilet the rest of the van is great.
0 -
cgb - it is possible. There is no reason why the toilet can't be fed from the aquaroll - indeed, I think Kj has such a system based on previous posts. Surprisingly, none of the Starclass range have an OBT - even ours - but we did have one fitted before taking delivery. The problem is that the Thetford and Dometic filler holes don't line up - so you have to use a Thetford model with no flush tank (although it does have a 'dummy' tank so it looks almost identical to the Dometic). Plus the cassette aperture is a different size so our dealer made a sort of blanking plate as per the photograph. Looks very professional and no one but me knows it isn't a standard fitting.
0 -
richardandros, having had even more problems with my Dometic toilet whilst away last week I'm seriously considering fitting a Thetford. What is the model that you had fitted? Having taken my Dometic out on at least three occasions to carry out repairs, I think I should be able to fit a Thetford myself.
0 -
John - I'm fairy certain it's the C263 -S - that's the one without a flush tank (just a dummy). I'll check when I go in the van later. You'll have to fabricate that plate as on ours because I think I'm right in saying that the Dometic door is portrait orientation whereas the Thetford one is landscape. The filler point on the outside becomes redundant because your water is coming from your main supply. The only other thing to bear in mind - which is very minor - is that your carpet in the bathroom around the toilet will have a small gap around it because the bases of the two are a slightly different shape - but it's hardly noticeable.
It was an expensive mod - it cost me over £750 because it obviously wasn't covered by the warranty - but it was spoiling our enjoyment of what was an otherwise near perfect van. Never regretted it.
Richard
0 -
John - having now checked - the model is C263-CS. I have attached a photo of the installation guide which shows exactly what is included in the kit - and it does include the new cassette door. I wasn't sure if it did. You'll have to enlarge it to read it! The only other tip I can think of at the moment is that when the cassette housing goes in - there is a small gap between the housing and the body of the van (at least there was on mine). The Chief Tech at ALV who did the job, used a bit of flexible plastic to fill the gap and then 'Sikaflexed' the whole lot in and it looked very professional. If there's anything else I can help with - just ask.
Richard
0 -
John, I have replaced the Dometic with the same, a Thetford 263 CS. It does not have a flush tank, it takes its water from the aqua roll same as the taps in the caravan.
I even kept the door, all that was required was to turn it 90 degrees as the Thetford is wider than the Dometic.0 -
That's interesting PSG. I wonder why ALV put that surround on mine, then? Can only think we had a different model of Dometic loo from yours. They'd done lots of them before mine, so I can only assume they knew what they were doing. No problem - just wondering
0 -
The current door on my caravan (Lunar) is made by Thetford even though it is a Dometic toilet. Looking at the Thetford web site it seems to suggest that for (any?) toilets it is their model number 3 , if I've read it correctly. I'll have a look on my door and see if it gives a model number and also check the actual dimensions.
0 -
Re the above post, although I can't find a number 3 anywhere on the Thetford door, the sizes suggest that it is a number 3.
The latest fault with my Dometic CTW4050 loo is that the pcb appears to have failed. I've checked out everything else, pump, fuse, 12v power and microswitch and all appear OK. The red warning light indicating that the cassette is not in place is on continuously and stops the pump from working. I've pressed the microswitch manually but it make no difference.
I've been looking online for a replacement pcb assembly and can't find anywhere that stocks (or can get) them. Does anyone have any suggestions where I might try?
As a last resort, and probably cheapest route, is to take the faulty assembly to an electronics repair place that I know. They helped me out when the switch unit on my Omnivent failed. They made up a complete new unit that works perfectly and only cost me £40.
0 -
Hello John,
My PCB failed and having tried i was unable to find anywhwere that would repair it, however I did find a Liesure company that would sell me a new PCB for £126.00 thats when we thought eough is enough and we bit the bullet and changed to Thetford.
The Thetford waste tank is slightly wider than the Dometic, hence the reason for turning the door 90 degrees. However we had to shave off a few millimetres either side to accomodate the door.
I hope this helps.
0 -
Sorry to hear that John. The pcb failing in ours was, literally, the final straw and when that happened, I decided to bin the whole b****y lot and start again with a 'proper' toilet. Good luck and I hope you manage to sort it, but I think we both know what the answer is
.0 -
John - I don't know if this helps - but I have managed to find a photo of the original (Dometic) installation and the subsequent (Thetford) one. I thought I was right when I said, up post, that the orientation changed from portrait to landscape. It looks like they have used the same door but fabricated the blanking plate to cover the inevitable gap that would exist top and bottom. If you look carefully, there is already a plate underneath the original door and I suspect they used this as a template to make sure the existing door fitted into the new plate.
0 -
John - sorry but I can't answer that question because I haven't a clue! All I can tell you that being a German van, things are a bit different. The only problem we have had with the body of the van was with the battery compartment door which was warped when we took delivery and wouldn't close properly. Fortunately, one of their Tech's worked in plastics before going to ALV and was something of an expert in sorting it out. Ironically, that door is the only bit of the body of the van that was made in the UK!! (So I can't be certain of the origin of the cassette door).
0 -
Final update on my Dometic problem (until the next one). Try as I might, I couldn't find a source of a replacement control panel for the loo so decided to take it to an electronic guy that I know. Took it yesterday at 2.30pm. This morning at 10.00am he phoned to say it was done. He'd repaired the damaged / corroded pcb tracks and replaced a transistor.
Part of the cause of the problem is that the pcb is sitting, unprotected, above an open tank of water. Because of this he sprayed the pcb on both sides with an electronics safe varnish type sealant. For all of this he charged me £45.00. Far cheaper than the £126.00 for a new unit, if I could find someone with one in stock.
A comment that the guy made was that he has repaired "quite a few" Dometic fridge control panels if anyone is experiencing this particular problem, The company is Electronic Services at Burton on Trent. www.electronicservices-derby.co.uk I said I'd give him a shout out.
4 -
That's really useful information John - thank you - and pleased that you got the panel sorted. I suspected that might be the problem when our Dometic failed completely. Of course, with the replacement Thetford, that problem doesn't exist because there isn't a header tank as such.
0
