trialsrider Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 Sorry in advance for the content of this thread. I've had several motorhomes with toilets but my new Thetford c200cw cassette seems to be a real pain to get all the poo out. It is more difficult than any previous cassette. I use elsan organic green toilet fluid and have done for many years. But this new cassette just seems to need about 15 flushes to get everything out. I'm using the air release button like I've done with other cassettes. It just seems such a pain to empty. I notice on the top of the cassette there is a knob which can be turned with two circles marked at each turning point of this knob. One circle is filled in one isn't indicating on and off I presume. What position should this be in ? I'm sure it should be an easier affair to empty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevec176 Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 If its the same as mine then if those dots don't line up the cassette wont fit into the housing so you can't go wrong. I usually open the valve rather than just pressing the button then you can have a good flush out. The whole valve assembly can be removed for cleaning by turning the valve assembly so you have odd dots lined up and then it will lift out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 Gareth The upper attached photo below shows the top of a Thetford C200 toilet-cassette, and the red letters relate as follows: A - Air-input button that is depressed to let air into the cassette when it is being emptied. B - Blade-opener knob that, when turned through 90 degrees from the position shown, fully opens the cassette’s blade-valve. C - Automatic vent valve that allows air-pressure within the cassette to equalise with the outside air. This valve will shut if the cassette is over-filled. This YouTube video shows a C200 cassette being refurbished. (It will be seen that accessing the blade-valve differs from Steve’s description, as the ‘rotating the blade-valve assembly’ procedure applies to Thetford toilets that came after the C200 models.) The upper photo shows a C200 cassette with the blade-opener knob B in the correct position for the cassette to be inserted. If the blade-opener knob were not in that position, the cassette could not be inserted in the cassette locker. The ‘slide’ that covers the cassette’s blade-valve also needs to be as shown in the photo. From 2005 to 2014 I owned a Hobby motorhome with a Thetford C200 toilet and I don’t recall its cassette being unusually difficult to empty. And - as the Hobby’s toilet had a SOG ventilation system - I never used any toilet chemicals to aid the breakdown of solid waste. In your case, all I can suggest is that part of the mechanism inside the cassette has become detached (this can happen...) and is obstructing solid waste from coming out of the cassette easily. You might try removing the emptying spout (lower attached photo) to see if there’s any sort of blockage below it. But in order to check properly inside the cassette, it may well be necessary to remove the blade valve as demonstrated by the late John Wickersham here (If you do disassemble the cassette, you may find that the old seals leak afterwards. Soaking any parts that have been taken out in a strong citric acid solution will help to remove ’scale’ and minimise the likelihood of leakage.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trialsrider Posted March 23, 2020 Author Share Posted March 23, 2020 Thanks for the info Derek. My cassette is a bit different. Will try and upload image. It is the knob I've circled which I think may have something to do with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John52 Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 here's how to do it ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 Are you sure that it’s a C200 cassette? The most recent variant has wheels and a pull-along handle, but the top surface looks just the same. There was also a Thetford ‘venting kit’ for C200 toilets thatinvolved a different auotomatic vent-valve, but that should have made no difference to emptying it it. Pictures of Thetford cassettes (old and current) can be found here https://www.thetford-europe.com/gb/products/toilets/cassette-toilets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trialsrider Posted March 23, 2020 Author Share Posted March 23, 2020 Finally shrunk photo. This is it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trialsrider Posted March 23, 2020 Author Share Posted March 23, 2020 Thanks Derek. Mine is a C224-CW (C220 Series): C220: One of the great Thetford inventions - The Cassette Toilet! Derek Uzzell - 2020-03-23 9:59 AM Are you sure that it’s a C200 cassette? The most recent variant has wheels and a pull-along handle, but the top surface looks just the same. There was also a Thetford ‘venting kit’ for C200 toilets thatinvolved a different auotomatic vent-valve, but that should have made no difference to emptying it it. Pictures of Thetford cassettes (old and current) can be found here https://www.thetford-europe.com/gb/products/toilets/cassette-toilets >:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 The knob you have ringed in your photo is the top of the float-arm assembly (Number 9 and arrowed in red in the drawing I have attached below). I presume that the movement of the float allows the level of the waste-contents in the cassette to be shown on the toilet itself. This advert https://www.aboutcampbtob.eu/revealing-c220-the-new-cassette-toilet-of-thetford/ said about the C220 "A clear waste-holding tank level indicator informs the user when to empty the tank” and you are bound to be familiar with that feature. The float-arm assembly knob’s orientation should be as shown in your photo. The ‘circles’ you mention will indicate when the float-assembly has been inserted in the cassette and correctly locked in place, and the position the knob needs to be in to allow the float-assembly to be extracted. I doubt that it would be possible to insert the assembly wrongly or, when locking the assembly in place, to rotate the knob in the wrong direction. If you attempt to turn the knob it will almost certainly only rotate in one direction and (if you want to check whether it’s still as shown in the drawing) you should then be able to remove the complete assembly when the appropriate circles line up. The float-arm assembly SHOULD have no impact on cassette emptying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trialsrider Posted March 23, 2020 Author Share Posted March 23, 2020 I agree. It should have no effect upon emptying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witzend Posted March 25, 2020 Share Posted March 25, 2020 trialsrider - 2020-03-23 12:53 PM I agree. It should have no effect upon emptying. Try a different fluid until you find one that breaks down the contents and don't put paper in cassette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 25, 2020 Share Posted March 25, 2020 Thetford recommends their “Aqua Soft” toilet paper for use with cassette toilets https://www.thetford-europe.com/gb/products/toilet-care-products/toilet-bowl-products/aqua-soft This MAY have been advantageous historically, but nowadays ordinary ‘supermarket’ toilet paper breaks down rapidly and - during the 20+ years we’ve been motorcaravanning - we’ve always used ordinary toilet paper and I’ve never had particuar problems emptying the cassette. And, since 2006, the Thetford toilets in our Hobby and Rapido motorhomes have both had SOG ventilation systems and I’ve never bothered to use toilet fluids to aid breakdown of solid waste. In his original posting Gareth said that he had owned several motorhomes with toilets, but the ‘emptying poo’ problem is much more difficult with his present Thetford C224-CW toilet than with previous cassettes. He also said that he was using the same Elsan toilet chemicals as previously. Even if effective toilet chemicals are used, some time will be needed to permit solid waste to start disintegrating - but I’m sure Gareth has taken this obvious factor into account. I recall my neighbour telling me that, during a holiday visit from his grandson, he (my neighbour) often needed to poke a stick into his domestic toilet bowl to break down his grandson’s huge turds to a size that would flush. (I merely mention this as I believe Gareth has a young son.) I would not have thought that the C220 cassette design was much different from other Thetford cassettes, and there don’t seem to be complaints on-line that “about 15 flushes” are necessary with this cassette to get all the waste out. Logically then, there’s either something wrong with Gareth’s cassette or perhaps the problem lies with ‘ user output’. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trialsrider Posted March 25, 2020 Author Share Posted March 25, 2020 Derek you are on the money with who the guilty culprit was for this poo. It was my five year old. Maybe it was simply the time factor. We were using the van for day trips and emptying the loo daily when we got home. Perhaps if the contents had been left longer they would have broken down better. Sadly we can't even use our van for day trips now with the lockdown so it will be a while before my son gets to use it again. Derek Uzzell - 2020-03-25 1:51 PM Thetford recommends their “Aqua Soft” toilet paper for use with cassette toilets https://www.thetford-europe.com/gb/products/toilet-care-products/toilet-bowl-products/aqua-soft This MAY have been advantageous historically, but nowadays ordinary ‘supermarket’ toilet paper breaks down rapidly and - during the 40 years we’ve been motorcaravanning - we’ve always used ordinary toilet paper and I’ve never had particuar problems emptying the cassette. And, since 2006, the Thetford toilets in our Hobby and Rapido motorhomes have both had SOG ventilation systems and I’ve never bothered to use toilet fluids to aid breakdown of solid waste. In his original posting Gareth said that he had owned several motorhomes with toilets, but the ‘emptying poo’ problem is much more difficult with his present Thetford C224-CW toilet than with previous cassettes. He also said that he was using the same Elsan toilet chemicals as previously. Even if effective toilet chemicals are used, some time will be needed to permit solid waste to start disintegrating - but I’m sure Gareth has taken this obvious factor into account. I recall my neighbour telling me that, during a holiday visit from his grandson, he (my neighbour) often needed to poke a stick into his domestic toilet bowl to break down his grandson’s huge turds to a size that would flush. (I merely mention this as I believe Gareth has a young son.) I would not have thought that the C220 cassette design was much different from other Thetford cassettes, and there don’t seem to be complaints on-line that “about 15 flushes” are necessary with this cassette to get all the waste out. Logically then, there’s either something wrong with Gareth’s cassette or perhaps the problem lies with ‘ user output’. :-> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.