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Cassette Toilets


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josie gibblebucket - 2015-04-09 5:25 PM

 

The cassette on our "new to us" van appears to be leaking, not sure where from. The little recessed bit under the grab handles at each end (C2 type) always seem to have a puddle of wee in them, ugh! Have removed cassette, filled it with tap water and taken it into garden to try and see where its leaking from, but it only seems to leak if I tip it up. Obviously when its in the correct locker in the van, its not tipped up, so where can it be coming from, especially as its both ends and everytime? 8-) Have ordered a new lipseal and vent just in case, but they dont seem to leak when its horizontal, which it would be when its in place :-S

 

A bit delicate...but do you have the blade open when you use the loo?...

If you leave it closed and... *cough*..fill the bowl, it is probably seeping down from there! :$

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If it is clear water it may well be from the flushing side, if it is tinged with blue - well you will see where it comes from, and if it is pure wee then as has been mentioned it is probably seeping down between the seal and the bowl.

 

We always use the loo with the blade open just in case - also you get to see how much space is left in the cassette as the red light can be unpredictable and you soon learn how much more you can get in!

 

Replacing the seal should sort it unless there is damage or distortion to the plastics.

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josie gibblebucket - 2015-04-09 5:25 PM

 

The cassette on our "new to us" van appears to be leaking, not sure where from. The little recessed bit under the grab handles at each end (C2 type) always seem to have a puddle of wee in them, ugh! Have removed cassette, filled it with tap water and taken it into garden to try and see where its leaking from, but it only seems to leak if I tip it up. Obviously when its in the correct locker in the van, its not tipped up, so where can it be coming from, especially as its both ends and everytime? 8-) Have ordered a new lipseal and vent just in case, but they dont seem to leak when its horizontal, which it would be when its in place :-S

Then, where does the leak come from when it is tipped up?

 

It shouldn't leak even when tipped, as they are usually carried vertically, and my experience has been that the seals remain watertight in that position. Observing the source/es of the leakage when tipped will probably give you the clue you are looking for.

 

When in the van, it is true the cassette is horizontal, but as soon as you drive off the fluid inside it is far from horizontal./ It will be surging from side to side and end to end of the cassette as you accelerate, brake, turn corners, and go uphill and down dale. Those surges will be quite violent, and far more testing of seal integrity than mere static tipping tests.

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Brian Kirby - 2015-04-09 6:36 PM

Then, where does the leak come from when it is tipped up?

 

It shouldn't leak even when tipped, as they are usually carried vertically, and my experience has been that the seals remain watertight in that position..

 

I'd missed the "..only seems to leak if I tip it..." bit....

 

I renewed the automatic pressure relief valve on one of our cassettes for that very reason...

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I would make the suggestion that if you have doubts about a seal, do not just replace the seal. Replace the whole assembly. You can buy this on the internet at not much more than the seal and it is much easier than trying to disassemble and re-assemble the hting. A straight swop out and you are sure the rest is up to scratch.
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Tracker - 2015-04-09 8:47 AM

 

Previous generation cassettes had a manually operated pressure release button and as many people discovered failure to press the button following changes in altitude and atmospheric pressure before opening the tank could result in some interesting experiences ! I've seen cassettes bulge a little but I never saw one leak.

 

Been there done that Tracker. Opened the blade with spectacular results. Even had to clean the ceiling!

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Thetford’s toilet repair instructions can be downloaded from here

 

http://www.rosefacchini.co.uk/upload/Sanitation%20Repair%20instructions.pdf

 

To the best of my knowledge every Thetford cassette - even the cassette used with the very earliest C2 bench toilet - has a vent that SHOULD equalise the pressure inside the cassette with the air-pressure outside it.

 

This link (Page 9) advises on how to replace an early-C2’s vent-seal

 

https://caravansplus.com.au/pdf/thetford/thetford-repair.pdf

 

and it will be seen that the vent is not immediately apparent and that replacing the seal requires some dexterity. Logically, there had to be some means to equalise interior and exterior pressures, otherwise using the toilet would always risk a ‘pressurised’ cassette erupting explosively when the toilet’s ‘blade’ was opened. The vent also needed to function automatically as the cassette itself would be inaccessible once it was in its storage locker.

 

There’s no doubt that Thetford cassettes could ‘blow back’ spectacularly (particularly entertaining when a domestic usage-method of keeping the ‘blade’ closed and having water in the toilet-bowl had been adopted) but this was not because a cassette had no pressure-equalising vent, but because the vent failed to work correctly.

 

All Thetford cassettes have a manually-operated push-button (yellow, orange or green according to the model of toilet) but - as peter said earlier - this is used to let air into the cassette when emptying and allow the waste inside the cassette to flow out through the cassette’s emptying spout.

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