Need a new toilet. Plastic or China best ?

[Scooter]

Our Thetford AquaMagic IV, plastic toilet broke and the RV service center who deals with Thetford tells me THERE IS NO SPARE PART AVAILABLE. RV tech calls it a "knife valve" and it prevents the blade in the bottom from coming back out after a flush.

Not sure about this and will call Thetford tomorrow. Is there not a law that makes mfrs. keep 10 years of spares available? This is a 2004 Thetford.

In the event no spare is available, what is the better choice: plastic or china?

A local Thetford RV guy says the china toilets are very difficult to repair and he likes the plastic.

If Thetford tells me "no spares available" do I have any basis to ask them to send me a FREE replacement toilet?

Any thoughts, please ?

[Carl in St Augustine]

I switched to a Sealand a long time ago and have never regretted it. Very easy to repair and maintain. Your local Thetford guy sells plastic..

[Theberrys]

Back when I was working we had to provide parts for seven years or have a replacement. This was written in most of our contracts so I don't know if there is a Law or not. You could ask for a replacement due to unavailability of parts but my guess they'll just tell you to pound sand, in a sales kind of way.

We have a Sealand china toilet in our 1999 Tradewinds and when I redid the flooring I had to buy a new seal. There was no problem getting parts but I thoink they are still selling this model. BTW I tore it down and cleaned it while I had it out and didn't see anything that would make it hard to service. On the contrary it was easy to disassemble and put back together.

Think of it this way, Is anything harder to repair than what you now have.

Dick

[Route 66]

China.

[RustyJC]

Our RV has a Sealand China toilet. I like it better than the plastic ones.

Rusty

[Jackm]

Porcelain is easier to clean and it doesn't absorb odors like plastic does. As for the free toilet angle...it might be good for a laugh.

Jack

[CaptPat]

+1 China

[dajudge]

China is best. They are not that more complicated than the plastic. I recently had to take mine apart to change a part in the flushing mechanism and if ican change it anybodycan.

[Scooter]

Thank you for all the replies.

Found that there were, indeed, parts for our old one. Estimate was $80 for one hour labor plus $20 for parts.

So, we bought a new CHINA Thetford Style Plus for $200 and $40 install. Looks great.

Arrived home and on the second practice flush.....the foot flush pedal made a loud CRACK, a piece of plactic fell out and the pedal went slack.

So, back to the RV dealer this week for a repair.

I was reading Thetford literature 3-year limited warranty and "defects in material and workmanship" and covered. What about the labor cost to repair. Does Thetford pick that up or the RV dealer who has a 60 day parts and labor warranty on their work?

OK, I went to Thetford.com to see more about warranty. It seems that 6 April 2009 is the date they switched from a three year parts and labor warranty to a one year, parts only warranty.

So if your toilet was manufactured before 6 April, you get the better warranty. Because the ID label is on the back ledge of the toilet AND because there is hardly an inch of space between it and the wall, I can't see the label. Even with a mirror and flashlight. Guess the serial number or code will tell what is the date of manufacture.

So, when the RV service dept. pulls the toilet, they will jot down the ID label info for me and the warranty provisions will reveal themselves.

[Batman_777]

China +++ <<< The BEST

Side Note:

I have some dealings with Thetford over a power flush Tecma. Not good... Although others have good reviews with it. It has been nothing but problems for me.

[mrschwarz]

I believe the 10 year rule for parts applies to auto parts (like for the chassis of a motor home). I don't think there is a law about the house parts.

[DuaneMiller]

I'm getting ready to replace the plastic toilet that came in our new MH with a Sealand China model. We have only been out in the new rig once, and I knew very fast that this would be one of first "major" things to replace. It seems that Winnebago went upscale on everything else except for the toilet. The one that I'm replacing is the AquaMagic V foot flush. We had this model in a travel trailer several years ago. But had a Sealand Traveler in the 5th Wheel that I just sold.

You know what they say about a king and his "throne"....

[Scooter]

After free repair of the foot pedal, I was testing the bowl coverage, i.e., does the water circle completely around the bowl before heading down.

100% bowl coverage was in the advertising for the Style Plus. Results were 60% coverage using our SureFlo water pump and 75% coverage when hooked up to our home hose bibb, thru the city water inlet.

Wrote Thetford about this and got a call back saying that there was a flaw in the "bowl design architecture" and that they would send a new Style Plus to their authorized dealer and it will be installed free.

That was nice of Thetford not to try a shake and bake and dodge the issue.

[Retired and Happy]

My Itasca came wioth a china bowl. I have replaced the water valve...a ten minute job and had no other problems except the ball valve doesn't seal very well. I need to clean around it once again.

Duane, Have I seen that avatar on the DisBoards forum?