Community Forums

snovak · 05-29-2013, 07:55 AM

Hi Folks!

I'm hoping someone might have an idea of where I should start looking on this one. Our toilet is slowly filling with water. Our first clue was the occasional water pump kicking on/off late at night. My initial fix for that was to pull the water pump fuse.

I do notice after some hours that the toilet bowl does fill quite a bit. It will sometimes get about half full before I notice it. Now, if I were to leave the coach for a few days with the power on, I might have a mess/damage from an over flow.

Anyone have advice on how I should go about fixing this? Some sort of valve replacement? Maybe an adjustment, I hope, I hope?!

Thanks folks!

Scooter · 05-29-2013, 08:10 AM

Does the bowl fill even tho the water pump is quiet? If you don't want to pull the water pump fuse.....maybe some vise grips cushioned with cloth.....on the line in back of the toilet would help until a real fix is accomplished.

BFlinn181 · 05-29-2013, 08:41 AM

There is no adjustment on the Thetford valves that I know of. on the If moving the foot pedal up or down doesn't stop the water flow, I think you'll need to replace the valve. You said you have to pull a fuse to shut off the water pump. Doesn't it have a shut off switch or two?

snovak · 05-30-2013, 05:35 AM

@BFlinn181 Yes, it does have a switch. But, it wasn't working for a while. For some reason, wether on or off, the pump would remain powered, hence taking the fuse out. I think the switch is wired incorrectly, but that's another issue completely. Now it seems to be working, sort of, correctly. There is a water pump switch in the kitchen also. It seems if I have them both switched off, then the pump will go off. I will go forward using that to cut the pump power at night.

I will also email Thetford to see if they'd be any help.

bigmichael · 05-30-2013, 05:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snovak

Hi Folks!

I'm hoping someone might have an idea of where I should start looking on this one. Our toilet is slowly filling with water. Our first clue was the occasional water pump kicking on/off late at night. My initial fix for that was to pull the water pump fuse.

I do notice after some hours that the toilet bowl does fill quite a bit. It will sometimes get about half full before I notice it. Now, if I were to leave the coach for a few days with the power on, I might have a mess/damage from an over flow.

Anyone have advice on how I should go about fixing this? Some sort of valve replacement? Maybe an adjustment, I hope, I hope?!

Thanks folks!

I would certainly suspect the water valve, which should be located where the line goes into the toilet, usually under the plastic cover on the base. I know of no adjustment, just replacement.

The good news is that just about any RV place will have the replacements, as they seem to go bad about as often as you need to change light bulbs (at least on the newer ones) We had an RV supplier tell us he always has Thetford valves in stock as they go bad so often. I think we had 3 go bad on our last rig-we even got a bad one straight out of the package once, and the parts guy said he had seen it before.

The bad news is that depending on how your toilet is located, you may have to pull the entire toilet to get the replacement valve re-seated properly-it depends. (this was the case on our previous rig).

And now that you know it going bad, DON'T leave the water on. If its like most Thetfords, the floor is the overflow (don't ask how I know LOL).

FRR2EYW · 05-30-2013, 06:04 AM

Just a suggestion, but a water pump cycling on and off when you are not using water is a bad sign. This time the slow leak causing the pressure drop and the pump to cycle on and off was into a place designed for water. Next time it might be a small leak in a wall. Messy and expensive.

snovak · 05-30-2013, 06:53 AM

@bigmichael, Great info. Thanks! I will track down a replacement valve if I can't talk my wife into turning off the water pump at night is a good temporary fix. She's hard to please. So, I will probably be looking for a valve soon.

@FRR2EYW, I was equally disturbed about the cycling water pump before I realized the missing water was going into the toilet. With no water being turned on, I would say the pump cycles once every 1-2 hours. So, I would estimate the amount of water from that slow of a leak is reflected in the bowl. I guess we will know once I change the valve. I will keep you all updated. Thanks again for the feedback!