# Thetford C2 Toilet Not Flushing



## ladyrunner (Feb 2, 2008)

Good evening everyone. Today I ventured out in my motorhome for the first time since the snow. Water system and boiler have been drained down since before xmas, but I didn't empty my toilet flush tank of water (or fill it with anti-freeze) and now the flush is not working. 

When I press the flush there is silence .... no buzzing sound from the pump. I have changed the 2A fuse (previous fault last winter) housed underneath in the mechanism but still nothing. Next I want to check the water pump and power supply to it which is housed somewhere inside the C2 toilet. 

Can anyone tell me how to access these parts?? Is there a way of taking the front or seat panel off the toilet unit which at the moment are siliconed to the walls?? I have the manual but there are no dimantle instructions in it. Access through the side locker door is very restricted even for small fingers!!

Or does anyone have any other ideas of what part could be frost damaged?

Thanks
Julie


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## bigfrank3 (Mar 26, 2007)

Are you sure it has defrosted, it could be the pump is jammed by the frozen water. Sorry I cannot answer your questions. Frank


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## ladyrunner (Feb 2, 2008)

bigfrank3 said:


> Are you sure it has defrosted, it could be the pump is jammed by the frozen water. Sorry I cannot answer your questions. Frank


Yes I believe it has defrosted as we have had a few mild days now plus I have had heating on in the van too today.


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## bigfrank3 (Mar 26, 2007)

How about checking your fuses before the supply reaches the 2 amp fuseholder, or even checking the supply at the 2 amp fuseholder. Frank


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## kezbea (Jan 5, 2008)

If you remove your holding tank you can see a dark blue fuse at the back
look at this .


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## ladyrunner (Feb 2, 2008)

Thanks guys. I have checked the fuse on my control panel and changed the 2A fuse that was blown above the toilet waste cassette. When I have some free time on Monday I will take a look at this fuse again incase it could have blown straight away when I tested the flush, if there was still some frozen water in the pump. 

As to testing the power supply I can try and do this with my multimeter, but space is so restricted through the locker door.

If all of these tests are okay then I will have to proceed to finding the water pump within the toilet unit - anyone know how to access this on a Thetford C2 toilet unit??

Julei


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## teljoy (Jul 4, 2005)

ladyrunner said:


> Thanks guys. I have checked the fuse on my control panel and changed the 2A fuse that was blown above the toilet waste cassette. When I have some free time on Monday I will take a look at this fuse again incase it could have blown straight away when I tested the flush, if there was still some frozen water in the pump.
> 
> As to testing the power supply I can try and do this with my multimeter, but space is so restricted through the locker door.
> 
> ...


Found this link http://www.thetford-europe.com/web/show/id=51449/langid=42

Looks useful

Terry


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## ladyrunner (Feb 2, 2008)

teljoy said:


> Found this link http://www.thetford-europe.com/web/show/id=51449/langid=42
> 
> Looks useful
> 
> Terry


Thank you Terry - this information looks like what I need to get my toilet working again. Hopefully I can find a spare hour or two to investigate tomorrow.

Julie


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## igglepiggle (Nov 7, 2007)

hello

sometimes the pump just gets stuck with chalk take the cover off at the bottom and with a thin screw driver turn the blade a round nice and easey 
dave


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## teljoy (Jul 4, 2005)

ladyrunner said:


> teljoy said:
> 
> 
> > Found this link http://www.thetford-europe.com/web/show/id=51449/langid=42
> ...


Hi Julie

Let us all know how you get on and if successful . It could be helpful to others. Good Luck

Terry


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## ladyrunner (Feb 2, 2008)

Hi all and thanks for your responses.

Well I think that I have worked out what my problem is after an hour of investigation into my toilet unit.

Firstly from outside I removed the waste cassette and checked the fuse was good which it was.

Then from inside I removed the toilet roll holder to access the water pump in the holding tank. Pink water was still in there from my last trip and there was quite alot of black sludge on all the pipes and wall sides. I drained the water down from the outside - discovered that you can disconnect the see-through level indicator pipe to drain all fluid away. Decided to then clean out the sludge with hot water and a cloth before unscrewing the pump retaining clip.

Pump had a date of 2006 on it so was replaced quite recently. I decided to cut the wire to the old pump so that I could test the electricity supply - waterseal to connection was not watertight. At first supply wasn't live when I pushed the flush and then I realised that the waste cassette wasn't in place and hoped that this was why (I had previously noticed a sensor switch near the fuse which is activated when you slide in the waste cassette). Slided waste cassette in place and retested the power supply and I had a reading of 12.5V. I was very pleased with this as this ruled out lots of problems; electrical fault, flush broken, broken mecanism, broken sensor switch. 

Next I removed the fuse so that the wires are no longer live. I then decided to try and test the old pump. I managed to connect it up to my 12v socket. It buzzed for a faction of a second then stopped. Repeated this a few times. I then decided to cut the wire lower and restrip the wires as they are no longer a copper colour but a dull silver colour where I believe that long term water has probably caused damage to the wires. Same thing happened a very short burst for a fraction of a second then it stopped.

New pump on order £31 including postage so hopefully I will have a flushing toilet very soon, which offcourse will be drained down in the winter in future. 

Will let you know when I can stop crossing my legs :lol: not really I have a bottle of water to use as my flush :lol: !

Julie


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## igglepiggle (Nov 7, 2007)

hello again did you try what i said 

dave


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## ladyrunner (Feb 2, 2008)

igglepiggle said:


> hello again did you try what i said
> 
> dave


Yes Dave I did turn the blades at the bottom of the pump this afternoon but it still didn't work. And I banged it a few times like I do to my starter motor when it sticks.

Thanks for the tip, Julie


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## TheBoombas (Aug 23, 2006)

It sound like it was a poor waterproof connection leeting water travel down the inside of the cale insulation!

Just make sure that you use good quality heat shrink tubing over the connections when fitting the new pump! leaving a good distance either side of the wires.

Scuff the wires with some emery paper around the area (Circimfrance Not along the length) and clean them with some spirit before shrinking the tubing on.

Mr Boomba


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## ladyrunner (Feb 2, 2008)

TheBoombas said:


> It sound like it was a poor waterproof connection leeting water travel down the inside of the cale insulation!


The dark grey tubing was not shrunk around the lead. It was still about 1 cm diameter with lots of electrical tape stuck around it either end. Then it was taped to the top of the water tank which is probably ok if you dont fully fill the tank - which I did most of the summer.



TheBoombas said:


> Just make sure that you use good quality heat shrink tubing over the connections when fitting the new pump! leaving a good distance either side of the wires.
> 
> Scuff the wires with some emery paper around the area (Circimfrance Not along the length) and clean them with some spirit before shrinking the tubing on.
> 
> Mr Boomba


From the photos on the internet I think the new pump comes with shrink tubing and there is a picture of a hairdryer - which I assume you need to shrink it??

Thanks for the tip.

Julie


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## ChrisandJohn (Feb 3, 2008)

*C2 Thetford Cassette - pump not running*

Very timely set of posts for us and the Medallion. We planned to be off to Rowntree Park, but the pump didn't work and I don't rate myself as anything electro-mechanical (or even hydraulic), so I was all for sending the 'van to the menders. But Julie's posts inspired me to have a go. And Terry's link provided 'structions from Thetford's themselves which even I can follow.

I was lucky. It was just the 3 amp. fuse, although I did take the pump out to see if its impeller was free, which it was. So thanks for the posting about that.

My meagre offering is that Thetfords specify a 3 amp. fuse and they are lilac, not blue!

Thanks Guys

Johnny and Chris


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## ladyrunner (Feb 2, 2008)

*Re: C2 Thetford Cassette - pump not running*



ChrisandJohn said:


> Very timely set of posts for us and the Medallion. We planned to be off to Rowntree Park, but the pump didn't work and I don't rate myself as anything electro-mechanical (or even hydraulic), so I was all for sending the 'van to the menders. But Julie's posts inspired me to have a go. And Terry's link provided 'structions from Thetford's themselves which even I can follow.
> 
> I was lucky. It was just the 3 amp. fuse, although I did take the pump out to see if its impeller was free, which it was. So thanks for the posting about that.
> 
> ...


I'm glad that my posting was of help to you Johnny and Chris.

We are saving ourselves alot of money for small repairs that we feel confident of carrying out ourselves because of the great advice that we get from members on this site.

My toilet is now fixed and drained down properly until my next trip away which will probably be half term in 2 weeks time.

For some reason my toilet has a 2Amp fuse fitted not 3Amp.

Julie


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