Draining the toilet flush tank

[Brum1]

Hi everyone.

I recently drained the toilet flush tank on our 'van. Cannot recall the make but it is the one with the seperate filler trap above the cassette door.

Anyway, I removed the grommet/plug from the holding tank and held a container to catch the water BUT most of the water missed the container and spilt into the area where the cassette fits.

In spite of wiping up the spillage I was shocked to see that most of the spillage had found its way onto the shower room floor.

Anyone offer any advice please?

Brum

 

[Paul_374340980]

Hello

I had the same problem, but now i remove the cassette cut the bottom off a 2 litre bottle and put that under the bung, take the bung out and leave it to drain for an hour. Hope this is of some help

Paul

 

[Brum1]

Still a bit of rubbish design to have to make up and carry an extra bit of kit.

 

[MalcolmL]

Why not simply pump the excess flush water into the holding tank and empty as normal? Or am I missing something in this query?

 

[Damian]

Have to agree, it is a silly design.

I have replaced the bung with a length of polythene tubing about 6 inches long, sealed with clear silicone sealant where it enters the drain outlet, and the bung used in the new open end.

In use the pipe is bent upwards and held in place with a stick on aluminium cable clamp, which has a bendable "tongue", and when want int to drain the tank, free the pipe from the clip, point downwards away from the van and remove bung.

 

[ColinA]

Why not simply pump the excess flush water into the holding tank and empty as normal? Or am I missing something in this query?

Malcolm it you just pump it out it leaves a little which can freeze.

Colin.

 

[Mikey1]

Even when you drain the holding tank down you still have fluid in the pipe that feeds the bowl.

 

[Stephen_374341188]

Hi there

I have Bailey Ranger 460/4 with thertford toilet.I have the same problem on drain down. Bailey recomend draining down all water systems before setting off.Draining the toilet is a pain. I have tried cups all sorts of containers to collect water in. But you always get spillage which if not dried up will damage the van. The only way I have found is to use the flush to pump into the tank BUT this does take time and I do think it will damage the flushing system in time?

Kind regards bst wishes Steve Young

 

[VonRyan]

Hi

We have a Bailey Burgendey S6 and had the same problem. Contacted Thetford and they do not have or intend to do a drain kit, but they were good enough to supply a couple of bungs FOC. All I did was drill a 6mm hole in the supplied bung and then silicone a 5mm hose 3ft long into the bung with a hoselock in line micro bore valve. I replaced this into the drain hole

but did not discard the original bung as it may be required at a later date.

All I do now is take the hose out, drop it into the waste master and open up and make sure the filler above is open so not to cause an air lock, go and do other jobs and then come back and empty waste master which smells better for having pink in the tank rather than just grey water.

Hope this helps. Go to the Thetford site and instruction leaflets and it will give you the part number of the bung.

Don't expect a half full tank of flush to empty in 2 mins, but its clean and does not go into the waste holding tank storage area,your feet or the ground.

Rob

 

[Lisa_374342718]

Thank you for your comments regarding the C200 toilet. The user manual for this particular model on page 2 does give full instructions for Storage of your caravan. It recommends that the flush water tank be emptied by either manually pumping the flush water (CW models) or pressing the flush button (CWE models) until the water ceases to flow. This will allow the water to go into the waste tank. Empty the waste tank and wash out if necessary and leave the pour out cap off. Place a sufficiently large bowl under the drain plug in order to catch the remaining water from the tank when the drain plug is removed. * Before refitting the drain plug covering it with Thetford maintenance spray or olive oil will ease the drain plug back into its hole *.

However as this can sometimes take time depending on the amount of water in the tank, consumers like yourselves find it easier to empty all the water from the tank by removing the drain plug. This will cause water to flood out due to the pressure of the water in the tank, as the amount of water reduces so does the pressure and water can splash into base of the toilet. If the freshwater tank is emptied as per instructions this eliminates the pressure and the remaining water should be minimal and pour out steadily.

As we have listened to our consumers and their needs toilets produced after the C200 have now been designed with a drain tube. However this is not available as an aftermarket product for the C200 models.

I hope this information is of use to yourselves and any questions you may have then please feel free to contact our customer care department or visit us on www.thetford.eu

Again Thank you for your comments.

 

[WatsonJohnG]

Its getting really good on these websites when manufacturers such as Thetford.Swift and OMF of course go to the trouble to first of all read the postings and then answer them

Its a pity that the C200 wasn't fitted with the level tube /drain as on the bench type earlier models

I think that reading the instructions is good advice and should be done as a last resort if admission of failure(wink wink)

 

[Stephen_374341239]

Hi

We have a Bailey Burgendey S6 and had the same problem. Contacted Thetford and they do not have or intend to do a drain kit, but they were good enough to supply a couple of bungs FOC. All I did was drill a 6mm hole in the supplied bung and then silicone a 5mm hose 3ft long into the bung with a hoselock in line micro bore valve. I replaced this into the drain hole

but did not discard the original bung as it may be required at a later date.

All I do now is take the hose out, drop it into the waste master and open up and make sure the filler above is open so not to cause an air lock, go and do other jobs and then come back and empty waste master which smells better for having pink in the tank rather than just grey water.

Hope this helps. Go to the Thetford site and instruction leaflets and it will give you the part number of the bung.

Don't expect a half full tank of flush to empty in 2 mins, but its clean and does not go into the waste holding tank storage area,your feet or the ground.

Rob

What a great idea.So its like the old C2 why did thay not make the thing like this in the first place?????????????

Great idea Regards Stephen

 

[SwiftGroup_374327846]

Thank you for your comments regarding the C200 toilet. The user manual for this particular model on page 2 does give full instructions for Storage of your caravan. It recommends that the flush water tank be emptied by either manually pumping the flush water (CW models) or pressing the flush button (CWE models) until the water ceases to flow. This will allow the water to go into the waste tank. Empty the waste tank and wash out if necessary and leave the pour out cap off. Place a sufficiently large bowl under the drain plug in order to catch the remaining water from the tank when the drain plug is removed. * Before refitting the drain plug covering it with Thetford maintenance spray or olive oil will ease the drain plug back into its hole *.

However as this can sometimes take time depending on the amount of water in the tank, consumers like yourselves find it easier to empty all the water from the tank by removing the drain plug. This will cause water to flood out due to the pressure of the water in the tank, as the amount of water reduces so does the pressure and water can splash into base of the toilet. If the freshwater tank is emptied as per instructions this eliminates the pressure and the remaining water should be minimal and pour out steadily.

As we have listened to our consumers and their needs toilets produced after the C200 have now been designed with a drain tube. However this is not available as an aftermarket product for the C200 models.

I hope this information is of use to yourselves and any questions you may have then please feel free to contact our customer care department or visit us on www.thetford.eu

Again Thank you for your comments.

Well done Lisa welcome to Thetford hopefully we will encourage participation from some of our other key suppliers?Peter.

 

[Neil_5041165]

Have always been in the habit of emptying the top tank through removing the rubber bung. First time i did it it went every where and took a bit of moppring up. After that i always used an old funnel and directed it into a bucket and use that to rinse off the dirty awnings pegs. I take out the bottom cassetteand put an old towel down to catch drips.

Have never carried water my father always taught me not to carry anything unecessarily so i leaveit behind.

Neil

 

[alaintaylor]

Well done Lisa welcome to Thetford hopefully we will encourage participation from some of our other key suppliers?Peter.

Yes, well done indeed and a great suggestion from the Swift Group. I recently placed a comment suggesting that caravan and car dealers get together to eliminate wiring problems - these pages are a good start.

Alan

 

[Stephen_374341239]

Thank you for your comments regarding the C200 toilet. The user manual for this particular model on page 2 does give full instructions for Storage of your caravan. It recommends that the flush water tank be emptied by either manually pumping the flush water (CW models) or pressing the flush button (CWE models) until the water ceases to flow. This will allow the water to go into the waste tank. Empty the waste tank and wash out if necessary and leave the pour out cap off. Place a sufficiently large bowl under the drain plug in order to catch the remaining water from the tank when the drain plug is removed. * Before refitting the drain plug covering it with Thetford maintenance spray or olive oil will ease the drain plug back into its hole *.

However as this can sometimes take time depending on the amount of water in the tank, consumers like yourselves find it easier to empty all the water from the tank by removing the drain plug. This will cause water to flood out due to the pressure of the water in the tank, as the amount of water reduces so does the pressure and water can splash into base of the toilet. If the freshwater tank is emptied as per instructions this eliminates the pressure and the remaining water should be minimal and pour out steadily.

As we have listened to our consumers and their needs toilets produced after the C200 have now been designed with a drain tube. However this is not available as an aftermarket product for the C200 models.

I hope this information is of use to yourselves and any questions you may have then please feel free to contact our customer care department or visit us on www.thetford.eu

Again Thank you for your comments.

HI Lisa from Thetford

Many thanks for your input.

One thing you could do with the amount of bad feeling with thetford C200 range of toilet and its drainage problem.

Please could you ask your lord and masters of Thertford to make a drainage kit for this model.

The topic of talk on any caravan site to do with Therfords is drain down on this model and this and other forums.

Doing nothing and hoping the problem will go away is not the answer it just makes your customers very angry.

Please pass on my words

Kind regards best wishes Stephen Young

 

[Lisa_374342718]

HI Lisa from Thetford

Many thanks for your input.

One thing you could do with the amount of bad feeling with thetford C200 range of toilet and its drainage problem.

Please could you ask your lord and masters of Thertford to make a drainage kit for this model.

The topic of talk on any caravan site to do with Therfords is drain down on this model and this and other forums.

Doing nothing and hoping the problem will go away is not the answer it just makes your customers very angry.

Please pass on my words

Kind regards best wishes Stephen Young

Hi Stephen

Thank you for your suggestion, I will certainly pass on your words to the relevant departments.

Sorry for the delay in my reply and thanks for your thoughts.

Many Thanks

Lisa Walton

 

[Petemate]

Message for Lisa of Thetford. Like others, I reckon the Thetford toilets are brilliant except for the matter of the draining of the flush tank. Having had problems, and in my attempt to fashion a drain tube, I have rendered the plug unserviceable. Could you confirm if there are any available to purchase at the show? If not, the part number would be appreciated. Our caravan is a Sterling Eccles Topaz with the electric flush toilet.
TIA
Pete

 

[Sproket]

Message for Lisa of Thetford. Like others, I reckon the Thetford toilets are brilliant except for the matter of the draining of the flush tank. Having had problems, and in my attempt to fashion a drain tube, I have rendered the plug unserviceable. Could you confirm if there are any available to purchase at the show? If not, the part number would be appreciated. Our caravan is a Sterling Eccles Topaz with the electric flush toilet.
TIA
Pete

As this is an old thread

& not knowing what model toilet you have fitted in your van

........
Have a read here about the improved draining solution & there is also an e-mail address for further info in the link

 

[lorenzo0011]

If your flush tank is the type with the filler level tube,which is usually sited on the left or right hand side as you open the cassette storage locker you don't need any special kit.All you need to do is gently pull the filler tube
bottom out of the clip holding it to the caravan side,which on my 2000 Swift is rubber,so it comes out easily,
then pull the filler tube down gently,which comes straight out of the top bung,which can then be directed straight into a bucket at the side of the van and gets no water in your locker.

 

[Damian]

This topic is over SEVEN YEARS old !!!!!
It must have taken some serious trawling to resurrect it !!!

 

[saint-spoon]

I am still none the wiser... I have emptied my flushing tank by pressing the pump button until it stops flushing and that is that… do I need to play around with bungs and tubes? Does the pink and blue stuff act as antifreeze? Or is my caravan going to be destroyed? So many questions.

 

[Gozza]

I would drain into the waste tank as you have done at the end of every trip, but for the Winter total shut down I would do that, plus draining completely through the drain bung. It's five minutes more work to potetntially avoid an expensive problem!

I recently did the modification suggested by Damian on page one of this thread...
I have replaced the bung with a length of polythene tubing about 6 inches long, sealed with clear silicone sealant where it enters the drain outlet, and the bung used in the new open end.

And wish I'd done it years ago! Makes draining the flush tank SO easy. The only difference with mine is that instead of a tube clamp I used a small tap in the free end of the hose - all items available online from home brewing suppliers.

 

[saint-spoon]

I will have a rummage around tomorrow when I go to check the caravan out.

 

[Dustydog]

http://www.thetford-europe.com/improved-draining-solution-c250-cwe/
Things have moved on since this thread started.
Please see our Woosie Kings link above.
When I modified mine the kit was foc from Thetford.