Thetford toilet electric flush

[Rodone]

When I had a van with the older manual flush system I never had any problems with it. With the later electric push button type however I have had problems with the push button malfunctioning and subsequently having no flush, or the switch has started the flush on its own. According to the latest edition of the Caravan Club magazine, I am not alone with the switch problem. ( see page 14 ) I think that most of the problem lies in the latchety switch design which, for no apparent reason , has been incorporated into a PC board. To replace a board with the switch mechanism is around £18 a time, but on the last occasion I gave the switch a good squirt of Halfords electric spray cleaner and it has been right since. I suppose that it would be too simple for Thetford to use a simple spring loaded 12 volt switch and keep things simple. At the same time they could move the blade fuse from behind the poo container to a drier, more accessible spot.

 

[ApuljackEngineering]

Rodone - We are very interested in your comments! Many people know us as offering repairs to caravan/motorhome electronics but our real passion is electronics design and the toilet flush is one of the things on our list! Currently our plan is to offer a replacement with a target list of features of:-

Fully waterproof/submersible to avoid corrosion
removal of the push on connector in favour of sealed splice connectors
Variable speed for the pump to prolong life, reduce splash over and save water
Removal of the fuse to a different protection system with pump over current warning

It would be interesting to know what other people think of this and if there are any other features that they would like to see. We are starting with the type that is typically fitted to the C250.

Thoughts appreciated

 

[SirRogerFFS]

I have the C 250 in our Sterling Elite Searcher which has given exactly the same problem, the very first time this happened I contacted Thetfords who kindly sent out a new modified board supported each end as this seemed to be a problem with too much pressure being used to press the flush button hence the circuit board bending away from the micro switch. At first this was fine but after a summer away in the van we now had the problem of the pump turning itself on. now I did boil this down to condensation getting to the connector block and circuit board but this was after another call toThetfords who offered no help this time so yes down to a spray of WD 40 and a quick wriggling of the connector block to make it make contact away it went and has been no problem since .I have to say tho I think it time that something better was thought of surely this stupid printed circuit board is not necessary.
Sir Roger