Thetford C223 CS Leaking

First real trip away in Nuevo to use brand new toilet.  Found it leaks into cassette compartment,runs out under wheel arch. Tried it by opening the blade and pouring water from a bucket straight down with same result. Should a small section of the sliding cover be visible when looking down from inside?Not the end of the world as under warranty but means we cannot easily wild campo

Hi jetty, that may be the reason for the leaking as you should only view a perfect rounded hole into the cassette. It appears that the sliding cover is not in the correct position thus any liquid will splash off the cover and run off the upper casing and down into the compartment.

I can manually push the cover out of the way. Will try it tonight. The wife is delighted!!

Just a thought.

Have you pushed the cassette all the way in? The last little bit can be quite hard, but it must go past the latch that holds it in - the one you have to press in order to release and remove it.

Another random thought. Have you checked that nothing is blocking the cassette going right into place. The reason I ask is that a chap on a site had a similar issue and it was because the sample bottles of thetford liquids were jammed at the back of the compartment  

Unlikely to be a fault with the cassette so Gromit's suggestion to ensure it is pushed in enough so you hear the latch engage is the solution.

Thanks everyone. LAst nights attempt with the slider did not work. After a flush or pouring water down ,it still gathers in the locker sump and there is a steady drip at the front of the wheel arch, a yard away!The blue and black tubing in the locker seem OK. It is impossible to see what is going on with the cassette in place. I have given it a really good push in til it clicks

jetty wrote:Thanks everyone. LAst nights attempt with the slider did not work. After a flush or pouring water down ,it still gathers in the locker sump and there is a steady drip at the front of the wheel arch, a yard away!The blue and black tubing in the locker seem OK. It is impossible to see what is going on with the cassette in place. I have given it a really good push in til it clicks

It appears the latch in engaging, but see if you can pull the cassette out without releasing the latch?

If you can, there is some reason why it is not going all the way into its housing and seating properly.

Without touching the latch, give it a good yank (within reason of course) and if it comes out you will have your answer. Then look for what is stopping it - could be the sample bottles as Askit said, so take them out and try again.

Please let us know the solution, as this is an unusual one, and will be of interest to others who may find themselves in the merde - as it were! 


P.S. I suppose we are not missing the obvious??

It is vital that before the cassette is inserted into its housing the rotating blade must be fully closed. Presumably you know about that??

We had a faulty cassette in our previous van - water came out under the fridge. New cassette under warranty was all that was required. Have no idea what the actual cause of the non-sealing.

Last word on this problem til it goes back to dealer. Last evening having double checked the cassette was firmly in place I carefully poured some water from a bottle through the toilette straight into the cassette...checked things later ,no leak. Asked the wife to do her 3 a. m. pee with the blade open and no flush. This morning the locker sump was swimming. All I can assume is that any liquid going down the toilette plastic bowl side must run round under and then meet a faulty seal when it arrives at the cassette.
Totally baffled...over to Marquis. In the meantime will go out and buy a bucket .

jetty wrote:Last word on this problem til it goes back to dealer. Last evening having double checked the cassette was firmly in place I carefully poured some water from a bottle through the toilette straight into the cassette...checked things later ,no leak. Asked the wife to do her 3 a. m. pee with the blade open and no flush. This morning the locker sump was swimming. All I can assume is that any liquid going down the toilette plastic bowl side must run round under and then meet a faulty seal when it arrives at the cassette.
Totally baffled...over to Marquis. In the meantime will go out and buy a bucket .

In effect that's all it can be now you've eliminated all the other possibilities.

Can't quite understand why though as the system looks to be foolproof. It may be the housing at fault, rather than the cassette itself. If the cassette is sitting too low so it is not in close contact with the "roof" of the housing, exactly what you describe would occur.

Good luck and be careful - sitting on a bucket is both painful and precarious!! 

P.S. Just a further thought. I presume you have the correct cassette for that model of toilet?? It's not beyond belief that some plonker at Marquis might have robbed yours for another van, then replaced it later with the wrong one!!

It happens a lot!

Had the van back to Marquis. Hard to explain but the slider on top of the cassette was not fully engaging withe the bottom of the toilet . They had to bend the two ends slightly to get a proper seal. It has been tested a a dozen times and all is well. Apparently they have had the problem before and solved it by putting a runner under the cassette to raise it to the right level.

Also sorted out other problems that emerged on our first major trip away...wash basin that had a slight leak,kitchen sink that was very slow to drain, habitation speaker cover that fell off, cupboard door over kitchen sink that fell off, cutlery drawer that kept flying open when we braked, kitchen drawer that did not shut tightly so the catch rattled excessively, oven door that was almost too stiff to open. 

Thanks again for all your suggestions when we were away. Anyone want a bucket?

Thanks for the update and pleased that the problem is resolved. Suggest any occurrence in the future must require a new cassette under warranty as highlighted by pstallwood. Seems strange that Marquis did not initially replace the cassette rather than carry out a seemingly botched job IMO?

- “Anyone want a bucket?”

My thoughts too paramedic. I would keep the bucket just in case the leak problem does comes back, as it sounds like a typical dealer(Marquis in this case!) dodgy repair to me! If you have slid your cassette in correctly, and it sound like you have, the problem shouldn’t happen, it is more likely a faulty Thetford complete unit or as Gromit has suggested, the wrong model cassette in the hole.

I have never heard of putting runners under the cassette to lift it up, that does sound like a dodgy solution. I think a responsible Thetford company would be horrified to hear that is being carried out by dealers, as that is more to do with a poor design issue. If the leak returns, I would speak to Thetford.

Only my opinion of course! 

Pete