Thetford cassette stuck

[blackrose]

My Thetford C260 cassette is stuck inside the toilet. There's a problem with the sliding flap too as it isn't opening/closing.

 

Does anyone know what the problem could be?

 

Edit: just realised a grey plastic slide seems to have come loose so that the flap has dropped down and is preventing the cassette from coming out.

Edited December 3, 2022 by blackrose

[haggis]

You seem to be having a lot of problems with your cassettes. Time to install a pump out perhaps 🙂.

Sorry, couldn't resist ! 

[Tracy D'arth]

It will help you keep your hand in.

[blackrose]

1 hour ago, haggis said:

You seem to be having a lot of problems with your cassettes. Time to install a pump out perhaps 🙂.

Sorry, couldn't resist ! 

 

No thanks, I've had one of those before.

 

Does anyone else have any constuctive or helpful comments perhaps?

[Guest]

4 hours ago, blackrose said:

My Thetford C260 cassette is stuck inside the toilet. There's a problem with the sliding flap too as it isn't opening/closing.

 

Does anyone know what the problem could be?

 

Edit: just realised a grey plastic slide seems to have come loose so that the flap has dropped down and is preventing the cassette from coming out.

 

I was going to say this was most likely the issue. Or the ratchet that operates the opening flap sometimes slips a couple of teeth and the flap wont close meaning the cassette won't slide out.

 

When ours did the latter the only way I could get the cassette out was by brute force, which fortunately didn't cause any further damage which is normally what would happen.

 

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by M_JG

[PaulJ]

Its ages since I had to unstick one but I seem to remember successfully managing to close the flap/turn knob thing on top by using a coathanger wire I think.  (on a very full cassette). Sure I would have remembered if I had to plunge my hands into a full cassette to sort it.

Its the turny knob on top that turns 90 degrees which prevents the cassette sliding out with the flap open which is linked to the flap by a quadrant.Or something.

Fairly easy to work out if you have a spare empty cassette to try it on first. 

Edited December 3, 2022 by PaulJ

[blackrose]

Ok thanks, that sounds like the solution.

 

I've found a few basic design flaws since switching to a Thetford cassette last summer and for me this is another one.

 

Why isn't there an access hole in the body with a snap on cover that you can use to gain access to the knob for just such occurrences?

 

Edit: there's something preventing that knob from turning. I can't figure out what it is. I'll give Thetford a call on Monday.

 

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by blackrose

[Ex Brummie]

And keep your legs crossed until then?😆

[Machpoint005]

2 hours ago, blackrose said:

>>

Why isn't there an access hole in the body with a snap on cover that you can use to gain access to the knob for just such occurrences?

<<

 

 

I'm not familiar with Thetford cassettes, but it seems to me that if there were such a cover, it wouldn't snap open when you needed it to, but would snap open at the most inconvenient moment, such as when it was directly above an Elsan disposal drain hole, or being carried to one...

 

Murphy's Law applies.

 

 

2 hours ago, blackrose said:

>> there's something preventing that knob from turning. <<

 

 

 

Bluebottle: "Turn the knob on your side!"

Eccles: "I haven't got a knob on my side..."

 

 

 

[blackrose]

On 03/12/2022 at 19:32, Machpoint005 said:

 

I'm not familiar with Thetford cassettes, but it seems to me that if there were such a cover, it wouldn't snap open when you needed it to, but would snap open at the most inconvenient moment, such as when it was directly above an Elsan disposal drain hole, or being carried to one...

 

Murphy's Law applies.

 

 

Ok but I wasn't talking about a cover on the cassette, I was talking about a snap on cover on the body of the toilet that the cassette slides into so that you could access the knob on the cassette.

 

Anyway, the cassette is still stuck. I donned a pair of rubber gloves and tried turning it from inside the cassette as someone suggested but I think I've made matters worse as a part came off in my hand. I have the part.

 

 

 

I've called Thetford this morning and now waiting for a response but the woman I spoke to from technical support didn't have a clue.

Edited December 5, 2022 by blackrose

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

Ok but I wasn't talking about a cover on the cassette, I was talking about a snap on cover on the body of the toilet that the cassette slides into so that you could access the knob on the cassette.

 

Anyway, the cassette is still stuck. I donned a pair of rubber gloves and tried turning it from inside the cassette as someone suggested but I think I've made matters worse as a part came off in my hand. I have the part.

 

 

 

 

That looks like the retainer, that holds the blade driver in situ.

 

Part no. 15 in this diagram.

 

 

[blackrose]

2 minutes ago, M_JG said:

 

That looks like the retainer, that holds the blade driver in situ.

 

Part no. 15 in this diagram.

 

 

 

Right, thanks. I can't see what it's meant to me held on by? It just came away in my hand as soon as I turned it. Very little force applied.

[Guest]

Just now, blackrose said:

 

Right, thanks. I can't see what it's meant to me held on by? It just came away in my hand as soon as I turned it. Very little force applied.

 

Looks like a simple push fit but I can't say for sure.

[alias]

12 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

Right, thanks. I can't see what it's meant to me held on by? It just came away in my hand as soon as I turned it. Very little force applied.

 

This video may help as it shows assembly/disassembly.  Logically, I don't think you'd be able to turn the yellow thing from inside the cassette without disconnecting it from the flap mechanism because your wrist would be blocking its travel. 

 

[blackrose]

Ok thanks. I just need to figure out how to get the damn cassette out because without being able to remove it I can't do anything. I've tried turning reaching the orange knob with a chopstick and a ruler to turn it. I can reach it and push it around to about 45 degrees but then it gets stuck and the cassette still won't come out. If I force it I'm just going to break the whole mechanism.

 

It's a really poor design that this can happen. The woman at Thetford technical help told me two things that didn't make sense: Firstly that the toilet should have been installed by a Thetford service engineer. That's nonsense because this has nothing to do with the installation. Then she said I must have pushed the cassette in at an angle! Nonsense too. How would that even be possible? It went in straight all right but something detached and now it's not coming out.

[alias]

28 minutes ago, blackrose said:

Ok thanks. I just need to figure out how to get the damn cassette out because without being able to remove it I can't do anything. I've tried turning reaching the orange knob with a chopstick and a ruler to turn it. I can reach it and push it around to about 45 degrees but then it gets stuck and the cassette still won't come out. If I force it I'm just going to break the whole mechanism.

 

It's a really poor design that this can happen. The woman at Thetford technical help told me two things that didn't make sense: Firstly that the toilet should have been installed by a Thetford service engineer. That's nonsense because this has nothing to do with the installation. Then she said I must have pushed the cassette in at an angle! Nonsense too. How would that even be possible? It went in straight all right but something detached and now it's not coming out.

 

The yellow bit and the white part you removed come as a pack for servicing. (They need to be replaced once the seal on the yellow bit starts to let waste pass). Doing that service requires detaching the flap mechanism from the yellow bit, so it's a task you'll need to do at some point anyway. If you can't move the yellow bit far enough, this might indicate that the flap is hung up on something, or has slipped out of position. If so that might be the root cause of your issue and you'll need to fix it before using it again.

 

Is there enough play in the flap mechanism to ease that off the yellow bit and lower it? The reason they show the yellow bit being removed from above is that one can hold the flap in place and quickly put in the new yellow bit without losing the alignment (as otherwise you have to find it again by touch).

Edited December 5, 2022 by alias

[Guest]

28 minutes ago, blackrose said:

Ok thanks. I just need to figure out how to get the damn cassette out because without being able to remove it I can't do anything. I've tried turning reaching the orange knob with a chopstick and a ruler to turn it. I can reach it and push it around to about 45 degrees but then it gets stuck and the cassette still won't come out. If I force it I'm just going to break the whole mechanism.

 

It's a really poor design that this can happen. The woman at Thetford technical help told me two things that didn't make sense: Firstly that the toilet should have been installed by a Thetford service engineer. That's nonsense because this has nothing to do with the installation. Then she said I must have pushed the cassette in at an angle! Nonsense too. How would that even be possible? It went in straight all right but something detached and now it's not coming out.

 

Sounds as if they are trying to dodge any sort of warranty claim.

 

How old is it?

[Guest]

 

A bit more.

 

There is a thread on Caravan Talk that may help....

 

https://www.caravantalk.co.uk/community/topic/123685-thetford-toilet-cassette-stuck-fast/

[blackrose]

Right I've got the cassette out with the help of a guy called Tom at Midland Chandlers. At first he was at a loss with what to suggest and didn't know how to get the cassette out but he got hold of a cassette, put it into a toilet and we worked the problem through together over the phone. It was a bit like that scene in Apollo 13 with Tom Hanks where they make CO2 filters from various bits of kit they've got onboard with help from mission control in Houston. 🤣

 

Anyway the problem was with the cassette rather than the toilet itself. I ended up snapping the blade off inside the cassette because for some reason it now wouldn't open fully and I couldn't get my hand inside. Then I removed the blade driver by pulling it down and then I could get the cassette out.

 

He's calling head office and they're going to send me the whole replacement flap driver assembly under warranty. Apparently the whole lot comes out of the cassette fairly easily and is easy to replace.

 

He said this is quite a rare occurrence and he's only ever heard of it happening once before. Anyway we both learned how to get the cassette out when it's well and truly stuck inside.

 

The jobs you end up having to do when you live afloat. What a Poltava!

Edited December 5, 2022 by blackrose

[George and Dragon]

1 hour ago, blackrose said:

Poltava

That's a new word to me. Palaver is what I was expecting.

[blackrose]

25 minutes ago, George and Dragon said:

That's a new word to me. Palaver is what I was expecting.

 

Poltava is a town I visited once in Ukraine. I use that expression instead of palaver now.

[booke23]

8 hours ago, M_JG said:

 

Sounds as if they are trying to dodge any sort of warranty claim.

 

How old is it?

 

10 months.

 

 

[Guest]

16 minutes ago, booke23 said:

 

10 months.

 

 

 

How time flies.

 

I knew I had participated in that thread but thought it was longer, hence why I asked.