Tecma flush toilet problem

[BrumSaint]

On 22/07/2023 at 21:40, Bargebuilder said:

 I added two extra switches to our Tecma as an addition to the automatic switch panel that comes with the toilet, one to open the flush solenoid and the second to activate the evacuation motor. By doing this, we could give the loo a tiny flush and empty the bowl without going through the manufacturer's flush sequence, thus saving a lot of water. If economising on water usage is important to you, get whoever mends the toilet for you to do the same. It's a cheap modification, just the cost of a couple of switches.

This sounds interesting as I don't always want to leave urine in the bowl, but am also loathe to use a full flush cycle to empty the bowl*. Do you have a wiring diagram for this, you could post here? or a longer description and/or photos to better explain what you've done.

 

*My solution at the moment is to put a small amount of water in a jug and empty that into the loo, switch off the water pump and then press the flush sequence. The solenoid opens, but no water enters the bowl and then the macerator operates to empty the bowl. 

[Bargebuilder]

9 minutes ago, BrumSaint said:

This sounds interesting as I don't always want to leave urine in the bowl, but am also loathe to use a full flush cycle to empty the bowl*. Do you have a wiring diagram for this, you could post here? or a longer description and/or photos to better explain what you've done.

 

*My solution at the moment is to put a small amount of water in a jug and empty that into the loo, switch off the water pump and then press the flush sequence. The solenoid opens, but no water enters the bowl and then the macerator operates to empty the bowl. 

Your macerator will be spinning dry for longer than is ideal that way.

 

From memory; it was 12 or more years ago!

 

There is a solenoid on the fresh water supply pipe supplying the flush. If you take a +ve to this solenoid from the supply to the toilet via a momentary switch, when you operate the switch, the solenoid will permit water to flush the bowl. Take your finger off the switch and the flush will stop.

 

If you take a second +ve to the macerator pump via another momentary switch, when you operate that switch, the macerator will spin.

 

In effect, you are tapping into the toilets 40A feed and bypassing the control box with two additional switches.

 

The switch to the pump will be subject to a big surge current, so the contacts won't last very long, but this 50A switch on eBay will work for a while.

115541627795

 

For a long lived solution, you should run the 40 amp un-switched supply to a relay and the trigger wire from the momentary switch to the relay and the 40A feed from the relay to the macerator supply +ve.

When you press the switch it will activate the relay which will operate the macerator.

The relay wants to be a quality 50A or higher one.

[Thames Bhaji]

5 hours ago, Bargebuilder said:

In effect, you are tapping into the toilets 40A feed and bypassing the control box with two additional switches.

I replaced the controls on both my Tecmas because I wanted to have more control, as others have said. Initially just 2 buttons as above, water and pump. But while that worked for me, guests often pumped without enough water leaving things high and dry (as it were), which is the reason for the original control of course. 
 

I now have one button just for water fill, while the second button does water at the same time as pulsing the macerator approx 1/2 second on, 1/2 second off. I find this covers all bases - the rate of water flow matches the speed of ‘taking away’, keeping everything moving nicely and without using more water than necessary. I used a mix of 24v timer relay, normal 24v relay for the solenoid valve, and high current solid-state dc relay for the macerator.