2015 3611RL toilet does not hold water

[bandit]

I certainly don't want to drag this rig 110 miles to the dealer if there are any adjustments I can make on my own. Does anyone have any experience in this area? If I put an inch of water in it, it leaks out in under one minute. Thanks in advance.

[DarMar]

A lot of us have replaced the Thetford toilet with a Dometic 310 model or so due to the fact that your problem is usually encountered by most within the first year of ownership.

If you pull up on the pedal it will probably seal it but eventually the pedal could break, don't ask how I know. You could also try cleaning the gasket well for a short term solution at best.

[Mr Pachu]

The toilet in our 2015 3790RD wouldn't hold any water. The dealer replaced the toilet and all is well.

[1retired06]

On our 2015, I greased the bowl gasket with vasoline. Plumbers grease is another option. 8 months later still holding water.

[bigskyjimmy]

Don't get us started on this one again quick solution..SCRAP IT and choke up 125-190 clams and go Dometic 310 or 320,been thru 3 of them till I wised up

[Art-n-Marge]

After 9 years my Dometic 210 toilet started leaking water and I heard this could happen because the rubber gasket could wear out and start doing this. The first 8 or so years we used the rig very sporadically, just venturing out a couple times a year for about a week each or an occasional long weekend.

Then we started full-timing in it and within a year the leaks started occurring and I figured it's because the rubber wore out. I went out and bought the replacement gasket and went through the long process of taking the toilet apart and replaced it. Visually I saw no difference, but wear isn't always obvious.

About 3 weeks later DW and I could hear the water leaking slowly from the bowl. Not looking forward to redoing this work, I left it go. But after a month of water leaking from the bowl I decided to take things apart. What I found is that I had installed the gasket upside down where it seats. After about 4 hours of rigorous and thorough cleaning, I put everything back together and all has been working great. I hope this problem is solved for another 9 years or so.

In your case, your rig is pretty new, but I would not be surprised if maybe something is not seated correctly from the factory, so that this problem is occurring. Consider the age of the rig, how much you use it and you might consider rebuilding it but it's lotta labor.

1retired06 has a pretty good idea, but it might be a bandaid if you use your rig a lot.

Bottom line is if you don't know the cause you can't be sure of the remedy (correct or temporary). Not knowing what the problem is and just throwing things at it is known as "shotgun fixing". Be careful what you try. The easy but pricey solution is a new toilet, until the problem occurs again because you didn't address the real cause. Good luck to you. Let us know what you find out.

[davidaf]

I greased mine a couple times and it would hold water for a short time. Lifting up on the pedal would also do the trick some of the time. Finally replaced it with Dometic 310. Problem solved once and for all.

[WeBeFulltime]

When my Thetford fails, and it WILL fail, I will replace it with a Dometic 320.

[DQDick]

Called Tetford when this started and they sent me a set of new gaskets. Before I got them put in the handle exploded off the base so they replaced it under warranty. New one started to leak and I put the new gaskets in. Lasted a few months and started to leak again so now we have a Dometic. From my experience I'd say there is no fix for this.

[Webbyone]

Both of bandit's messages on this subject have been moved. The second post has been locked. Please continue posting here. Thank you.

Other post here.

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[bncinwv]

Something to try that has worked for us in the past is to depress the foot pedal and then slide your foot off quickly to cause the valve to slam shut. I do this a few time at every flush. In addition, take a q-tip and thoroughly clean the gasket. This remedy has always worked for us in the past and still works to this day. We have not had to swap out a toilet on any of our three rigs. With that said, we are still considering the Dometic, but for now, our Thetford is serving us well.
Bingo

[jcurtis934]

Had the leaking issue with our tet since new as well. The huge issue is when the valve decides to let water into the bowl and it floods your rig. Been there, done that, wet vac and blower to clean up...out with the tet...in with the dometic. John

[FordMan1966]

Had the same problem with my 3611RL and the dealer could not get Thetford to do anything about it. So I called Thetford and they sent me a new base and it still would not hold water. Finally they replaced the entire toilet with another Thetford and it would not hold water either. I went to Camping World and bought a Dometic and no problems and it holds water for extended periods of time.

[7.3Ford]

This is common problem, like Bingo said, let you foot slide off so it slams shut. After a couple months works fine.

[tooth ferry]

Silicon lube $5 from Ace Hdwe fixed mine in Sept.,still OK. Just wiped seal clean and applied lube.

[Olen1957]

Yep I had the same issue, Dealer replaced toilet and so far no more trouble. I also did just as Bingo said until the new one was installed and it seemed to work fine!