Toliet water does not turn off! - Montana Owners Club

Bigboomer · 12-17-2012, 12:03 AM

Just wondering if anyone else has had issues with their toilet turning off when you have low water pressure? In the campground we are staying the water pressure tends to be pretty low, varying from a good normal flow to a barley a trickle.
When the pressure is really low we find the toilet will not kick off and will run, filling the bowl.
Well guess what happened Friday night??? Thankfully we were home and I happened to go up to the bedroom for something and found a lot of water (soaked carpet, entire basement soaked, etc.). What fun at 9 pm on a Friday.

I must say that our Sham-Wow's worked great to suck up the carpet and with the dehumidifier the carpets are now dry again.
I guess the question I have is there an adjustment on the toilet value? I noticed if I tug it a little to the side it will shut off when this happens.
Any insights are appreciated!

Thanks,
Les

kylec2 · 12-17-2012, 01:05 AM

This happened to me as well a few weeks ago, but have not had time to follow up with the dealer. I turned on the water pump and ran off the tank until the pressure rose back up to acceptable levels. I was lucky in that I noticed it had not shut off so no spillage occurred.

CamillaMichael · 12-17-2012, 01:32 AM

We have had this "pleasure" also...think what happened in our case is that with the low water pressure, not enough pressure to force small particles of sand/grit through the toilet valve resulting in it being ever so slightly open. With that, the bowl would fill over time and then overflow. Once we had normal water pressure these particles were forced through the valve and the valve closed after flushing as it was designed to do.

Ozz · 12-17-2012, 03:09 AM

Sorry that happened Les. Some of the toilets have an overflow hole in the stool.
I would contact them and see if this is normal for the toilets under low pressure, and how to fix it.
You might have to leave the pump on. Can you run the pump when on city water? I haven't tried that...

Bigboomer · 12-17-2012, 03:15 AM

Well doing some internet searches it looks like Thetford has some issues with the Aqua Magic 2 along with other toilets with low pressure not allowing the water value to close off and run....
lot of folks having the same issue for a couple fo years now. You would think Thetford would look to fix this...

Going to try and contact them to see if there is a fix (maybe a newer type value). Right now we turn the water off when leaving the rig at the incoming ball value I installed after the water filters just in case.

**DQDick** · 12-17-2012, 03:59 AM

A couple other things you might want to do. We shut off the water when we leave the rig due to our cats being loose more than anything else. We use a hose splitter at the campground faucet and so you just turn the switch when you leave and when you come back. To alert us to problems when we are at home we bought two of the little moisture detectors at Lowe's. One sits next to the stool and the other next to the washer/dryer and will let us know if there is a problem before it becomes severe. I think they cost around ten bucks so we looked at them as cheap insurance.

Bigboomer · 12-17-2012, 04:31 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by DQDick

A couple other things you might want to do. We shut off the water when we leave the rig due to our cats being loose more than anything else. We use a hose splitter at the campground faucet and so you just turn the switch when you leave and when you come back. To alert us to problems when we are at home we bought two of the little moisture detectors at Lowe's. One sits next to the stool and the other next to the washer/dryer and will let us know if there is a problem before it becomes severe. I think they cost around ten bucks so we looked at them as cheap insurance.

Dick,

Yep, shutting the water off is now on the list of things to do every time we leave the camper. Will be easy as I put two ball values in-line with the filters (one before and one after) so opening up the basement door and flip the lver is it.

I like the water alarms and will look for them. Thanks for the suggestion.

Shame we have to think like this though!

**DQDick** · 12-17-2012, 12:51 PM

Good point, but I ran restaurants all my life and had to do special things both there and at the stick house from time to time. Nothing goes perfectly forever.

kylec2 · 12-17-2012, 02:36 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Bigboomer

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by DQDick

A couple other things you might want to do. We shut off the water when we leave the rig due to our cats being loose more than anything else. We use a hose splitter at the campground faucet and so you just turn the switch when you leave and when you come back. To alert us to problems when we are at home we bought two of the little moisture detectors at Lowe's. One sits next to the stool and the other next to the washer/dryer and will let us know if there is a problem before it becomes severe. I think they cost around ten bucks so we looked at them as cheap insurance.

Dick,

Yep, shutting the water off is now on the list of things to do every time we leave the camper. Will be easy as I put two ball values in-line with the filters (one before and one after) so opening up the basement door and flip the lver is it.

Yes, we have four (soon to be five) cats and have made it a practice to shut-off the water. Nothing like the cat rubbing the faucet and creating a flood.

For the record, we love our babies and the pain is worth the pleasure.

lfw · 12-18-2012, 12:54 PM

I picked up a smoke detector and solder some wires to the test button terminals ... Made some jumper wires and put them under the shower drain in the basement, under the kitchen sink, behind the toilet, next to the water pump, and behind the water heater, stripped back about 1/2 inch and secured them in place.. about 1 inch apart.. Water makes a conductor.. Now I have a water alarm and a smoke detector in the basement all in one.. it will work both ways..

Larry

CORattler · 12-18-2012, 02:33 PM

I never would have thought of turning off the water at the faucet before leaving the RV but am now adding it to our list.

Gene Stalnaker · 12-19-2012, 02:57 PM

This same problem happened to us several times. I replaced every component on the toilet that was replaceable, I was about to replace the water valve when I discovered that the lugs on the plastic stand that the flush pedal is on were damaged. I replaced the Thetford with a Dometic. No trouble since.

Bigboomer · 12-20-2012, 12:22 AM

So far, now that we know when the water pressure is low we watch and check...I have also now turned on the pump when Sue is doing laundry and the pressure is low and it seems to do the trick. I think my next project will be to install a shutoff value from the water line to the toilet inside the bathroom. Figuring on mounting it just to the right and even with the seat on the back wall. This way Sue can still put her laundry on go out to do her errands.

Bigboomer · 01-06-2013, 08:37 AM

Well folks finally got around to installing a valve on the toilet so that we can have piece of mind and not have to always shut the water at the basement when we go out. This way Sue can still put the wash on and do her errands and not have to worry that the trailer will get flooded out!

Here is the link to the pics of the install - http://s962.beta.photobucket.com/use...toilet%20valve

Total cost was about $11 for the valve and crimp collars.

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