Dometic saneo BW toilet waste tank

Thetford toilets aren't immune from problems. In September I managed to sheer off the blade mechanism and had to order a completely new tank whilst away. I have been using this sort of toilet for over 20 years without incident and I am still not sure what caused it but I imagine something wasn't close enough. I am ever so gentle now when I sort the toilet out!!!

David

When I was working for a caravan dealer the Dometic toilet was introduced to Lunar.The whole design caused problems from day one!The filler for the flush tank was awkward to use,the toilet had to be removed to replace the flush pump,customers complained about "wee" sitting in the housing and we had to replace several holding tanks!Perhaps they should stick to making fridges (their fridges were less of a problem than Thetford!!!)

Agree totally with all the above. Bought a VIP Coachman In 2018 and from the comments re the Dometic toilet l now know why the dealer asked if we’d had any problems with it. Since he asked, we have!  The toilet is nowhere near as good or as well built as the Thetford one we’d been used to.  The pull out flap is dangerous especially when the toilet is used by my youngest grandchildren, both girls, who have to be reminded not to use it as a step or to catch it when standing up.  My wife also has to be careful.  We also had an overspill into the cassette housing and yes we realised after it that the flap had not fully opened.  It’s awkward to remove the cassette and my wife is frightened it’s going to break when emptying it (yes it’s one job she’s always done).  Also it’s extremely hard to open the cassette flap to check it has been fully emptied of paper etc.  Solution:  Coachman to remove all of them and replace with the Thetford one with it’s stronger cassette and swivel opening lever that does not stick out and a flap that’s easy to open.

Our new Knaus Starclass had the Dometic toilet fitted - and in a word, it was useless! In the first five months of use - it leaked from the blade, despite there being plenty of silicone grease on it. The blade was stiff to operate and had to be sprayed with silicone two or three times a week. Then the handle locked in the open position- caused by a flimsy and unnecessarily complicated design. It didn’t flush very well and finally the flush mechanism packed up altogether - of course, whilst we were on a CL with no toilet facilities! Add to that the tiny wheels which are useless on anything other than hard tarmac - and as stated already, the badly designed filler cap and difficulty in getting it in/out of the cassette compartment.

Given that our dealer admitted that they had had no end of problems with Dometic toilets, I got them to take it out and fit a Thetford (at my expense). The new one went in with no problems other than the flush water comes from the inboard tank - which actually has turned out to be a bonus.

I think I would go as far to say that I would never buy a caravan with the Dometic toilet fitted.

Anyone know how to get a “cheap” new cassette for the Dometic Saneo as mine dropped as I picked up the wrong handle!

I did exactly the same last weekend with our one from out of our 2019 Coachman Laser. Now looking for a replacement! The Dometic is not a patch on our Thetford one from our old 1996 Elddis which was as good as new when we sold it last year!

If I were you, I would ask your dealer about replacing it with a Thetford and solve your problems once and for all. It was quite an easy conversion for our dealer to do and since it was replaced we haven't had a single problem (touch wood!). One other thing that I didn't mention in my post in August of last year was - has anyone worked out a way of pressing the air release valve whilst emptying without having to have three hands! Notwithstanding the flimsy materials, the whole design has been badly thought out by someone who has clearly never used it in anger.

There are, however a few 'downsides'. Firstly, the cost - about £650 because, clearly, it can't be done under warranty.  In my case, having spent a shed load of money on a top-of-the-range Knaus caravan, it was the one thing that was spoiling an otherwise near-perfect van, and I felt it was worth it.

Secondly, the aperture for the cassette needs a 'surround' because the Thetford cassette housing is obviously slightly smaller than the Dometic.  That said, our has been done and looks very professional and no one but me would give it a second glance.

Thirdly, it's not possible to fit a Thetford with a header tank because the filling apertures don't line up - so ours has a dummy header tank and inside looks just like the Dometic but the flush water has to be drawn from an alternative source - in our case, the internal domestic water tank, but supply from the Aquaroll can also be employed. The external filler aperture remains but is redundant.

I'm quite happy to put photos on here of our installation, if you're interested.

Hi Everyone who responded

i hadn’t looked the chat for a few months and can see this is a common problem with this very poorly designed toilet. 

Now we’re getting the van out for use the toilet remains a worry for us, since my last post we’ve had to replace the control on the electronic flush which was a major job for the dealer. 

Can anyone help me with the model details of the thetford toilet they used to replace the dometic please and the cost of the change  and any pitfalls? Does thetford still make the manual flush type rather than electronic?

I’m that fed up with this problem it’s  spoiling our enjoyment of the van  and feel this is the only solution. I will send an invoice to coachman once it’s changed   

Paul

Paul - if you read my post above, I mention what it cost me and the only real downside - having to have a surround fabricated to cover the 'gap' caused by the cassette housing being slightly smaller in the Thetford, plus you need to devise a way for the flush water to be obtained because the filler apertures don't line up. In our case, it comes from the inboard tank which I was a bit dubious about to start with but has turned out to be a good system and very convenient not having to think about topping the flush tank up.  I will take some photos to show you the finished conversion and also post details of the model numbers etc.

You have my sympathy - that useless Dometic was spoiling what was an otherwise almost perfect van and changing it, although expensive, was a decision I don't regret at all.

Thanks for getting back.Appreciate your feedback. 

Community manager comment: Email removed, please feel free to email the Club communitymanager@camc.com images and I can forward on.