Barrowsm Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 My Thetford Tecma macerating toilet has stopped working three times in the last month. Each time I completely pull the toilet, disassemble it and open up the macerating pump. Quite a big messy and gross job. Each time a find a small amount of solids (you get the picture) in the fins of the pump that were not macerated. After clearing this and reassembling everything it works just fine for a couple of weeks until it happens again and I have another half day job ahead of me. This morning it happened again and I cleared it in 10 minutes. In the past during reassemble I have always check all the electrical connections and connected the pump motor to 12 volts, with my knock off power prob, to make sure the motor was operating. This time I thought before pulling the toilet I would try to reach behind, unplug the pump from the control board (black and brown wire plug) and connect my power prob to the motor with it in place. This is a DC motor that will run in either direction. When I connected power and ground the same way as the plug the motor would not operate but when I reversed polarity it ran and cleared the obstruction. I then went back and forth a couple of more times and decided it ran works for now. I’m thinking about replacing the macerater motor/pump assembly since it obviously not working as it should. This is a real dilemma. This is the only toilet in our MH. it’s 15 years old, replacement or replacement parts are hard to come by. Not sure how the make another brand macerater toilet electronics work, if I want to spend $1500. Can not use a standard bottom dump because we are not on over the black tank. Advice, ideas or suggestions would be welcomed. 2009 Holiday Rambler Ambassador 41SKQ Tecma model #36311 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr4Film Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 What a crappy situation to be in having to rely solely on a macerator toilet. I am not a fan of anything Thetford makes. I threw out their Aria II toilet long ago. Why would you spend that much money on another Tecma toilet? The Dometic MasterFlush would be my choice but that's like you say, $1500 or more. Have you tried all of the RV supply dealers for parts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug and Nicki Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 (edited) I have two Thetford Techma's in my Dynasty. I replaced the control unit in one of them to resolve similar issues. The unit is tucked inside the rear cavity and stuck to the porcelain with some sort of sticky tape. I bought mine from Veurink's, I believe. It is a pricy part, $300 or so, but took care of my problem. Hard to tell if that may be the cause of your situation. I guess it could also be a bad macerator pump motor. https://www.ebay.com/itm/225827707839?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&campid=5338678874&toolid=20006%26customid%3Ds%3AGS%3Bgc%3A1240e23a80871468984387ec900529e0%3Bpt%3A1%3Bchoc%3A1&customid=s%3AGS%3Bgc%3A1240e23a80871468984387ec900529e0%3Bpt%3A1%3Bchoc%3A2&msclkid=1240e23a80871468984387ec900529e0 This is a link to a picture of the control unit. Edited February 21 by Doug and Nicki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J A Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 Very common problem in the 1-1/2 Bath model coaches. Lots of ppl use the one in the rear for liquid disposal and use the one over the black tank, mid ship for solids disposal. Use necessity, by location, does prevail. THAT habit will/should provide better use experiences. The additional liquid disposal usage in the rear one seems to keep it less troubling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr4Film Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 Paul, your suggestion is great for those that have two toilets. However, Steve's Ambassador has only one toilet. No choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbr046 Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 1 hour ago, Dr4Film said: Steve's Ambassador has only one toilet. No choice. But there IS a choice! I use porta-johns mostly, just so I don't have to find a place to dump my tank! - bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr4Film Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 Never been presented with that problem of not being able to dump tanks. We have traveled through 48 of the 50 states, missing Idaho & Hawaii. That's the beauty of owning these awesome coaches. We get to use and manage them to fit our lifestyle. Pota-Potties are not high on my list of useful items unless I have an emergency or there is also the woods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyronTruex Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 I am surprised your voltage injector has enough umph to run the motor. My motor is supplied via a self resetting breaker. The breaker is inside the large plastic box on the back of the battery compartment. I suspect we have very close models. IF, that breaker or wiring is defective the voltage may be dropping too low. Messing with the wiring may be temporarily "fixing" the problem, or the breaker is self resetting. Tap into the feed wire on the motor side of the connector to run a pair out to where you can access them. Now find a good ground for your voltmeter. Run an extension cord close to the meter/toilet. Use the ground hole of the cord for your meter ground. With this known ground, measure the voltage on each of the wire you just ran out while the toilet is either flushing or attempting to flush. Measuring any voltage on the ground wire will tell you the ground path is bad. Finding low voltage on the hot side while trying to run will indicate a poor feed line. You may be experiencing a low voltage/ground issue and when it stops and kind of gets jammed a bit, there is not enough power to overcome the lightly stuck motor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrowsm Posted February 22 Author Share Posted February 22 Thanks, Myron Very good suggestions. I’m going to see if I can figure it out with your guidelines. I have a new motor and control board coming today and tomorrow. If I don’t need them they can be returned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Cole Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 (edited) Might take a look at the rotor the next time you have to take it apart. They are nitrile and don't last forever. I installed a 115v marine unit in the bay a couple of years ago. It successfully ground up a piece of plastic however lost a lobe on the rotor and had to replace it. They will pump thru a 100 ft 3/4" hose uphill as advertised. I plumbed it with a flexible 90 degree elbow so that I can turn it down bypassing the pump and dump my holding tanks by gravity Edited February 22 by Gary Cole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grizzly Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 So it does work at all or does it just clogged up and won't spin? We have 2 in our 07 Sig. Ive taken them apart 3 times but the problem was it was clogged by too much TP each time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J A Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 On 2/21/2024 at 1:50 PM, Dr4Film said: Paul, your suggestion is great for those that have two toilets. However, Steve's Ambassador has only one toilet. No choice. Thanks Richard. My post was generic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrowsm Posted February 23 Author Share Posted February 23 Update: I received a new motor pump assembly yesterday and installed it today. It think that fixed the problem. The first thing I did was test it without turning the water on and the motor ran. This is something I could not get the old one to do consistently. So I hope all is well, I know my wife is happy not having to walk to the activity hall to use the facilities where we are spending the winter. I received a new control module today. I’m going to hold on to it for a couple of weeks then return it if things keep working. Crossing my fingers. Thanks for all the great advise and suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbyboy Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 Steve: Where did you get the control module?? Bob Lobrano,08 dynasty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrowsm Posted February 24 Author Share Posted February 24 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J A Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 Steve; I would check the power going to the motor. Monaco was notorious for using a smaller wire than what should be used. Many folks have run a new 12v power supply to the motor. Check the power on both sides of the switch too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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