92 Excella Theford toilet bowl seal leak

[Re-Pete]

The flush seal on my 92 Excella, Theford toilet is leaking. The bowl will no longer hold a water seal.

Can this be fixed?

Is their a replacement gasket or lot of some kind I can buy?

Has anyone done this repair?

I can post pictures if needed.

[CRH]

You need a new blade seal.

[airdreamers]

Kit is available online or at the store camping World. Don't have to be a rocket scientist to replace it. If you intend on keeping the Theford get a backup. I occasionally put veg oil in bowl to keep the o ring lubed.

[CRH]

If I were pulling the toilet for the blade seal, I would go ahead and replace the flush valve, too....My 95's original valve went bad last summer. It would leak when the toilet was flushed. It took me a while to track that problem down.

[Re-Pete]

First, Thank you for your help.*

Am I looking specifically for a Theford brand seal kit.*

CRH, you mentioned a blade seal but mine is more of a half ball that rotates back and forth to open for flushing and then reseal.* I've seen the blade type that slide back and forth and this is not that type.

If it helps to know, this toilet has the backup hand sprayer and has only two floor bolts.*

Does the age of my toilet matter when it comes to finding the correct seals?* I bought our Excella in 2012, so the only thing I know for certain is the age of the AS.* I'm pretty sure the toilet is original, but can't say for sure.*

My flush valve works fine, but I hear you loud and clear.* Might as well do it while I'm in there.

Also, I'd like to replace the hand sprayer at the same time.* Mine is partially clogged and it does not come apart for cleaning.* It looks like I need to get the hose and sprayer as a unit.*

I went to a Camping World in Tucson last week.* They were less than helpful.* They just wanted to sell me a new toilet, which I don't think I need.*

[idroba]

Your toilet is now 24 years old. You say it needs a new main bowl seal, and will replace the flush valve while you are doing things. The hand sprayer will also be replaced. Thetford parts are not inexpensive.

Probably it would be just as easy and cheap to replace the entire toilet with a new one, unless you love to tinker and tear things apart (and do it again when something else is wrong).

[badkat]

Our seal went bad and we love the new toilet that does not need the sprayer.

[TomKirk]

Before replacing seal, try plumber's grease.

Lather plumber's grease on seal. Be generous.

Be sure to thoroughly grease bottom of seal, where contact is made with ball/blade (as the case may be). Work flush mechanism to coat grease where needed.

Unless seal is torn, kinked or otherwise damaged, grease will work 9 times out of 10.

BTW - The above is part of my yearly maintenance regimen.

Tom

[Jim S.]

Originally Posted by Re-Pete

The flush seal on my 92 Excella, Theford toilet is leaking. The bowl will no longer hold a water seal.

Can this be fixed?

Is their a replacement gasket or lot of some kind I can buy?

Has anyone done this repair?

I can post pictures if needed.

I'm in the midst of rebuilding an 1999 sob project (just finished a full structural floor replacement), and the original wc is a Thetford model. Seeing as I had everything apart, it seemed prudent to replace the blade seal to make sure everything remained tight and my new floor dry!

I went to the Thetford web page and found they have exploded diagrams and part numbers for their older models - handy that! I located the part number for the blade seal on the Thetford diagram and ordered on Amazon for about $8.

Might be worth a try to see if they have your model info and proceed accordingly.

Happy happy!

[gecko]

Originally Posted by idroba

Your toilet is now 24 years old. You say it needs a new main bowl seal, and will replace the flush valve while you are doing things. The hand sprayer will also be replaced. Thetford parts are not inexpensive.

Probably it would be just as easy and cheap to replace the entire toilet with a new one, unless you love to tinker and tear things apart (and do it again when something else is wrong).

Totally agree with this gentleman.

We just had a challenge with our Sealand in our 2009 International while boondocking. Factory rep though it was one thing, we thought another. Bought part in a kit that contained both-$58. Got mobile tech to come out, and when we took it apart, found that there are two other parts that are worn. $75 for mobile service, plus 2 hours@ $95. And btw, we were right about which part--factory rep was incorrect--great that both in the same kit.

In hindsight, a new toilet with fresh parts throughout would have worked out better in the long run. And ours is 1/3 old as yours!

[Re-Pete]

Thanks one and all for all of the good advice. I believe I'll try the plumbers grease suggestion to get me through the next couple of weeks and then look into New toilet.

Should I stick with Theford? Any recommendations?

[Re-Pete]

I did get some plumbers grease yesterday at Home Depot and it seems to be doing the trick. The water seal above the blade held all night.

I'm still interested in suggestions for a replacement toilet. Thanks

[jleric]

We tried several different cleaning solutions and conditioners on the seal without success until we tried toilet seal from thetford. 2 treatments and it worked like a dream. Holds water no problem. Solution sits for 8 hours or over night and seal is good as new.

[gecko]

We recently broke the spring in our SeaLand by Thetfird toilet. After it was replaced in the field by a tech, we started to have seal problems.

Want to thank all the contributors to the thread fir fiving us the cinfudence to try a suggestion by a friend of mine. He regularly applies Vaseline directly to the top and bottom of the seal. We did this and it immediately solved our seak problem! The seal now seats exactly in the same place all the time--no bunching to one side or another.

[idroba]

Originally Posted by gecko

Want to thank all the contributors to the thread fir fiving us the cinfudence to try a suggestion by a friend of mine. He regularly applies Vaseline directly to the top and bottom of the seal. We did this and it immediately solved our seak problem! The seal now seats exactly in the same place all the time--no bunching to one side or another.

Just be sure to label that Jar of Vaseline as for the toilet seal only, and don't put it back in the medicine cabinet.