I have done this post as I knew nothing about what I am about to try and explain so thought there might be someone out there as silly as me and this might just help them. For those that already know about this, sorry, you will think I am so silly. Sorry again, but I already know that
I have a Thetford C260-CS toilet in my van and had a problem yesterday opening the slide for whatever reason you open a toilet slide in van for I ended up having to force it open but in the process something gave way and therefore had a problem. Went outside to slide canister out but it too was stuck and needed force to get out. I will continue with pics as well.
This is the toilet
and this is the sort of canister I am talking about
Now, I thought I had buggered it for sure and could see no way of sorting it out myself and started ringing around yesterday to find a new canister, without luck and thought I would end up in Brisbane tomorrow, Wednesday as today is Anzac day, LEST WE FORGET.
I could not for the life of me work out how that round section came off, I tried lifting with a flat end screwdriver, no go, I then tried rotating it left and right but still no go, the reason for a new one. I started to do check around the Net for some help and here on the forum by searching but still no luck. However, I did find you can get that big round bit as a spare part and all the fittings etc are attached to the underside so thought it had to come off some how.
Anzac Day, today, arrived and after my usual Anzac morning ritual decided to put the disposable gloves on, flop, bang and on they were, I felt like a doctor I then forced my fingers in to move the slide and out the way, then with both hands discovered the round bit does actually come off by turning anti-clockwise That successfully removed now noticed the slide mechanism had come of the pivot point and everything was extrememly dirty so set about cleaning then replacing all the bits and bobs correctly, give a good spray of lubricant and replacing. I was feeling very happy and confident that that was the problem. I had loosened everything by forcing it to the point it came adrift. I testing the opening, shutting and sliding and all works. Job well done and no need for any $$$$ to be spent.
I then replaced canister in it's house from outside of van, went inside and checked the slide handle all worked, nope, no go, bugga. I went back outside and removed canister, got on hands and knees nearly upside down and probably not a pretty site at all and found there was a plastic gear like mechanism with a screw in middle. Had a good look at it and thought it looked around the wrong way so undid screw turned it around and tightened screw up again. Slid canister in and went back inside to check. BINGO. It all worked like new I went back out and sprayed lubricant all around anything than moved or slid then put everything back together.
A successful test once again and I just saved myself at least $200 for a new canister
I have learnt heaps through this experience and even though I lubricated the rubber ring on top of canister on a regular basis I found there are more sliding and moving parts that would benifit from lubricating as well.
Room for thought everyone.
Keep Safe on the roads and out there.
-- Edited by Dougwe on Tuesday 25th of April 2017 02:11:02 PM
aussie_paul said
02:40 PM Apr 25, 2017
Definately a successful s**t job Doug.
Aussie Paul.
Papou said
04:17 PM Apr 25, 2017
G'day Doug n glad you sorted out the problem with your Thetford :) we had a simmillar problemo on our last trip recently and ended up being the holding screws within the slide mechanism shearing off the plastic bits they screws into on the inside . Tried all sorts of tricks try undo that big round thingy to access the internals and in the end just ordered another new one from a caravan dealership nearby and the trick to undoing was to press down hard on the lid and twist to withing the indicated arrows on the cassette and bingo off it came :)..
Ten seconds to get the newy back in place by pressing down and twisting to the right this time and line up the arrows. The new one also came with another plastic thingamabob that you can just see on the top right corner of your last pic and in the meantime i scrubbed n cleaned to old one and reglued the plastc bits the sheared and good as new for a sparey :)..
KevinC said
05:27 PM Apr 25, 2017
Seems like lots of nomad folk have problems with the Thetford, not that we advertise the fact very often. I've been down much the same road as Papou, and found the mechanical bits floating around inside the cassette, (actually I'm not sure they float but they were certainly loose inside.) To my eye the design is a bit weak when it comes to the screws that hold the mechanism together. Anyway being a holiday (everything bad happens on a holiday) and no new parts available until the agents, dealers and retailers returned to work, I fixed it myself. Just as well, the local dealer didn't have one anyway! Now here's the best part. To clean the inside of the tank, including all the broken bits and the little float which used to stick sometimes, I used Drano. The stuff in the orange bottle that you see on TV. Of course the TV ad shows a kitchen sink, they probably wouldn't want to show the inside of a Thetford cassette. But it does the job by remote. Your fingers never have to touch it. So after a few minutes letting this stuff ooze around the inside, and around the little broken bits, I rinsed the lot and as if by magic the whole lot was squeaky clean. Reminds me of that carburetor ad where the bloke says you could eat your dinner off it. No, maybe it wasn't that clean. But anyway, super glue and some reinforcing around the posts and she's back in operation. And yes, like Papou I ordered another and it's stored safely in the van in case my DIY repair has a short life.
Dunmowin said
08:15 PM Apr 27, 2017
Great report Doug. It is just as well we GNs have plenty of time on our hands, and the need to keep our selves busy, other wise, the sales people would get too much work from us. Where there is a will, there is a way. And, there is always a way, we just need to work it out ourselves.
Tony Bev said
09:18 PM Apr 27, 2017
A good and informative description, with pictures Doug, so thanks for that
My Thetford cassette looks similar to yours, but obviously an older model
I am sure that your description will help me, and others in the future
A lot of people do not realise that, when something stops working, far away from a repair centre, there are only two option
Grin and bare it, until you can take it to a repair centre / bring a repairman in or
Hi all.
I have done this post as I knew nothing about what I am about to try and explain so thought there might be someone out there as silly as me and this might just help them. For those that already know about this, sorry, you will think I am so silly. Sorry again, but I already know that
I have a Thetford C260-CS toilet in my van and had a problem yesterday opening the slide for whatever reason you open a toilet slide in van for
I ended up having to force it open but in the process something 
gave way and therefore had a problem. Went outside to slide canister out but it too was stuck and needed force to get out. I will continue with pics as well.
This is the toilet
and this is the sort of canister I am talking about
Now, I thought I had buggered it for sure and could see no way of sorting it out myself and started ringing around yesterday to find a new canister, without luck and thought I would end up in Brisbane tomorrow, Wednesday as today is Anzac day, LEST WE FORGET.
I could not for the life of me work out how that round section came off, I tried lifting with a flat end screwdriver, no go, I then tried rotating it left and right but still no go, the reason for a new one. I started to do check around the Net for some help and here on the forum by searching but still no luck. However, I did find you can get that big round bit as a spare part and all the fittings etc are attached to the underside so thought it had to come off some how.
Anzac Day, today, arrived and after my usual Anzac morning ritual decided to put the disposable gloves on, flop, bang and on they were, I felt like a doctor
I then forced my fingers in to move the slide and out the way, then with both hands discovered the round bit does actually come off by turning anti-clockwise 
That successfully removed now noticed the slide mechanism had come of the pivot point and everything was extrememly dirty so set about cleaning then replacing all the bits and bobs correctly, give a good spray of lubricant and replacing. I was feeling very happy and confident that that was the problem. I had loosened everything by forcing it to the point it came adrift. I testing the opening, shutting and sliding and all works. Job well done and no need for any $$$$ to be spent.
I then replaced canister in it's house from outside of van, went inside and checked the slide handle all worked, nope, no go, bugga. I went back outside and removed canister, got on hands and knees nearly upside down and probably not a pretty site at all
and found there was a plastic gear like mechanism with a screw in middle. Had a good look at it and thought it looked around the wrong way so undid screw turned it around and tightened screw up again. Slid canister in and went back inside to check. BINGO. It all worked like new 
I went back out and sprayed lubricant all around anything than moved or slid then put everything back together.
A successful test once again and I just saved myself at least $200 for a new canister
I have learnt heaps through this experience and even though I lubricated the rubber ring on top of canister on a regular basis I found there are more sliding and moving parts that would benifit from lubricating as well.
Room for thought everyone.
Keep Safe on the roads and out there.
-- Edited by Dougwe on Tuesday 25th of April 2017 02:11:02 PM
Definately a successful s**t job Doug.
Aussie Paul.
Ten seconds to get the newy back in place by pressing down and twisting to the right this time and line up the arrows. The new one also came with another plastic thingamabob that you can just see on the top right corner of your last pic and in the meantime i scrubbed n cleaned to old one and reglued the plastc bits the sheared and good as new for a sparey :)..
Great report Doug. It is just as well we GNs have plenty of time on our hands, and the need to keep our selves busy, other wise, the sales people would get too much work from us. Where there is a will, there is a way. And, there is always a way, we just need to work it out ourselves.
A good and informative description, with pictures Doug, so thanks for that
My Thetford cassette looks similar to yours, but obviously an older model
I am sure that your description will help me, and others in the future
A lot of people do not realise that, when something stops working, far away from a repair centre, there are only two option
or