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Foretravel Motorhome Forums => Foretravel Tech Talk => Topic started by: Lt403 on December 07, 2021, 03:54:38 pm

Title: Thetford Aria Deluxe II overhaul
Post by: Lt403 on December 07, 2021, 03:54:38 pm
Hi everyone ,
Time to hit the head!

Had the occasional odor & recently the blade mechanism was not opening every time, it's an electric flush. Upon reaching to manually open the blade mechanism I had some water on my hand. I put a blue paper towel down to see if I had a drip but nothing.

I shut the water off at the manifold and pulled the fuse under the bed and at the toilet.  and currently have the toilet out and have removed the pieces I am going to replace. You can see where the water was coming from the blade mechanism .

I will add to this post when I do the reinstall.

The toilet was sealed with silicone front and sides which took some time to remove, and I had to remove some adhesive sealant from the underside of the bowl.



Title: Re: Thetford Aria Deluxe II overhaul
Post by: Peter on December 07, 2021, 07:45:23 pm
LT 403
Aside from the issue you are referring to, how do you like that model. I am considering that as a replacement for my Microfor.  As a note there is NOTHING wrong with my 210 microfor. I just am being pro active and like the looks of the deluxe as well
Peter
Title: Re: Thetford Aria Deluxe II overhaul
Post by: Rudy on December 07, 2021, 08:36:57 pm
Peter, the SeaLand foot operated toilet has a more robust, easy to maintain mechanism.  Replaced my broken Aria that had to be removed to be fixed with the Sealand that can be maintained in place.
Title: Re: Thetford Aria Deluxe II overhaul
Post by: Lt403 on December 07, 2021, 09:23:24 pm
Hi Peter,
We like the toilet a lot. This is our first Rv so it's the only toilet we know.
So far removal has been easy. Soaking some parts overnight that have hard residue. Tomorrow I'll reinstall everything if it cleans up to my satisfaction.
It's the tall toilet, all ceramic with electric flush.
Title: Re: Thetford Aria Deluxe II overhaul
Post by: craneman on December 08, 2021, 12:51:12 am
The newer model uses a ball instead of a blade. Holds water for months and has never given a problem. I did replace the seal 2 years ago proactively.
Title: Re: Thetford Aria Deluxe II overhaul
Post by: Lt403 on December 08, 2021, 06:03:07 pm
A few more before and after pics.
The closet flange seal was horrible.
Soaked the extension tube and associated parts overnight in soapy water and still had to scrub stuff off today.
Installed new mechanism plate and new mechanism today.
Will let adhesive caulk dry overnight and finish install tomorrow
Title: Re: Thetford Aria Deluxe II overhaul
Post by: Lt403 on December 11, 2021, 07:40:33 pm
Well I got the toilet back in today.
I added a 1/8 inch spacer over the closet flange to raise it per the instructions to 7/16 above the floor.
The tile is a little higher in the back so i shimmed the front of the toilet with some 1/16 rubber that I cut up to stop the wobble that it had before.

Now I just need to stop the leak at the water line connection.
Tried plumbers tape a couple times but continues to leak even with a new cone washer I replaced.
I will try pipe dope tomorrow
Title: Re: Thetford Aria Deluxe II overhaul
Post by: wolfe10 on December 11, 2021, 07:57:53 pm
With cone washer you should need nothing else.  Check that the plastic is not cracked.
Title: Re: Thetford Aria Deluxe II overhaul
Post by: Blueeyedme on December 11, 2021, 08:00:01 pm
The newer model uses a ball instead of a blade. Holds water for months and has never given a problem. I did replace the seal 2 years ago proactively.

Hmm, I just looked at these and the Aria Deluxe II has a blade. What model are you referring to?
Title: Re: Thetford Aria Deluxe II overhaul
Post by: craneman on December 12, 2021, 12:23:30 am
My mistake I have the Sealand 4300 by Dometic. The pictures of the Thetford I have seen on the forum looked like mine. I had to get my owners manual out to find out what brand I have.
Title: Re: Thetford Aria Deluxe II overhaul
Post by: Lt403 on December 12, 2021, 09:11:43 am
I was surprised when I had the leak.
Hope it's not cracked, I've never dealt with pex before, don't have the tools.
I've read a little on shark bite push on fittings some like them and some don't.
Can I use a compression fitting instead?
Also, you can see in the 3rd pic that there is a metal elbow that is 3/4" and reduces down to 1/2 inch to connect to the water line. It's heavy and I was thinking of replacing it with PVC.
Title: Re: Thetford Aria Deluxe II overhaul
Post by: nbluesky on December 12, 2021, 10:55:12 am
The shark bite fittings work great. I have used them hundreds of times on construction projects to cap off water lines during demolition until plumbing gets re-worked. Only had one leak in all my time using them. Easy and simple, just a little spendier than pex fittings but for something like you are doing it works great. I would get rid of those metal fittings.
Title: Re: Thetford Aria Deluxe II overhaul
Post by: Blueeyedme on December 13, 2021, 11:32:38 am
My mistake I have the Sealand 4300 by Dometic. The pictures of the Thetford I have seen on the forum looked like mine. I had to get my owners manual out to find out what brand I have.

How do you like it?  I looked at the 4310 - Wow!  Seems like a nice unit.
Title: Re: Thetford Aria Deluxe II overhaul
Post by: craneman on December 13, 2021, 03:28:21 pm
How do you like it?  I looked at the 4310 - Wow!  Seems like a nice unit.
I like it very much, 6 years and no problems also low water usage. I did own a Monaco with the dreadful Microphor that was always costing too much money in parts to keep it going.