Regarding the Options in Toilet Choices ....
A very distressing situation arose on Thursday last when our Sealand Magnum Opus VacuFlush Turbo Turd 3000 commode declined to flush. The procedures for "manual override" and "service" were not cooperating, either. Calls to Sealand / Dometic (who apparently purchased Sealand and have renamed it Dometic Sanitation) led me through sequential layers of voice prompts without the joy of ever reaching a human being. I finally left a voice mail message expressing my frustration and asking for help on Friday morning.
But ... on to the real problem. After much study of the TWO owners manuals (because we seem to have a hybrid collection of toilet and electronic components) we determined that the "board" that manages the toilet functions was still good (Hooray!, because that is about $700!) but that the Flush Valve Motor which operates the half-ball closure at the bottom of the bowl was the culprit. No help coming from Dometic, I called Environmental Marine here in Florida and began tracking down said motor. I DID reach a human being! A fellow named "Fernando" was trying to find the model toilet and then the motor in question and having great difficulty. Why, you ask? I asked also, and finally Fernando was able to tell me,"Oh! I half no seen one offf dose for a bery long time! Maybe two or tree years! Dat is ossolete! You need to buy a new toilet!" Crickets. "Really?", says I, "And how much would a new toilet be?" "Oh, well, I can sell you the new model for $1372.45! In Almond, juss like you wan'!" "I think I will pass, but thanks anyway.", says I ... and I call Foretravel.
Billy Jack (who has a mind like a steel trap) thinks he has a motor squirreled away and finds it. We make arrangements for Next Day, Red Tag, Hot Label UPS and I cross my fingers and set up a visit from a repair guy who is coming from an hour away but knows Sealand toilets. Oh ... and it is raining like no body's business and the campground facilities are waaaaay far away. Of course.
Saturday dawns stormy, windy, monsoons, tornado warnings ... and no UPS. We are still investigatingTHAT issue, but bottom line is that it becomes Monday before there is a chance of toilet repair and it is STILL raining. At about 3PM on Monday, the motor arrives and we determine that it looks like the part pictured in the manual, so it is safe to begin chiseling the commode off the floor (it has been grouted in by the last owners tile job). Yup ... there are the "works" of this Sealand, exactly as pictured ... but guess what??? The motor is probably just fine. It is the "Motor Arm" that works the half ball back and forth that has broken! BECAUSE IT IS PLASTIC!!!
And because these toilets are "ossolete", there are none of these little 4" plastic bits on anyone's shelf, either! Repair Guy is disgusted with the cheapness of the part, given the function it is meant to perform, and we all agree that his machinist should give a try to fabricating a new one from metal. He leaves, and will return for the next attempt at repair. Oh ... and I get a phone call about 5pm on Monday from some chirpy gal named "Heidi" at Dometic, telling me that she is the Human Being I requested in my message on Friday. She becomes almost indignant when I express my feeling that they are doing a less than wonderful job at supporting the products that are still in use out in the big, wide world and cannot seem to understand why I am unhappy at the thought of spending a cartload of money for lack of an $8 piece of PLASTIC!!! ... and Oh, by the way,Heidi ... I called you for help 3 days ago!
The real message in this overlong post is to alert folks who may have a 3000 Series Sealand VacuFlush commode that there are no parts left. They have been "superseded" by the 4000 series! I will be taking the motor back to Foretravel when we go there on April 1. Start pricing the Thetford units, in case your toilet fails. I am going to do more research when we get to the Factory in April. It has been a loooong 5 days!
Topic: Regarding the Options in Toilet Choices ....