Our caravan , secondhand,had it 2 weeks. toilet is a thetford casstete type , not electric flush . when we use the flush there are lots of little brown bits coming out with the flush water .
Its not unpleasant smelling or anything , will this just clear up in time as we keep using it ,we have used it for 2 weekends now.
or is there another way of clearing them out .
the fresh water and pink fluid goes in via a swing out filler tube in the outside locker .
We bought ours in March and ours is the same. I wondered if it was because it had not been used for a while and thought like you that it would clear up eventually.
If it was a portaloo, no problem you could just keep rinsing it out , but as the top tank is fixed inside the van ? I may try repeatedly flushing it next time out and refilling it a couple of times to see if it works, couldnt be bothered this weekend TBH.
its not causing any problems or blockages , i guess it wasnt emptied properly before the winter and the water has just gone brown , these are like little hard bits, look a bit like tea leaves .
I think the standard reply is not to use the Thetford fluids.
How to clean out the brown or black bits? There are a few tank cleaners on the market designed to do this have a check around the caravan stores on line or real ones (watch you don't buy a new caravan by mistake though )
------------- Caravanning is a way of getting a cheap holiday out of an expensive hobby
fill with milton and leave over night then flush out with clean water.its just mould/mold/algae in the water.mainly caused by the pink stuff.you can also use fendox by fenwicks cleaners.
We had this problem and bought a bottle of tank cleaner from our local caravan dealers (after trying various remedies ourselves) - it wasnt cheap but worked immediately and the problem hasnt recurred. We have also stopped used the Thetford fluids, there are plenty of alternatives on the market.
Quote: Originally posted by Rune Caster on 26/4/2010
I think the standard reply is not to use the Thetford fluids.
How to clean out the brown or black bits? There are a few tank cleaners on the market designed to do this have a check around the caravan stores on line or real ones (watch you don't buy a new caravan by mistake though )
so if you shouldnt use the pink stuff what else should I use instead ?
I had the same problem using Thetford chemicals in a porta potti when we were in a trailer tent almost immediately, the bits appeared in the flush water. I have since changed to a caravan and started using Elsan blue and Pink. In 4 years, not a single black bit has appeared. I won't be going back to Thetford chemicals again.
Or just use untreated water; dumping it after each trip so it does not go off [not going to cost you and waste product].
Then having some "pink" solution in a cheap plastic house plant type spray and freshening the bowl after each "use". The spray does a much better job of sanitizing all round the toilet than the flush ever does.
Quote: Originally posted by beefysmum on 26/4/2010
Quote: Originally posted by Rune Caster on 26/4/2010I think the standard reply is not to use the Thetford fluids.
How to clean out the brown or black bits? There are a few tank cleaners on the market designed to do this have a check around the caravan stores on line or real ones (watch you don't buy a new caravan by mistake though )
so if you shouldnt use the pink stuff what else should I use instead ?
We use the Elsan pink without the problem - it just appears to be the Thetford pink that causes the problem
------------- Caravanning is a way of getting a cheap holiday out of an expensive hobby
Ours does the same thing, is it only the Thetford pink that is the problem or does the blue have the same effect or is it a mixture of the both. The tip about the Milton is a good idea, i'll give that a go next time we have the van at home. Michael, I assume you dilute the MIlton in the usual way?