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Hi all

Well we had our first outing in our new (to us) caravan. We went for 2 nights at Burford CC site. The site was excellent and except for the weather the first night went brilliant. Until disaster struck. Because there is only 1 shower/toilet block at burford which we managed to park the furthest away, we decided to use the facilities in our caravan. However on the 2nd night we went into the washroom only to find water on the floor. i thought this was a burst pipe or maybe a Joint had come loose, i checked them all and found all to be okay. I switched the pump off and drained down the system and we mopped all the water up. put towels on the floor and retired for the night. The next morning i went back into the washroom to check and it was still leaking from somewhere. So it was the end of our holiday and time to pack up which led me to empty the toilet cassette. when i opened the door out pored urine, i removed the cassette to find 1" of urine in there. Now the cassete was only around 1 quarter full so i have no idea how this happened. it took me an hour to clean it up and sanitise the whole washroom. Now my worries are is there any perminent damage done, as everyone on here talks about the dreaded D word. Will that happen to me? Any advise would be much appreciated. I think i may be caravanning on my own now as my wife is rather put off.

I'm not really sure what happened, but you have my sympathy.  I still wouldn't have cut my holiday short though.  Bad things sometimes happen.  No need to make them worse by losing your holiday as well.

Is the cassette one of those with a flap, operated by a lever?  I think from memory that this just slots on to the top of the cassette as you slide it in.  Just a theory, but if the flap handle was in the wrong position when the cassette went in, it might have opened the top flap but not the one in the actual cassette.

This would have meant that liquids would have dropped on top of the cassette and run down the sides, starting to fill the compartment.

You can check by putting the cassette back in. opening the flap and peering down the hole.  You should be able to see the bottom of the inside of the cassette.  It may be as simple as that, and won't happen again.

Was the original flood just water, or was it urine?  Not really sure what has happened there.

I'm not an expert on damp, and there are many on this forum who will advise.  I would have thought a one-off wetting wouldn't start any problems, as long as you dry it all thoroughly.  I think ventilation is important in theprocess.

As for getting your wife to go again, I'm sorry I can't help, I've never had any control over women.  It's not easy at the moment, but you will look back and laugh - eventually.

About 40 years ago, when toilets were plastic buckets with lids, we wer rushing to catch an early ferry, and went down a mountain road without puting the travelling cover on.  It is funny now, but it took 40 years...  No, by next year it will be a funny story, not a disaster.

Best of luck with it.

Jim

Quote: Originally posted by LegsDownKettleOn on 24/8/2010

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(most likely incorrect fitting of the cassette)

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Quote: Originally posted by Rune Caster on 24/8/2010

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Quote: Originally posted by LegsDownKettleOn on 24/8/2010

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(most likely incorrect fitting of the cassette)

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How do you manage to incorrectly fit a thetford cassette?

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On the 2 van's i've owned you couldn't!  But i suppose there are always some where you could.  Hope that that is what it was with that 'van :)

Our previous Pageant did the same, dealer had a look could not find anything amiss. They lubricated all the moving parts with silicon spray and checked for alignment.

We cleaned out the compartment with water and a disinfectant solution, luckily it all found its way out through the bottom and not under the floor covering.

The tech at the dealer told us that the floor on Baileys is actually sealed(varnish or similar)so there should be no soaking in! Don't know about other makes.

Hi again. thanks for all your advise its great. And im glad its not only happened to me. After some thinking my wife is coming back round to the idea as the positives are so far outweighing the negatives. Today i filled a watering can and pured it down the toilet, tried with blade closed and open and it didnt leak anywhere so im thinking i must have done something wrong the last time i fitted it. I do need to get it serviced but after buying the van and all the bits and a towbar etc im struggling to scrape together the £200 + parts it will cost me. And Mrs T wants a porch awning ready for the Triumph Festival at Mallory Park next month. It never ends