Thetford Aqua Magic IV toilet - sealant?

[wayne49]

I'm replacing seals on a Thetford Aqua Magic IV toilet.

There is a grey goop that lies in a channel on top of the the base that the seat sets on.
The Thetford parts list just calls it "sealant".
Searching the internet yields no clues as to that substance. YT how to vids skip that part.

I have plumber's putty in a small tub. It doesn't appear to be the same gooey consistency.
It looks like it should be something that comes in a string like form. It was still soft and pliable after an unknown number of years in lower Nevada.

Any ideas?
Thanks in advance for useful replies.

 

[B and C]

This may be what you are looking for: https://www.amazon.com/Thetford-12524-Aqua-Closet-Package/dp/B002UC6W0S
Other than this I am not sure what you are trying to describe.

 

[highdesertranger]

picture? highdesertranger

 

[maki2]

That is "plumbers grease" it comes in a tube. You can get it in the plumbing department of a hardware store.

 

[B and C]

Plumbers grease is used for moving parts where there is water. The grease can also be put on O rings or other sealing type washers. Still not sure what part you are describing.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

 

[[email protected]]

Just use a standard wax ring.

 

[B and C]

Just use a standard wax ring.

No, no, no

 

[maki2]

Plumbers grease is used for moving parts where there is water.  The grease can also be put on O rings or other sealing type washers.  Still not sure what part you are describing.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

 Here is a written, mental, visual picture for you. Hope it clears up your confusion about why I said that plumbers grease is what is needed.

There are lots of parts on these toilet compared to ones used in a house. On these the bowl area (that has the seat on it) is a section that is separate from a lower section that mounts against the floor. Between the two sections on some models of Thetford toilets there is indeed an O ring. One some of the various models in the parts diagrams Thetford describes it as a "shroud O ring" and it  does fit into a small groove as described by the person who asked the question about what is the "lubricant" which was the identifying word used on the parts diagram label at that specific location . So that is where the plumbers grease lubricant is needed and because it is O ring that is used there that means that plumbers grease is indeed the appropriate product for the job. And of course it does match the physical description of the mystery substance found in that groove.

Mystery substance has been correctly identified

 

[wayne49]

I found the owners manual pdf at this link:
https://www.thetford.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/1440/Installation-Owners-Manual.pdf
Page 5 has a illustration and description of parts for the AQ IV.
Relevant part is #28.

 

[wayne49]

I took too long editing the last post. This info was supposed to be in that post.
It looks like a one piece gasket in the image, but it is a gray goo, non drying, applied from a tube, I guess. My tub of plumbers putty does not have the same consistency and would be a mess to apply into the narrow channel.
Normally water would never be present in this area. I think it is for odor control. The internal area of the base is open to the black tank.
Plumbers grease appears to be used for lubrication of o-rings and faucet stems.

If no one here has specific, relevant knowledge, don't worry about it, I will make inquiries elsewhere.

 

[nature lover]

Good job folks now could you help me identify a brown semi solid substance in my porta potty?

 

[highdesertranger]

part #28 looks like a special O-Ring type seal. order it from thetford. highdesertranger

 

[B and C]

Specialty item for sure. The one you now have may have deteriorated and turned to goo.

 

[wayne49]

Lesson learned from this project.
Don't remove something that doesn't need replacing. The grey goo was not dried out, etc.

My thinking was automotive based, if there a gasket or seal, and the thing is already apart, then replace the gasket or seal.

The blade seal and the closet flange definitely needed replacing. The goo did not.

Today at Do It Best in Pahrump, "We have putty and we have grease, that's it."

This substance from 1989 is apparently unknown in the 21st century. Maybe it caused cancer and was disappeared. Maybe it was a gift from extraterrestrial aliens and when it ran out humans could not figure out how to manufacture it.

 

[wayne49]

It was definitely not decomposed material. In my four plus years in a Nevada desert, I have seen what decomp looks like of many materials. This place is a veritable museum of the effects of decomposition on various manmade materials.

It looked okay, had a shine, removed easily, pliable, somewhat sticky, non crumbling. The blade seal, and the closet flange, on the other hand, looked like crap.

If it was an actual manufactured part, then it would have a part number on the Thetford parts diagram. It is only referred to as "sealant" on the Thetford parts diagram.

Maybe lap sealant would work, stuff does stay pliable. If the blade seal can last the rest of my expected time with the RV, then I would not care about being able to take the top off the base.

Thanks for the replies and ideas.

Frustrating project.

 

[maki2]

does it look a bit like this stuff but spread out into the bottom of that groove? Remember that over time substances can get thicker and firm up such as turning from a paste into a string just because it has remained in that shape for a number of years. They can also somewhat change their color.

 

[wayne49]

No, that looks greasy. Thank you for following up.

It looked like sealant, as in grey lap sealant, though "lap" is not a requirement in this usage. I focused on "plumbing" as being essential, when it mattered not at all. Over thinking things.
Explains why the parts diagram just said "sealant". Very generic. A search on "RV sealant" return the relevant products.

I found I already had an unopened tube of a white sealant which had the necessary properties.

The lap sealant I have previously used (roof vents) was always exposed to the sun and air, but generally still flexible, but dull and stiffer. The fact that the sealant wasn't dried up threw me off as well.

The RV toilet had never been exposed to sun and the sealant itself was never exposed to air.

The toilet is sitting on a work table, holding water as we speak. Took some elbow grease with a Scotch Brite pad to clean the blade area, to get the support collar and the blade seal to set correctly over the blade. The toilet does need to taken apart to replace the blade seal, I wasn't wrong there.

Final cosmetic assembly and placing it back into position happens whenever I decide to get back outside.

Interesting mechanism. Three pieces of metal, two springs and a rod, and the blade seal, the rest is plastic.

The past week I also repaired a failure on a printed circuit board in the hood monitor. A circuit on the board had lost adhesion, curled up and broke. No tank gauges were working. Ran a jumper wire with the correct diode in the middle to bypass the failure. Also replaced the hour meter in the hood monitor for the generator.

Back in January I replaced the brake master cylinder.

RVs are very interesting in the range of devices that need to be maintained.

 

[bonvanroulez]

I just read your original post, the words "gray goop" and "string-like form" sound an awful lot like "caulk rope" or I always heard of it as "Mortite".

It comes in a ribbon of individual beads, you just tear off a bead or multiple beads if you need thicker. The roll looks like:


You didn't say how big of a bead your sealant is. These beads are maybe about 1/8", but again you can use multiples if you need thicker. There is a thicker rope with a single 1/4" bead but the one above is all I've used. It's less gooey than say plumber's putty or window glazing putty, and it's not as sticky or rubbery as butyl tape.

The stuff you found may be a specialized sealant spec'd and made only for Thetford manufacturing but the caulk rope sounds really close to what you need. Check out this 17 second video to see if it looks like the stuff.

[video=youtube]

 

[wayne49]

Task has been completed. The plastic throne is in place.
Thanks for the tip. I did see rolls of that type of product, but I did not need 20-30 ft, with multiple strands, to complete this small, less than 3 ft, task. While a roll was cheap, the shipping was not.
Also, what was there was not caulk like. It was a never drying nor hardening sealant that could be easily scraped out with a small flat blade screwdriver.

 

[maki2]

Sounds like butyl rubber which is what that rope caulk is that the other poster was showing. It also comes in tube form and in flat ribbon like rolls in various colors. Gets use for all kinds of sealing tasks. I have gone through several rolls of it while doing a stripped down to the shell renovation of my travel trailer. I use it to mount my sink instead of using plumber's putty. Mount the windows, gasket the various inlets and outlets that go through the walls. Put it between the fiberglass shell and the new frame. Use it on bolts to keep water from infiltrating along the threads. All around great, lifetime, stays soft and flexible, sealant.

No need to mail order it in, that rope caulk that the other person posted is sold in the hardware stores in the weather stripping aisle. Comes in large sized and smaller sized rolls. Also sold in RV stores in smaller quantities on the rack next to the roof and sidewall vents.