Ok, I promised an update, so here's what happened. After I received the replacement motor and discharge tube I had high hopes of finally, (after 6 years) having a reliable head. In years past, I have had several conversations with dealers and even with the factory regarding what I consider a design defect in the discharge tube. No one would admit that there was ever a problem, and they all said I was the only one to see the issue, but strangely several years later they engineered a solution in the form of a newly designed discharge tube. I spent a couple years trying to get one, but had little luck until this month. Finally, I thought the problem is solved. So, I installed the new motor (the 3rd one) and tube, a job better left to your imagination due to the difficulty of access. After putting it all back together, it worked just great,
but only ONCE!. It then refused to flush again just like it did when the old tube was clogged.
Well, after taking it apart AGAIN, I discovered a manufacturing defect in the new tube! The newly designed cross-over was plugged from the factory due to a core shift when it was molded. About an hour with a Dremmel tool, razor knife and a punch and it was open like it should have been. I called Thetford to discuss the problem, and guess what? They had never heard of that happening before, big surprise. The offered to ship a replacement, but we were due to depart the next day, so I fixed the original one.
Finally, I'm happy to report that all is working well for now. Actually, the first time I flushed it it scared me because it was suddenly silent. I thought the motor was defective, but while putting it back together I thought the motor might have been incorrectly oriented from the beginning, so I reoriented it to a better position, and suddenly the operation is truly silent.
So, a year from now, hopefully I will have a different opinion of Tecma, due to the redesigned discharge tube. Time will tell..........Arctic Traveller