Cassette toilet in freezing or hot weather

[cadillackid]

I have a thetford 565 electric camping toilet I take with me from time to time in the DEV bus.. winter is about over, but soon summer will be here before we know it..



I have generally taken it in and oiut of the bus and stored it in my basement each night in winter.. the black tank gets emptied if ive used it and the fresh water stays in..


can you run a mixture or straight RV antifreeze in these things to be able to use them in winter time? does urine react with the RF antifreeze?


typically i park the bus at night wqith just the engine block heater and battery charger when its at home base.. it would be nice to be able to leave the toilet inside and not have to take it out each night if im planning to use the bus again the next day or two.. I dont really want to have to leave the diesel heater on all night unattended..



this winter i have gotten back to using my DEV bus nearly every day again like when first got it..


the other question I have is if its cool in the morning then heats up inside the bus during the day from being parked.. does the black tank off-gas odor? I cant find anywhere on the unit to route a vent tube that I could route to the bus wall or such.. rewgular black tanks are vented to the outside but i dont see a way to do that with this unit.



just interested to hear others' experiences with portable camping style toilets like these and what you do in more extreme weather..

[Booyah45828]

Good question.

I've got a camco unit and have wanted to do the same for awhile.

I've considered putting rv antifreeze in mine(the clean side) in case I happen to forget about it and we have a hard freeze. I'm not familiar with the plastics inside to know how they would react though, And an email to camco wasn't helpful,

[tguy1241]

Since the toilet holds some liquid, have you thought about using one of the chemicals used in an outdoor swimming pool to keep it from freezing in the winter? I have no info on this myself, but if it works, the end result would be the same. Can’t hurt to Google what is in the pool anti-freeze chemicals. You might get lucky.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by tguy1241

Since the toilet holds some liquid, have you thought about using one of the chemicals used in an outdoor swimming pool to keep it from freezing in the winter? I have no info on this myself, but if it works, the end result would be the same. Can’t hurt to Google what is in the pool anti-freeze chemicals. You might get lucky.

looks like its a glycol mixture.. this is also a new thing I never k ew existed.. pool antifreeze.. the people around me drain their pool down a couple feet and blow air through the plumbing to clear it all out.. and the pool may get an ice cap of a foot or so at max but being below ground they dont freeze solid...



ive been reading more and more where people who RV on and off in winter use RV antifreeze in their toilets without issue... at least their built in toilets.. several on irv2 (i always forget about them).. mentioned they keep their freshwater systems drained and carry bottled water / RV antifreeze mix to "flsuh" their toilet with.. it apparently doesnt react to urine or feces.. being my cassette toilet is not potable water i could run the antifreeze in it all winter it looks like...



since im not out long periods, my black tank is likely never going to be close to full.. thus far ive just emptied it into my home toilet without issue..


something I had forgotten about was absorbant "latrine" bags that apparently can be disposed of (at least with urine) in the trash? at least onbe on irv lines their toilet bowl with one of those when winter camping so they can keep their water systems winterized..



doesnt that bring up the whole conversation of whether its legal / ethical to toss poop or pee in the trash... an answer I still have zero idea of..



my thoughts of using a cassette toilet were to avoid such.. as small amounts i can simply flush.. larger fills i could go to an RV dumping station..



this is all pretty new to me.. but my main hang-up from using my Bus as more than a few-hour office have been a toilet.. showers i can handle at a truck stop, food i eat out all the itme anyway, sleeping - my air mattress is quite comfy.. , heat - my diesel heater rocks,. A/C - im going to install parked A/C and maybe more batteries so thats an on issue.. but the Loo has always been taboo

[tguy1241]

Here in Illinois, the pool supply stores sell a special liquid or powdered mixture which “winterizes” the pool water to keep it from freezing. Then in the Spring, they sell a product which “opens” the pool. It clears out the winter product and refreshes the water. This way, you don’t waste any water with emptying and then refilling it. I don’t own a pool but know people who do and they all use these products. They also have a cover to place over the top of the pool which keeps out falling leaves and other debris. Isn’t science wonderful?! As far as disposing of the toilet contents in the trash, there are some campers who have ‘composting’ toilets which separate liquid from solids, but they argue that with camping, you are on the move so much, there really isn’t any way to compost the waste, as it takes weeks to months for it to break down. Not quite the ideal situation for composting, I guess.