portable flush toilets? who has used them

[cadillackid]

as Covid goes on and the reality is the summer is over here in the crappy great-lakes area.. I realize that habving some type of toilet in my busses would be a real nicety. as I have made out pretty well using the DEV bus for a mobile dining-area, workspace, and of course travelling machine..



I am looking at the idea of a portable cassette toilet solution ..something like these


https://www.thetford.com/products/toilets/portable/


mainly because i dont need to permanently alter the bus to use it and I can move it from bus to bus..


a magnetic curtain to the ceiling for pivacy thus I dont need to cut and build walls...



I just feel its safer than constantly running into piublic bathrooms through crowded restaraunts where I got my takeout or where many hands and noses have been.. mainly for #1 but well if nature calls out the big guns I want to be able to appease..





first off im not interested in any kind of compost or home depot bucket or home built diverter etc.. I like to FLUSH a toilet.. just how I am.. im a City boy...




has anyone used these type of flush-style toilets before? from what I understand you have a fresh tanl and a black tank.. and that you can empty its black tank into a standard toilet.. in my case it would get emptied every day so not anticpating ever filling up a 5 gallon tank.



I read where they can be used at campsites or in van-swellings etc. but I see no mention of outside venting.. however my curious mind wants to know how do you keep the stink down if there is no vent?


if i use the toilet in the morning and the bus is 70 inside. and then it sits parked in the sun and gets up to 80 plus inside.. natural physics says the air in that toilet tank is going to build pressure and need to vent..



has anyone ever vented one of these type toilets? I wouldnt have a problem drilling a small hole in the bus for a vent.. something I cpould easily plug with a rubber pllug when the toilet is not in use or such..



can you use them in freezing temperatures? since the fresh water isnt potable can you put RV antifreeze in its fresh tank? my bus sits overnight unheated if im at home and doint necessarily want to lug the whole toilet in and out every night.. if RV antifreeze can be utilized in the tanks and mechanisms seems like id be set?


thoughts?



-Christopher

[Dead pirate]

Ive used the 365 for about a year. Emptying is fairly easy. But often. I've never had one freeze.
I don't have a garden so a compost toilet is useless. Haha. Now i have an r.v. set up i stripped from junked r.v.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Dead pirate

Ive used the 365 for about a year. Emptying is fairly easy. But often. I've never had one freeze.
I don't have a garden so a compost toilet is useless. Haha. Now i have an r.v. set up i stripped from junked r.v.

so you went from the 365 portable to a black tank style RV toilet? im not so worried about emptying often as im only goin g to use it if I happen to be out and about and gotta go where no safe restroom is available.. ill prob empty it every day just to keep it clean and odor free

[Dead pirate]

Yeah. There are 3 of us. And i dump it every 3 weeks.

[Native]

I did not see any prices listed. Any clue there?

[cadillackid]

The 565 I have been looking at is in the 200-250 range depending on where you go.

The general response I’ve gotten from several people with them is positive but like DP says the capacity is small, great for one or two that have access to facilities every couple days or so but not good for families or where you need longer time between dumps.

I met a couple who loves theirs , they stay in campgrounds but we’re uncomfortable going out at night to the campground restroom due to bears and coyotes in several places they stay so the porta was easily dumped every day if they used it at all, they also might overnight in a rest area and same thing, wife uncomfortable at 3am In a rest area bathroom.

They had tried a “compost” but the wife had issues with the diverter and it stank all the time .. they prefer the windows closed when travelling or sleeping. ( hence how I met them.. I fixed the road air-conditioner)

[tobeamiss]

I think you may be over paying for what you need. I've also been looking at them and from my research, camco might be the way to go, at least for me. It does get good reviews.
But....Do you really need the 565? It's a bit more pricey. For your occasional needs, I'm thinking the 365. 4.5 gallon fresh and 5.5 gallon black tank...swivel hose for easier dumping and piston pump. Just saying...
Here it is on Amazon at a much lower price than you're willing to pay for the 565.

And then here are 2 that I'm deciding on from Camco (I think) at a much better price. I still have more research to do though for myself.

[cadillackid]

the main reason for the 565 is the electric flush vs the piston pump, maybe electric flush is overkill like you say for what im doing with it.

-Christopher

[Dead pirate]

Walmart has one for $60 its a hand pump obviously

[roach711]

We've been using one of the Thetford 365's in our bus since the beginning and it's done very well for us. Fresh water is stored in the top of the unit and the black tank is down below with a sliding seal between the tanks. The seal is normally closed so you take a pee then slide open the seal to drain into the bottom tank then press the flush plunger a time or two to flush. Close the seal and Bob's your uncle. No smells and no venting required. I splash in some Thetford Campa-chem toilet treatment before using ours and I never notice a urine smell (we only use ours for #1).

When the park restrooms were all closed down earlier this year we drove the bus instead of the car so we'd have somewhere to take a leak. For me it wasn't such a problem but the wife can't just duck behind a tree to answer the call.

In cold weather some RV antifreeze in the upper tank should keep it from freezing. The top and bottom tanks separate so you only have to haul the bottom out to empty it.

[tobeamiss]

Thanks for the review on the Thetford! I'm leaning towards that now because the reviews on Camco aren't looking too good. I'll be ordering one today so I appreciate your input

[tobeamiss]

Christopher.....
Did you get one?

[cadillackid]

I did not (yet) get one.. things didnt get to the point here (yet?) where public places to pee went away (liek they did in california).. ohio has stayed largely open so using my mobile office and going into large spread-out groceries or clean starbucks restrooms has remained open when im mobile officing, however if / when i do buy one the thetford will be it.. ive talked to several people i nthe last few months that van camp and the 2 models of thetford stand out as being the standard that work well with minimal to no odor and ease of emptying / cleaning. the thetford 365 is the one I found most have.. and the 565 a couple people have and said it is what most resembles the experience of a Home toilet with its electric flush and separate fresh / black tanks.



the *BIG* takeaway from all has been "DONT" fill it full before you empty it, since they are generally emptied into a home or public toilet if theres lots of #2 it can clog up a home toilet unless you pour a little, flush, pour a little flush, which can result in more mess / smell when cleaning..



emptying it often seems to be the big key to a cassette toilet as its much easier to handle the cassette and also be able to dump the whole thing at once.



-Christopher