Taming the Thetford "stinker".

[T and C]

Much has been said on this forum about the smell problem from the Thetford recirculating toilet. We have noticed the problem although we do not find it unbearable. Many years of tent camping from the 50's to the 80's made us familiar with the pit toilets in campgrounds. I figure that one trip to a pit toilet must equal about 1 year in total olefactory offensiveness from the Thetford. As usual, the DW smells the thing before I do.

Several months ago I read a post from Bill, I think, that recommended a product called Potty Toddies. As we were going to be staying in our TM for about 10 nights I decided to get some and try them out.

Bill recommended using the blue thetford liquid and then adding 1 PT tablet per day. I tried that and it seemed to work quite well. The two of us only used the Stinker at night so it lasted for about a week before filling up. I had brought along a 6 gallon tote so I was able to dump into that and take it to an RV park in town to empty it. We were parked next to a relative's cabin with only electricity connected.

Last month we attended the Pismo Beach TM rally. We spent 4 nights there. When we arrived I discovered I had let myself run out of the Thetford liquid stuff for the toilet. I did have the Potty Toddies though. So I decided to try using just those things. It says on the label that 1 tablet treats a 50 gallon waste tank. So I threw in 2 when I charged it, and one a day afterwards. We had access to an excellent bathroom at the RV park, so we only used it for liquid wastes. No problema at all.

I figure we will try the PT method for a "full use" campout soon, and report the results afterward.

So far, so good.

Tom

[countrygirl]

Ewww pit toilets! I only had that experience one time...in Marshall, Mo. At the selfbo Jamboree called MoJam.

My thetford smells like a rose compared to a pit toilet.

[ShrimpBurrito]

Many of the pit toilets I have used don't smell at all, especially the ones where the door handle looks alot like a shovel.

Dave

Where we usually go there are no pit toilets, no power, no water, cell phones don't work, and the road on the way in was 6 inches deep in mud.

My son and and I can survive without a toilet at all. My daughter can also, but not quite as easily as us guys. The three of us still go backpacking, even though they are now 28 and 30.

My wife can if she has to. She went backpacking until her knees gave out 15 years ago.

Then there is my daughter-in-law. She can get by with a pit toilet, but can not live with no toilet.

For a flush toilet I have to carry yet more water in and then haul the waste out. Anything to reduce water requirements is a necessity.

Most of the people that read these forums probably do not go where I go.

We have no trouble with odor until the temperature gets above 90 degrees. but if that was the case I would usually camp at a higher elevation. So far I have never found it necessary to camp higher that 6,000 feet to beat the heat.

The Potty Toddy tablets do help a lot. I get them a WalMart.

[Brittany Dogs]

I too have tried the formula of using an 8oz. bottle of blue and two potty toddy tablets. Since the temperature was only in the low 70 s, I did not see much of a difference with the added two PT tablets. I'm sure if it was 90 outside I would.

Hands down, the Stinker works great if it has no #2 solids in it. You can get away with most any formula if you do that. We do both 1 and 2 and in hot weather, the toilet becomes a bit of a challenge but not to the point where we'll stop using it for #2.

What I find very, very interesting is what lengths we all go to to make this toilet work with solids in hot weather. Think about it. We add 8oz of blue which is designed to work with like 40 gallons. We add two Potty Toddy tablets which are designed for 50 gallons each. So we add chemicals designed to treat 140 gallons of liquid in a 3 gallon initial level solution with this recirc toilet. WOW!! We stink.

I like my Thetford recirc toilet but I must say I loved the Thetford Cassette toilet my Coleman tent camper had. Using the cassette toilet for 14 years I can see how it would have been a good fit for the TM units across the board. The thing TM could do to make it really work great, the cassette toilet that is, is to include perhaps a second black water tank which is unique to this toilet.

Anyhow, the point of my post is to just say how I can't believe how concentrated the chemicals have to be to make this toilet work just a bit shy of OK.

[countrygirl]

[QUOTE=Brittany Dogs;87968]What I find very, very interesting is what lengths we all go to to make this toilet work with solids in hot weather. Think about it. We add 8oz of blue which is designed to work with like 40 gallons. We add two Potty Toddy tablets which are designed for 50 gallons each. So we add chemicals designed to treat 140 gallons of liquid in a 3 gallon initial level solution with this recirc toilet. WOW!! We stink./QUOTE]

No wonder our eyes sort of burn sometimes. Maybe I am using too much chemical. I use the same..1 bottle of blue and 2 pt tabs.