Thetford "Quasi" cassette!

[MarkoPolo]

As a new owner of a Trailmanor and a former owner of a Coleman Bayside with a Thetford cassette potty I have been reading all the toilet threads with great interest.
I really liked the cassette, easy to dump and effective.
I don't think the "recirculating" of liquids will be a problem if chemicals are used appropriately.
What I am concerned about is needed to unload at a dump site or get a caddy to handle waste. It was so easy with the cassette!
So, my plan is to try to achieve the best of both worlds. I have changed the black water cap to have one with a hose thread. I have a short 3/4" garden hose and a 7 gallon Aqua-tainer.
Note: at this point this is theoretical as I have not used the Trailmanor yet, but it seems with careful (Key word..careful!) opening of the black water valve I can basically use the Aqu-tainer as the "cassette" and dump in vault toilets when needed.
Looks great on paper.
Now I would love feedback from anyone who has tried this or something similar. I would love to learn from your mistakes. Seems a shame, and a lot of work, to take out a new toilet when this could work well.
Mark

[mjlaupp]

The Thetford depends on the "woosh" when it is dumped to remove all solids. Search for "woosh" and you will find several comments about this, example:
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ighlight=woosh

Just check Park regs on chemicals. Some toilet additives are harmful to septic systems used in parks and are prohibited. Also get a cap for the hose fitting you added to the TM drain cover as that must be sealed during travel in many states. No one will stop you for it, but if you get stopped and the officer is having a bad day, they can cite you. Have a back up plan as it is possible that solids that have not been in the Thetford long could clog the 3/4 hose and then you have a real mess. In addition, the design of the Thetford uses the high volume woosh of liquids when you open the large drain valve to clean itself. If you drain it slowly, you will most likely leave some solids in it. Your solution might work on a once in a while basis, but I would not use it all the time or you will have odor problems.

[Bill]

An AquaTainer is a blue plastic jug. I have two of them, bought at WalMart, and I use them for carrying fresh water. I also have a Blue Boy (a.k.a. blue tote) for emptying the waste tanks. Because they have such different shapes, there is no possibility of getting them mixed up!

I'm not sure how the use of an Aqua-Tainer is different from using a blue tote. In my case, the tote has a short length (about 3') of full-size slinky hose with a bayonet fitting on the open end. I just place the tote near the TM's outlet fitting, attach the bayonet fitting, pull the valve handle, and the tank drains into the tote. And because it is a full-size hose, I get the "Whoosh" that Mike referred to.

My tote has a capacity of 10 gallons, and some rather small wheels. I wouldn't want anything larger than 10 gallons, since water is heavy. But after a 6-gallon dump from the Thetford, it is quite managable. I can either roll it to the dump station or rest room, or pick it up and put it in the back of the Explorer and drive it to where it needs to go, and then empty it through the same slinky hose.

Nothing wrong with your use of an Aqua-Tainer, but as Mike mentioned the "whoosh" is important, and the blue tote provides it. You might consider it.

Bill

Just want to agree with the "woosh" comments. The Thetford depends on the pressure of emptying into a 3" hose for complete dumping. Anything less will lead to incomplete emptying and potential problems in the future. And when dumping a partially filled Thetford, I always fill it completely with water to increase the pressure.

[MarkoPolo]

Thanks for the "woosh" comments.
Does this happen when you pull the handle below the toilet or when you open the one for the black water?
I do have a flat 15 gallon tote that is to fit under a pop up. Very cumbersome and hard to carry. I was hoping for something just big enough to hold the Thetford contents, hence the 7 gallon container. Seems like the smallest tote is 10 gallons.
I also wanted to get away from using the larger 3" slinky hose, but it sounds like using a small hose will cause Thetford "constipation".
Thanks again for sharing your wisdom.
Mark

[MarkoPolo]

OK, I read the link and now understand chug, woosh and slosh!!! Who knew?
I can see that "woosh" and a 3/4 inch hose with no fixed coupling could get a little "exciting" if not downright messy!
Mark

The woosh is simply the high volume flow of water that will carry out solids. It is independent of which valve is opened first ( inside or outside). The last one opened creates a high volume flow. The problem with the 3/4" line is just will not allow the high volume flow required. Don't get too small of a tote. The last thing you want is to have the tote fill up before the toilet is empty as there is no easy way to stop the flow without spillage somewhere.

[MarkoPolo]

Searching totes, I find Thetford makes a 6 gallon (no wheels) and an 11 gallon (wheels) that could work for the "woosh". Is 6 gallons big enough? It's a little hard to figure out how many gallons constitute a full "woosh".
I might add we mostly "dry camp" and there are almost always vault toilets nearby. I want the smallest tote that won't overflow. I might also ask what the best non-formaldehyde treatment might be. With our old cassette potty, we did quite well with Coleman's green solution from Wal-Mart.
Mark

[Brittany Dogs]

Mark,

I miss my cassette too. I use to have the GrandviewSP by Coleman.

I would not buy less than a 10 gallon tote. That allows for the 6 gallons of black water from the toilet and a gallon or two for a rinse. I actually do a rinse with three gallons to put clean water through the pump and the internal hose that feeds the bowl wash. So between the 6 gallons and the 3 gallons of rinse, the tote is rather full and heavy.

I came up with a technique to give the toilet a real nice rinsing once the trailer is folded up and in the garage. I have a storm drain in my garage which comes in handy for what I am about to explain.

I fold the trailer up with the Thetford valve open. I use that black cap with the hose connection and I back-fill the toilet with hot water from a garden hose and a faucet in my garage. I use a clock to calculate how much water I am filling up into the toilet tank so that I don't overflow things. I then shut the water off, close the outside valve, remove the black cap that has the hose connection on it and at that point, I reopen the black water valve and out comes the warm water in a big whoosh! I do that process twice and well, at that point, my toilet is very, very clean.