Thetford Cassette Toilet

[Gordon_5114580]

Yay, it's my first newbie questions...

I've read the handbook that came with the caravan, about how to fill, use and empty the toilet in my van. That all seems simple enough. But what about the flush water? Here come the questions:

* Should the flush water be drained before towing the van?

*What's the best way to drain the flush water? Flush the loo till it's empty, or use the drain plug next to the external filler?

*How do you fill & top up the flush water when you're pitched on site? There's no handy hose pipe as shown in the handbook, and I don't fancy trying to pour from my Aquaroll . What's the trick here?

*Thetford make a fluid to add to the flush water. Is this necessary, or would plain water be OK?

 

[popupJohn]

Being a Thetford virgin myself i`m coming to grips with its workings slowly, same as you are.

So far Ive found that the best way to fill with flush water is to take a smallish plastic watercan away with you and use that (twice soaked trousers from trying to fill with a jerrycan rather made me look for an alternative way).

The pretty coloured fluid thats made for it has some form of extra cleaning and disingfecting powers I guess so I am using it at the momment.

I try not to fill up the flush tank while away but put enough water in to last a day or so. I also leave a wee bit in the bottom for emergancy use/flushing on the trip home.

Bassically I must admit to using site loos in preference to the Thetford

 

[Joyce_5063910]

Hi Gordon & John

I can only tell you what we do regarding the toilet and that is that hubby fills it before we go and puts the chemical in both top and bottom ready for use. I know many do not travel with the toilet primed but wait until they get to the site.

As we have an onboard tank for water we use a watering can for that job and we use this to fill the top flush tank. Not sure what everyone else does as we have always had onboard tanks and so no need for aquarolls.

As far as the chemical goes we use a new granular product from Holland called Kemdirect. Lighter to carry than two bottles and goes top and bottom. No smell, no staining and completely biodegradable, and there is no dye in it. We find this much better than other products as it breaks the waste and paper down and you pour away coloured water with no smell.

You should put something in the top as this cleans the bowl when flushing but be careful with the product you are talking about as it can cause the dreaded black bits to start coming through with the flush water. Again using Kemdirect you will not suffer from this problem.

There are lots of chemicals on the market and everyone has their own choice but we think Kemdirect is the best.

I am sure someone else will help with you with the advise that I cannot.

Happy caravanning to you both and I hope you sort out the toilet as it should be there to use without fear and a job not a chore to empty etc.

Joyce

 

[Jeff-Pontypridd]

I drain the flush tank down before travelling. On mine, that entails pulling a clear plastic pipe out out of its top housing and letting it run dry (a tip is to take off the filler cap first). It's surprising how much these things hold, so it reduces weight for travelling. Leaving water in the flush tank attracts the dreaded black stuff (algae, I think).

Filling up is a plastic bottle and kettle job on site. I get the kids to do that - couple of trips and it's done.

Plain water's OK, but a drop of the flush fluid in the tank makes the loo a little sweeter.

 

[RobRoy]

I drain the flush tank down before travelling. On mine, that entails pulling a clear plastic pipe out out of its top housing and letting it run dry (a tip is to take off the filler cap first). It's surprising how much these things hold, so it reduces weight for travelling. Leaving water in the flush tank attracts the dreaded black stuff (algae, I think).

Filling up is a plastic bottle and kettle job on site. I get the kids to do that - couple of trips and it's done.

Plain water's OK, but a drop of the flush fluid in the tank makes the loo a little sweeter.

Hi Gordon,

I always travel with the flush tank at least half full and have never ever noticed any adverse effect. At my age I have to stop for a Jimmy Riddle every couple of hours hence the toilet being charged before I leave.

There is an awful lot of rubbish spouted about loading a caravan - one guy claimed that placing his step on the floor a foot in front of its usual position induced snaking! I place my awning roughly above the axle, groundsheet in front of it and in front again go the aquarol and wastemaster but I don't think these items will ever be in exactly the same position two trips running.

 

[Terry_5112949]

I drain the flush tank down before travelling. On mine, that entails pulling a clear plastic pipe out out of its top housing and letting it run dry (a tip is to take off the filler cap first). It's surprising how much these things hold, so it reduces weight for travelling. Leaving water in the flush tank attracts the dreaded black stuff (algae, I think).

Filling up is a plastic bottle and kettle job on site. I get the kids to do that - couple of trips and it's done.

Plain water's OK, but a drop of the flush fluid in the tank makes the loo a little sweeter.

You do not have to use anything other than water in the flush tank, it`s a matter of choice but the Thetford pink stuff gives off a pleasant odour. When we leave home I normally have about 2 litres of flush water in the tank and have the waste tank ready charged, in case it is needed on route. Filling on site i have a 5 litre spring water container, the one with the little handle on top and use this to top up the flush tank

 

[Alice_5108598]

Gordon,

I don't know if this will help, but in our van, we open the washroom window and I pass out the shower head to my hubby, who fills the freshwater tank and tells me when to turn off the tap! Yes it does mean refilling the aqua roll a bit sooner, but is much less bother than fiddling around with watering cans/bottles etc.

Alice

 

[Joyce_5063910]

Gordon,

I don't know if this will help, but in our van, we open the washroom window and I pass out the shower head to my hubby, who fills the freshwater tank and tells me when to turn off the tap! Yes it does mean refilling the aqua roll a bit sooner, but is much less bother than fiddling around with watering cans/bottles etc.

Alice

Hi Alice

As we do not use an aqua roll we have an onboard tank we use a watering can to fill the tank and so when we fill the top flush with water my hubby uses the same watering can. So we do not fiddle with anything !!

If we filled the flush from the shower he would still have to use the watering can to fill the tank... so there is no difference.

It depends on the type of water system your caravan has as to the most suitable equipment and way of filling everything.

Joyce

 

[Bigpow_5039962]

I use an old mineral water container and some smelly bublegum additive lol. The shower idea sounds good as well because the shower head on my Lunar lexon has a cut off button . The flush on mine has just stopped so a top tip here is that the pump is under the toilet roll holder.... .

Hope it helps

 

[RogerL]

If you check your noseweight every tow, then it won't matter how much is in the flush tank.

If you measure the water put into the flush tank, in litres, you'll soon be able to estimate how much per weekend, or week, you use.

It's then very simple to fill the flush tank "so many" days before leaving to ensure that your flush tank has little in it. It doesn't matter whether it's completely empty or not.

 

[Gordon_5114580]

Thanks for all you replies. I particularly liked the shower hose out of the window Something I didn't mention is that our loo is right at the back of the van, which is the worst place to have weight.

We've just had our first weekend away, so we've started out on the way to finding what works for us. I had our van at home before we went, so I was able to have a good play with the loo. First, I tried draining the flush tank by flushing. We've got a pump handle loo, and I quickly realised it was going to take a long time to empty it that way, so it was out with the drain plug. Woops, that was a bit messy, and there's no way avoid it being messy. Anyway, after mopping up, I filled the flush tank with plain water to see how much it held (about 8 to 9 litres). As I already had wet sleeves, I didn't mind pulling the drain plug again, and I at least knew what to expect this time. For no better reason than it was four trips to the tap with my 1.5l jug, I put 6l of water/pink stuff in and left it like that.

The caravan towed nicely with no snaking, and I didn't need to re-fill the flush tank while we were away, so I've pretty much stopped worring about it. I'm glad I asked though, because I now have a jug in the van for filling it when we run out.