Does anyone use something other than the "proper" additive in their toilet flush reservoir? I'm already using washing capsules in the waste tank but living, as I do, in rural France it's difficult (if not impossible) to get the right stuff during the winter. Could I, for instance, use bleach?
Toilet Flush Additive
- Thread starter PaulT
- Start date
Paul, having lots of months in France in "out of season" we decided that a low bleach and a non bio tab would be the best. Can't help more than that.
But in heavy winter I put a bit of windscreen deicer into the toilet flush .
But in heavy winter I put a bit of windscreen deicer into the toilet flush .
Damian
Moderator
Damian-Moderator said:
Ah but SWBLAO, says something that smell nice goes in the tank. . I am not that brave to say otherwise.
Damian
Moderator
If you must use something to make it smell nice, use a spray of whatever perfume you want, much cheaper than replacing the pump !!
Damian-Moderator said:
hmy: your kidding ! Have you seen the price off aftershave & perfume Damian ?!
Damian-Moderator said:
Damian , I will replace the pump every year , rather than upset the boss :huh:
The toilet at home does not need an additive, so the idea of putting one in the caravan one seems to me to be a ruse to sell you a bit more, rather than serve a purpose. We tend to use the free sample which comes with the caravan but never buy the stuff.
I don't believe the flush additives are there simply to give the flush a nice pink colour and make things smell better -there is an antibacterial action too.
Why do you put screen wash additive in your car? Sure its a nice blue, smells alcoholic, and stops freezing, but if you don't put the additive in you'll start off a wonderful colony of slime that loves the warmth from the engine, ultimately blocking everything.
The same nice warm environment exists in the van too, so by all means do without additive if you enjoy stripping the toilet down eventually to clean the tank out....
Why do you put screen wash additive in your car? Sure its a nice blue, smells alcoholic, and stops freezing, but if you don't put the additive in you'll start off a wonderful colony of slime that loves the warmth from the engine, ultimately blocking everything.
The same nice warm environment exists in the van too, so by all means do without additive if you enjoy stripping the toilet down eventually to clean the tank out....
chrisn7 said:
Maybe you have indeed come up with the ideal answer? .... it's a wetting agent; smells OK (to me); and will avoid the need to drain the tank. Do test and report back .
In the meantime, plain water does work adequately for us
Interesting!
Years ago on here this very subject was discussed.
I was a pure water only flusher
However dogs like me found loads of black algae flushing through. The flush tank had become a algae breathing ground.
The addition of Elsan pink solved the problem.
Long term I can say with the current caravan eight years on, no adverse problems with the entire system unlike using pure water only.
Sorry Damian but experience tells me the “pink” addition works, and for a Hutch it smells lovely :cheer:
Years ago on here this very subject was discussed.
I was a pure water only flusher
However dogs like me found loads of black algae flushing through. The flush tank had become a algae breathing ground.
The addition of Elsan pink solved the problem.
Long term I can say with the current caravan eight years on, no adverse problems with the entire system unlike using pure water only.
Sorry Damian but experience tells me the “pink” addition works, and for a Hutch it smells lovely :cheer:
Damian
Moderator
Quote " -there is an antibacterial action too."
It is not antibacterial and neither do Thetford claim it to be.
Quote " Sorry Damian but experience tells me the “pink” addition works,"
Dusty, I have no reason to doubt you, but my experience of dealing with several hundred issues of blocked flush pipes and pumps, all had the same common denominator.Thetford Pink additive.
I can only assume that Elsan has a different recipe for their offering, which may or may not be the answer.
Having said that , the algae problem does not seem to affect every system the same.
As far as it goes, it is personal choice so if folk want to use it, go ahead and I will be happy to keep on fixing the problems as they arise.
It is not antibacterial and neither do Thetford claim it to be.
Quote " Sorry Damian but experience tells me the “pink” addition works,"
Dusty, I have no reason to doubt you, but my experience of dealing with several hundred issues of blocked flush pipes and pumps, all had the same common denominator.Thetford Pink additive.
I can only assume that Elsan has a different recipe for their offering, which may or may not be the answer.
Having said that , the algae problem does not seem to affect every system the same.
As far as it goes, it is personal choice so if folk want to use it, go ahead and I will be happy to keep on fixing the problems as they arise.
Thanks Damian,
I can say with experience the Thetford Pink was a waste of space.
The Elsan Pink has worked well for me for years.
I think it is very important for all users to properly maintain their Thetfords each year.Google if you don’t know
I can say with experience the Thetford Pink was a waste of space.
The Elsan Pink has worked well for me for years.
I think it is very important for all users to properly maintain their Thetfords each year.Google if you don’t know
It seems that the main "problem" with not using the pink stuff is build up of algae. As I'm living in the 'van, the flush tank gets emptied (and refilled) every 3 or 4 days. With this turnover rate would algae build up? Would the adition of bleach solve any possible problems?
Damian
Moderator
PaulT said:
In the temperatures you get where you are, the algae problem may be much worse than here in the UK, but you are refilling your tank very frequently so it does not sit around for very long.
Adding bleach will stop any algae from growing, but only use a very diluted version to avoid damage to seals.
Something around 1/2 a capfull is more than adequate every fourth fill or so.
For years I used Thetford Pink then without obvious reason black bits appeared in the flush water. On puchase of a new van,5 years ago I changed to Elsan (because it's made in this country). No problems since then.
Is there a reason for not using additives in France - are they banned - yes the thetford pink caused black deposits in our loo too
Some years ago I changed to Fenwicks Top and Tail originally for the convenience of one bottle rather than two. We find the scent far less aggressive than the blue fluids, less staining, and also seems to retain the detergent action longer ( judged by observation when emptying)
I suspect but cannot be sure that it also has some softening effect as long term use of water only in areas of very hard water was certainly causing some limescake build up which presumably wound not do the pump any good.
( no connection with Fenwicks other than as customer !)
I suspect but cannot be sure that it also has some softening effect as long term use of water only in areas of very hard water was certainly causing some limescake build up which presumably wound not do the pump any good.
( no connection with Fenwicks other than as customer !)
PaulT, I know where your coming from, as i used to caravan in France in Winter and noticed that I could't obtain Pink or Blue toilet additives. IF possible ask the management of the supermarkets or Mr Bricole, if they have any in the store rooms, you might just be lucky.
Hutch.
Hutch.
I either use Fenwicks Top and Tail, or Onechem/Unochem. Haven’t had any problems at all with black spots or unpleasant odours. But I will try some of these bio pods Persil thingies or similar to see what they are like. Never to old to learn new tricks. If they are not any improvement then the bio pods will I’m sure come in handy for my wife who uses lots of strange chemicals in a large white thing in what’s called the laundry room
alsoThis is a problem that I had when we first started caravanning the black algae. Being at the time very green between the ears . I flushed everything through even checked the aqua roll to see if that had any black bits in but it was confined to the flush tank. I changed my flush tank fluid to blue Diamond never had anymore problems. Reading Damiens post he is right if you choose to use bleach only use a minimal amount..THe choice as ever is down to the individual but still use blue in the holding tank and pink in the flush again all Blue Diamond I just find using the two helps to break down the solids in waste tank also the chemicals help to lubricate the seals.
Can you not bulk buy and get it delivered by Amazon or UPS or do they not deliver to site address if you're out there months at a time?
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