DIY Portable Toilets
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Elaine K
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Almost there,Almost There said:
I have to thank you for your wonderful van build. After seeing the video Bob had aired of your van build, that cinched my decision to go ahead and try to do it on my own too.
Also, it was seeing your C-Head that lead me to designing my DYI version. Down the road, I do plan to get an actual C-Head once finances allow it. For now, I have had fun troubleshooting and designing my version of one. Who knows, maybe mine will work out great for my needs and I just may stay with it!
Elaine K
> if room is to much of problem keep outside
No room to have two buckets at all, not even one really if dedicated to just these purposes.
Will stick to nothing if necessary, get by without, as I said only very rarely needed.
No room to have two buckets at all, not even one really if dedicated to just these purposes.
Will stick to nothing if necessary, get by without, as I said only very rarely needed.
Elaine K
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Elaine, where did you get the plastic piece for the urine collection? It's shaped just right for this application.
It's worth saying a second time, your build is really awesome, and at a fraction of what it would cost to buy a C-head.[/quote]
I bought them at a medical supply place. They are the same urine collectors used in hospitals. They set them on the toilet to collect and measure urine output. Two cost under $7.
I sandwiched two together for added strength and added plastic strips cut from an old pail between the ribs. I wasn't able to find glue that would bond the plastic but I used silicone mainly as a spacer. I had to trim down the outer edges afterwards. This would have been much easier to do before siliconing them together!
I found a coaxial cable feed-thru bushing and figured that would work to allow the fluids to drain. After trimming down the flange part so it would fit close to the front edge. Then I drilled a hole, pushed thru the bushing, the bottom of which was coated with bathroom grade silicone, and then attached the tubing. (Hint: putting the tubing into a bowl and pouring boiling water onto it softens the material so goes on better. As the tubing cools, it makes a very tight fit.)
I mistakenly drilled a hole on the wrong side first!! I realized my mistake right away. To plug that hole I used the top of an eye dropper! It fit perfectly and was watertight! Whew!
So it would fit into the side of a 5 gallon pail, I cut down the front of the pail. Then I took a smaller pail and set it inside the large one, added a plastic bag and some cat litter. I use pine mixed together with Swheat
Scoup brand flushable litter for my cat, so that is what I will use too. Both are totally biodegradable.
To support the urine collector, I made a template then cut the pattern out of 3/4" plywood. (The picture below shows the bottom side so you can see what I mean.
I was going to just use a store bought toilet seat but made my own custom one myself. I remembered that in the outhouse we had on the farm, my Dad had cut the hole on an angle. That meant that the lid could sit in the hole without falling through. He added a handle to make it easy to remove as required. It kept down the odor and held keep the flies out of the pit as well. That is how I cut out the hole on my custom toilet seat too.
I hope the pictures I have attached help you see what I have tried to explain further.
(I am new at posting so please bear with me while I learn to attach pictures better.)
Elaine K
It's worth saying a second time, your build is really awesome, and at a fraction of what it would cost to buy a C-head.[/quote]
I bought them at a medical supply place. They are the same urine collectors used in hospitals. They set them on the toilet to collect and measure urine output. Two cost under $7.
I sandwiched two together for added strength and added plastic strips cut from an old pail between the ribs. I wasn't able to find glue that would bond the plastic but I used silicone mainly as a spacer. I had to trim down the outer edges afterwards. This would have been much easier to do before siliconing them together!
I found a coaxial cable feed-thru bushing and figured that would work to allow the fluids to drain. After trimming down the flange part so it would fit close to the front edge. Then I drilled a hole, pushed thru the bushing, the bottom of which was coated with bathroom grade silicone, and then attached the tubing. (Hint: putting the tubing into a bowl and pouring boiling water onto it softens the material so goes on better. As the tubing cools, it makes a very tight fit.)
I mistakenly drilled a hole on the wrong side first!! I realized my mistake right away. To plug that hole I used the top of an eye dropper! It fit perfectly and was watertight! Whew!So it would fit into the side of a 5 gallon pail, I cut down the front of the pail. Then I took a smaller pail and set it inside the large one, added a plastic bag and some cat litter. I use pine mixed together with Swheat
Scoup brand flushable litter for my cat, so that is what I will use too. Both are totally biodegradable.
To support the urine collector, I made a template then cut the pattern out of 3/4" plywood. (The picture below shows the bottom side so you can see what I mean.
I was going to just use a store bought toilet seat but made my own custom one myself. I remembered that in the outhouse we had on the farm, my Dad had cut the hole on an angle. That meant that the lid could sit in the hole without falling through. He added a handle to make it easy to remove as required. It kept down the odor and held keep the flies out of the pit as well. That is how I cut out the hole on my custom toilet seat too.
I hope the pictures I have attached help you see what I have tried to explain further.
(I am new at posting so please bear with me while I learn to attach pictures better.)
Elaine K
Attachments
Elaine K said:
It was me!
Wow, thanks for the details. This is great. I KNEW I saw that plastic piece somewhere. I saw it at the hospital. This is an astounding build and you write easy to follow instructions too.
This is a valuable contribution. Thanks!
Elaine K said:
I was looking at those yesterday, after seeing the price of the commercially available urine diverters (!) for DIY separating toilets. I thought they'd be too flimsy, but never considered doubling them up - that's an excellent idea.
Gideon33w
Well-known member
mayble said:
Yeah, the premade ones you can buy are certainly not cheap. Ours wasn't.
A lot of thought into design to prevent splash back and ease cleaning though.
Plus, the thing would probably outlast the building it was in it.
I can't remember the brand for the life of me but think I ordered through amazon.
Elaine K
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The website that has another way of making your own DYI urine diverting toilet is found at http://dennisdonohue.blogspot.ca/2013/
I found some of his ideas great and I certainly used some of them. I hope you find it useful too.
Elaine K
I found some of his ideas great and I certainly used some of them. I hope you find it useful too.
Elaine K
BigT
Well-known member
To date I've been using a Camco 5 gallon, flushable camp toilet, but I'm getting really sick of the hassle involved when it comes time to empty the holding tank.
(you can't just dump it into a garbage can or dumpster)
It also takes up a lot of room in the van and can't be used for anything but its intended purpose. Well, sometimes I use it as a night stand.
I'm liking the bucket idea a lot, but at 6' 4.5" tall, I find the 5 gallon design to be uncomfortably short, and honestly a little hard on my lower back (squatting is rough on the lumbar spine).
Fortunately I have a good friend who's a swimming pool contractor, and he gave me a couple of really nice, 7 gallon buckets with ratcheting, screw-on lids.
(by "ratcheting" I mean the lid goes 'click' 'click' 'click' 'click' as you screw it down). To open the lid you have to press a release latch, so the seal is fantastic and secure.
I'm not going to let the poop pile up or sit for days/weeks, so I'm not worried about the bacterial odors growing in a sealed environment.
The 7 gallon buckets are just slightly narrower than the standard 5 gallon buckets and noticeably taller, so they fit my tall frame quite well. I've had no issues with stability.
If I toss one of my square pillows on top of the bucket, with the lid on, it makes a great seat! I'm also enjoying the fact that I no longer need a separate box/bin/compartment for toiletries (TP, baby wipes, bags, pine shavings, or the pipe insulation I use to pad the rim of the bucket). I just toss those items inside the bucket when it's not being used for a potty.
This thread has been very helpful with its tips for how to set it up for easy and practical use. Though I don't plan on letting the bags stack up inside the bucket, I really like the hose idea to eliminate vacuum when pulling the bag out. I hadn't thought of that. Pretty neat idea!
Naturally I separate my solids from my liquids.
(you can't just dump it into a garbage can or dumpster)
It also takes up a lot of room in the van and can't be used for anything but its intended purpose. Well, sometimes I use it as a night stand.
I'm liking the bucket idea a lot, but at 6' 4.5" tall, I find the 5 gallon design to be uncomfortably short, and honestly a little hard on my lower back (squatting is rough on the lumbar spine).
Fortunately I have a good friend who's a swimming pool contractor, and he gave me a couple of really nice, 7 gallon buckets with ratcheting, screw-on lids.
(by "ratcheting" I mean the lid goes 'click' 'click' 'click' 'click' as you screw it down). To open the lid you have to press a release latch, so the seal is fantastic and secure.
I'm not going to let the poop pile up or sit for days/weeks, so I'm not worried about the bacterial odors growing in a sealed environment.
The 7 gallon buckets are just slightly narrower than the standard 5 gallon buckets and noticeably taller, so they fit my tall frame quite well. I've had no issues with stability.
If I toss one of my square pillows on top of the bucket, with the lid on, it makes a great seat! I'm also enjoying the fact that I no longer need a separate box/bin/compartment for toiletries (TP, baby wipes, bags, pine shavings, or the pipe insulation I use to pad the rim of the bucket). I just toss those items inside the bucket when it's not being used for a potty.
This thread has been very helpful with its tips for how to set it up for easy and practical use. Though I don't plan on letting the bags stack up inside the bucket, I really like the hose idea to eliminate vacuum when pulling the bag out. I hadn't thought of that. Pretty neat idea!
Naturally I separate my solids from my liquids.
The big blue water bottles are shipped in tall containers made like milk crate type plastic crates with steel reinforcement bands that when a 5 gallon plastic bucket is put in raises it up several inches and makes it really stable.
Motrukdriver
Well-known member
http://www.we-pee.com/
http://www.we-pee.com/plans-for-building-a-compost-toilet-box/
http://www.we-pee.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Compost-toilet-box-instructions-2016.pdf
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-Eco-U...d=272940834437&_trksid=p2047675.c100012.m1985
Use wood shavings from Walmart mixed with kitty litter:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Alphapet...ategy=PWVAV&visitor_id=XzTLBcnq4zwRYw1U-Xw7n0
Use the toilet 4 or 5 times then remove the bag and toss it in your trash to take up to the dumpster. Plumb the mini urinal to the urine jug and empty as needed in what ever method you choose. Keep the urine out of the poop bag and you won't have any problems.
Hope this helps....
http://www.we-pee.com/plans-for-building-a-compost-toilet-box/
http://www.we-pee.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Compost-toilet-box-instructions-2016.pdf
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-Eco-U...d=272940834437&_trksid=p2047675.c100012.m1985
Use wood shavings from Walmart mixed with kitty litter:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Alphapet...ategy=PWVAV&visitor_id=XzTLBcnq4zwRYw1U-Xw7n0
Use the toilet 4 or 5 times then remove the bag and toss it in your trash to take up to the dumpster. Plumb the mini urinal to the urine jug and empty as needed in what ever method you choose. Keep the urine out of the poop bag and you won't have any problems.
Hope this helps....
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