Inherited New RV/Camping toilet

[user 29503]

My uncle, who was building a van just like me, passed away and my aunt gave me his BRAND NEW toilet. I do have a space I can squeeze in a tiny bathroom, shower area in my van, however....

It is not self composting, it has a flush tank. Should I sell it and reserve the space for other use? I ask because I've seen mixed YouTube videos of people saying they'd rather use public restrooms. I'm guessing because it will smell, correct?

 

[jacqueg]

Dunno about smelling, but all such toilets I've ever looked at seem high-maintenance to me when compared with a simple bucket toilet plus Doody Bags. Guess it just depends on how much you are trying to act as if a van can really replace an apartment!

Personally, I'd sell the thing.

 

[RoamerRV428]

Condolences on your loss of your uncle!

what is the brand/model of your inherited toilet?

 

[user 29503]

Condolences on your loss of your uncle!

what is the brand/model of your inherited toilet?

A Sandinrayli

 

[maki2]

Looks like a standard camping toilet with a water reservoir. It indeed will stink if you poop in it. Mixing pee and poop is ALWAYS stinky. The RVs use holding tanks with a vent up to the roof and you have to put odor reducing, toilet paper dissolving chemicals into them. The flush system on the type of toilet you are being given is not that great plus it will increase your water useage. Finding a place to empty it is often troublesome when boondocking. If you did not want to make frequent trips to a wastewater dumping station you would need to dig a very large cat hole which is not an easy task in rocky soils. Of course lifting and carrying what will be 3 or 4 gallons of water plus solids is heavy and cumbersome as well.

The posters who said the 5 gallon bucket (compost) method is a lot easier are correct. That bucket is for poop. Because mixing poop and pee is stinky a diversion system compost toilet that collects pee into its own bottle is actually the overall easiest method and the least smelly when doing free remote camping.

You do not need to buy an expensive compost toilet with a pee diverter container. There are lots of instructions on how to make a simple, inexpensive, DIY version. Of course if funds allow the commercially sold compost toilet are very nice.

 

[afblangley]

I guess I've been in one too many nasty gas station bathrooms... One of the nicest things about owning a van is never having to use a public restroom.

I am not familiar with the Sandinrayli brand portable toilet, but I've owned a Thetford Curve for many years. It is used on an occasional basis in a basement that does not have plumbing. I like that it is intuitively easy to use, compact and lightweight therefore very portable, and easy to clean (can be hosed down). Like a traditional toilet, there is water in the bowl, using it doesn't smell any worse than using a regular toilet. I have good results with Happy Camper tank treatment. Emptying the tank isn't a pleasant task but it isn't messy and it doesn't take long. I simply carry the tank upstairs and dump it into the house toilet. I would be uncomfortable dumping it in a public toilet, even though there is nothing wrong with doing so. That is the primary reason why I don't have one in the van.

I've used a simple (non urine diverting) bucket toilet in the van for the past two years. The bucket is inside an ottoman (wood box with a regular toilet seat mounted within). There are no moving parts to break, there's nothing to clean, and emptying the bucket literally takes seconds. Males can standup to pee, females can poop and pee simultaneously, and it accepts any type of deposit (eg. feminine hygiene products, food waste, vomit). I used to fill the bottom of the bucket with wood pellets, it worked ok, but required storage space for pounds of pellets and resulted in a bulky and heavy kitchen sized trash bag to dispose of the contents. I recently switched to LaSyl* absorbent powder, it turns urine into a lightweight gel, resulting in a package small enough to be contained in a grocery bag.

Vanlife wisdom says separating pee and poop eliminates odor. All I can say is my poop smells. Period. Urine alone can also smell. There have been very few times when odor has escaped from the ottoman. Occasionally, there's a slight odor when I lift the toilet seat lid, reminding me that I've been inattentive. When it's just urine, the amount of time between emptying can range from 3 days to 2 weeks depending on frequency of use and ambient temperature. The amount of time a poop deposit remains in my van is measured in minutes, not hours.

I have no experience using a commercially manufactured "composting" toilet. I've watched dozens of videos and don't understand the appeal. In traveler use scenarios, the poop gets dumped in the trash and the pee is emptied into a toilet or dumped on the ground. It essentially functions as an expensive, complicated bucket toilet that requires electricity. It is a hassle to empty (requiring some amount of disassembly), difficult to clean, and requires anatomical adaptation to use.

Portable toilets on Amazon start at $75, so yours won't yield much money on the used market (even if its unopened). There is no singular best toilet solution. Don't let YT videos fool you, portable toilets are a popular choice in vans. Since you already have it, give it a try and see how it works for you. If you don't like it, you'll have a definite idea of what to try next based on your experience.

* demonstration video of how LaSyl works: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09G2XPDSY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[maki2]

The typical self build composting toilet uses zero electricity. Commercial brands such as Nature’s Head have an optional fan, a 12v computer type of fan, low power draw, connected to a length of corrugated tube that gets attached to a thru the wall vent to take any odors outside.

There are electric composing toilets that use high heat to dehydrate the toilet contents removing the resulting moisture out doors via a fan and chimney. I have only once seen one of those featured in a high-end van created a professional van conversion company. It can be done but the power consumption is considerable.

So basically the classification of “composting toilets” is pretty broad ranging from very simple, inexpensive, DIY versions to professionally produced, complex and expensive systems and also a mid priced range with a variety of premade units.

Of course even a flush toilet for a household system is a type of composting toilet as it eventually ends up in the soil in a leach field.

 

[RoamerRV428]

when I reviewed a Sandinrayli portable toilet online only 'bad' was kinda that it was top heavy with water tank. recommendation to be sure it is stable in travel.

Other than that it is 'just a portable toilet' and it does come down to what type of 'waste disposal' do you personally want to deal with kinda. You are dealing with water, time, where to dispose, etc. as with maybe a composting type or a bag system type you have to consider that the option might be an easier system for you.

I would go with your gut on this one like ya said just cause it came to you doesn't mean ya gotta keep it

 

[jasper]

There are many cutesy terms in today's world that can be stated much more simply. It's as though by waxing eloquence that you can convince us of anything. It takes time to compost.

In my rural, agricultural area animal poop is black gold more than ever due to fertilizer costs. Dried chicken poop from millions of chickens, liquid poop from cows and pigs pumped from lagoons, and human sludge from metro waste treatment plants are used on large areas, for food crops and cattle grazing.

Drying out human poop is not composting, it's dehydrating, much like making meat jerky, but without the mouth-watering smell. Drying out poop in something small without any smell is difficult. Modern chicken houses with tens of thousands of chickens, living on dry sawdust mixed with poop, with huge fans providing constant air flow dries it out, but you don't want to hang around the exhaust. Without pellets to combat ammonia, it's almost intolerable to be inside.

https://www.livesmallridefree.com/blog/why-your-composting-toilet-doesnt-actually-compost-poop

 

[vanmannorm]

My uncle, who was building a van just like me, passed away and my aunt gave me his BRAND NEW toilet. I do have a space I can squeeze in a tiny bathroom, shower area in my van, however....

It is not self composting, it has a flush tank. Should I sell it and reserve the space for other use? I ask because I've seen mixed YouTube videos of people saying they'd rather use public restrooms. I'm guessing because it will smell, correct?

For the past 8 years I've lived in a van and used the bucket and plastic bag method. I tried using a bag and kitty litter but believe me, that is a smelly proposition. What I do is before doing my business, is pee in a jug so there isn't much pee in with the poop. I don't worry about smell as I tie up the bag when finished and toss it in the trash which I dispose of as soon as I can. So to answer your question, I would suggest selling it and use the bucket and toilet seat and tall kitchen bag method. Simple and cheap and basically oderless. Norm

 

[LargeMarge]

My uncle... passed...Should I sell it...

.
a)
A family heirloom should be enjoyed for generations.
If only it could talk, the stories it would tell.
.
b)
Some folks dispense with the tanks and plumbing and the nightmare of maintenance and emptying... and the 24-hour cubic space used only five minutes each day.
Some folks embrace our ancestors and their traditional method of squatting to evacuate.
Should you?
You might want to discuss the advantages with your proctologist.

 

[BelgianPup]

For those new to the concept, the so-called 'composting toilets' do not compost the contents -- all they do is separate the solids and liquids. So, they're really just 'separating toilets'.

 

[jacqueg]

For those new to the concept, the so-called 'composting toilets' do not compost the contents -- all they do is separate the solids and liquids. So, they're really just 'separating toilets'.

Yup - or pre-treatment toilets. IMNSHO, they are pointless, unless you have access to an actual compost bin where you can deposit your toilet's contents regularly. Otherwise, you just have to bag up your toilet's contents in a plastic bag and throw the contents in a dumpster regularly, same as I do with my $17 bucket toilet.

 

[maki2]

Yes, they should be called potential for composting the contents toilets. But that would have been much too long of a title. So it got shortened as it fits better into people’s short term memory. But the waste does start breaking down right away, it is just not going to complete the compost process when in constant use before it needs emptying.

 

[eDJ_]

Sorry to hear of your Uncle passing. I think it was sweet of your Aunt to think of your future van travels and provide you with what she thought would be a convenience.

I agree with others here who cite the use of public toilets for traveling
van nomads. There are generally places available 24/7 when on the road. If boon-docking for an extended period (depending on where) you could even dig yourself a latrine.

I have an old Thethford chemical toilet that has served me well over the years. I've used it when I was in one place camping & fishing for awhile. I found cheap Walmart tissue worked as well as the specialty tissue made for the chemical toilets.

 

[user 29503]

.
a)
A family heirloom should be enjoyed for generations.
If only it could talk, the stories it would tell.
.
b)
Some folks dispense with the tanks and plumbing and the nightmare of maintenance and emptying... and the 24-hour cubic space used only five minutes each day.
Some folks embrace our ancestors and their traditional method of squatting to evacuate.
Should you?
You might want to discuss the advantages with your proctologist.

If you are the Large Marge from Pee Wee's Big Adventure, then, sir or ma'a'm, or both, I will pocket that wisdom for later. O'Doyle rules?