Toilet chemicals for recirculating toilet

[Gene]

In our Theford recirculating toilet, we only use is for liquids, if you know what I mean. We don't even throw toilet paper in it. I cannot control the odor. It is really bad. I have tried many products, with no success. Has anybody tried a bacteria/enzyme type of chemical? Did it help control the odor? Do you have another solution to this problem?

[Paul_Heuvelhorst]

In my opinion, after owning a TM for 3 years (16,000+ miles) the only chemical that works is Thetford's Blue. ;D  Some people don't like it because (1) it is a formaldehyde base, and/or (2) the "perfumed" aroma is stronger than they like. :'( My experience is that you either get a strong perfumed aroma or the "sewer odor."  :-/  I prefer the perfumed aroma. ::)

I tried Thetford's Green to move away from the formaldehyde (environmentally safer) but found it's odor control to be less than the Blue.

I have tried others that didn't control odor as well as the Thetford Green.  I can live with Thetford's Green product, but still prefer the Blue.

Whatever you do, DO NOT use any product other than Thetford in your commode.  The rubber seals (and I assume other internal rubber parts) can be adversely affected by some to the other products and cause the rubber to deteriorate.  I replaced 2 EZ-Slide valves on mine because the neoprene seals failed, most likely due to the non-Thetford chemicals I used.  :o

[arknoah]

I agree with Paul.  We tried to use the green Thetford to be more environmental, but it didn't control the odor.  Of course, at the time, we were only using it half strength.  Even so, we found the Thetford blue to be the best.

Whenever we dump, we usually put in more water in the toilet and dump it again to get any stray pieces out and just to rinse it before putting in more chemical.  

Perhaps there is some other bacterial browth in your toilet that is causing the odor.  If the unit sat for a long time, this is possible.  You may want to use a tank or two of the Thetford blue then check out the odor again (or let it check you out!)  If it's still there, it might be time to see a dealer about your toilet.

Good luck.

the blue is what we use. also we have a cool sewer system called the "sewersolution model v. expense but allows us to backflow into the tank for extra cleaning. wed site is www.sewersolution.com

There are also some good tips regarding toilets on page two of the General Discussion, and on page two of the Maintenance Discussion.  One even makes reference to the web site; www.Thetford.com.

If you are currently hooked up to a water and sewer/septic tank system full time, you probably need to shut off the holding tank drain valve.  If the drain valve is open the sewer/septic tank fumes will build up and exit up through the toilet, especially when flushed.  If I remember correctly there is no separate vent pipe from the holding tank on TMs like there are on other travel trailers.  We do not own a TM at this time, but are thinking about getting one. I assume you have checked and that the fuse on the toilet is working.  

Again thank you for all your suggestions, we have learned lots from this webs site.

[Bruce]

  We are still experimenting with toilet chemicals but have found Thetford Blue to be the gold standard as far as odor control.
  Do not use Odorlos brand in your recirculating toilet. It is a waste of $.
  We are currently trying out EnviroChem. It has a pleasant odor but it is too soon to tell if it works as well as the bad old formaldehyde type products.
 
Bruce Martin

Gene,

We too, tried Thetford's Green, EnviroChem and several other more environmental friendly chemicals, but have resigned ourselves that until we hear differantly we are going to use the formaldehyde based Thetford Blue product. It's the only one that comes close to controling odor, especially as the heat of summer sets in. I'm not extremely fond of the purfume Thetford uses in the product, but it beats the alternative. Now that I have presented nothing new, I would suggest two things that I'm sure need not be said, but you never know.

We: 1) keep the toilet seat down- Thetford has made the seal somewhat tight on this recirculating unit probably for the very reason we are discussing, and 2) we always keep the exhaust fan running.

Also, it's my intention to fabricate a small ductwork using a piece of plastic square tubing to be secured to the base of the tub and a small flexible short hose (1") affixed to the rear portion of the toilet's lid. Of course, I'll have to cut or drill a hole in the lid. There will need to be some sort of fixture devised to act as a siphon type vent to be used in conjunction with the small 12 volt exhaust fan located in a convenient spot near the bottom of the tub. I think it just might help. I'll let you know if it does or doesnt work.

happy trails..............George

[hal]

Just before the "new" Tretta site was set up, there was a poll on terlits and chemicals that people used.  If it is possible to get into the "old" Tretta site, you would find some very good discussion and results of such questions as "which chemical do you use?" and what ratio of chemical to water works best?"  Or possibly with the camping season coming on, maybe another poll would be in order.  I do know one thing that worked well for us was to leave our little cousin home. >:( :D ;D ;D

Hal

I wonder what percentage of TM owners actually charge their toilets?  This also might be interesting in a poll.  I'm guessing if the "guys" had a significant say in this matter the Thetfords would have little company.  

  About how many owners "charge" their toilets,,,, I always charged mine in my drive-way at home before I would leave. Part of my trailer prep. Also, before braking camp, after I dumped, I would add Thetford's toilet cleaner to the toilet, fill it up with water until it was to the botom of the bowl, run the pump for a minute or two, (but not continously. I didn't know if it would overheat the pump motor or not), then dump again.


 Between that, and/or using Thetford's blue Aqua-chem, (not the blue Campa-chem), I never had an oder problem. A local Thetford dealer that sold both the blue Aqua-chem, and blue Campa-chem, told me that the Campa-chem did not break down the waste, it just deoderized, the Aqua-chem did both. Said the green stuff just did not work very well at all. Don't know if it is true or not, that is just what I was told.

Mack

Does anyone know if Trailmanor would provide the option of having a "non-recirculating" toilet, since it seems that most people would take that option if given it?  I can't see how it would add significant weight to the trailer, and what's the point of having a bathroom in your unit if you don't want to use it for fear of smell?  Plus the ongoing expense of keeping the chemicals on hand to charge the toilet.  I don't have an rv and am fascinated with the Trailmanor, but I've always wondered why they don't at least give the option of a regular rv toilet.  Any comments?  Thanks guys!

[Paul_Heuvelhorst]

Superfly,
You asked, "Does anyone know if Trailmanor would provide the option of having a "non-recirculating" toilet..."

I'd suggest a phone call to the factory as the best way to get this question answered.

I can "guess" that the answer will be NO. All the features and equipment in the TM line is intended to keep weight reduced. To add another 25-35 gallon 'black tank', and a larger fresh water tank to provide add'l water for flushing would add a few hundred pounds and several $$ to the cost of each unit. However, this is my speculation... call the factory for the real answer.

I changed mine out,it might not pass code but it pleased me and solved the smell problem.The work I did but was quite time consuming and a lot of thinking envolved.

The conversion was done by myself, I got the tank from Camping world and
got the largest that would fit in the space that was available ,its a 20 gal
size but got to thinking later I could have went with a smaller one as the
black water is never used all that much.
 I vented it from the top side of the tank, first into the vent line for
the sink and other units but when it was folded there was an odor inside on
opening so I disconnected made a U turn and took it down thru the floor into
the outside with a screen caped to keep the mud daubers out.Be careful going thru the floor not to hit wiring etc.This is a 1 inch
vent pipe, and so far it seems to be working alright.I connected to the cold water line in the bath tub which is close, I try to travel with
both tanks empty to avoid as much problems as possible and to keep the
weight down.
 The longest trip we made was to Brownsville Texas from home here close to
Nashville,Tn.it was around 2500 miles round trip if I remember right and
things went well.
 The reason I went with a regular flush commode was we didn't do any dry
camping and I didn't like the odor put off by the chemical  and you had to
charge the 12 volt one with a bucket or pan which was no hard job ,the smell
was the main reason.
 The recirculating one cost over $400 bucks and the replacement cost is
close to a $100 for commode + tank around $100+ pipe and misc supplies
I just sold the TM due to age and health.
                                         Jim E

[Carol]

:) I have had good luck with ODORLOS. I use the amount for a 40 gal tank upon charging. Only once or twice did we have an odor problem. Then, according to directions, we added more ODORLOS as we could not dump right then. The reason we use ODORLOS is that we are both chemically sensitive. Even though we have to use more of the product to achieve the desired results, we can breath and not have asthma attacks that have been initiated just smelling the other stuff. And, it will not wreck your seals. It has a lubricant in it. This product does not cover up smells with perfume. It breaks down the waste. I am not in any way connected with the company. I'm just glad there is a product out there for someone with my problems. We bought the TM because it is constructed without formaldehyde and other nasty toxins, so we certainly don't want to contaminate our new home away from home with those things! :P

[Bruce]

Hal,
You can get into the old discussion site by clicking on Old Discussion and then clicking on Search. By entering your subject you can pull up the topics pertaining to that.

Bruce

[kimpalmer11]

We have used Thetford AquaKem (with formaldehyde) in our ElectraMagic 80 recirculating toilet in our Trailmanor (1999 2720QS) for 8 years with never any disagreeable odor from the waste.

However, when we got to the beach campground last week, I discovered we had run out of Thetford AquaKem. I went to the local Huntington Beach Walmart where I found no Thetford AquaKem, only Thetford AquaMax which has no formaldehyde. (I later discovered in 2022 California banned all formaldehyde from all RV holding tank treatments. I assume AquaMax is Thetford's formaldehyde-free replacement for AquaKem.)

Back at the trailer, I added enough water to charge the toilet, poured in the 8 oz. bottle of AquaMax and ran the flush mechanism for several seconds to make sure the chemical was well mixed with the water. However, after just 6 hours, whenever the toilet lid was lifted, an overwhelming stench of a ripe outhouse immediately enveloped the bathroom and the trailer. (The daytime temps were only in the upper 60s and lower 70s). Something was horribly wrong!

In the next three days we went through four bottles of AquaMax trying to find a combination that would allow us to use our toilet without the devastating stench whenever we lifted the toilet lid. No success with any combination.

In frustration, I made a trip back to the Huntington Beach Walmart and found (among several other choices), a holding tank/recirculating toilet product made by the Walex company called PortaPak, and bought a box (Lavender Scent). Back at the trailer, I dumped the toilet, filled it to Full with clean water, dumped it again, filled it a second time to Full with clean water, and dumped it again, hoping any remnant of stench was now gone. I added enough water to charge the toilet, dropped in a packet of the PortaPak powder, and pushed the Flush button for 20 seconds. All hint of stench was completely gone, and stayed gone for the next two days until the toilet had finally reached Full and needed to be dumped. However, even after two days there was still no stench when we lifted the lid. Woohoo!

But, I discovered my wife is not a fan of lavender, so I went back and bought another bag of the Walex PortaPak, this time in the Fresh Scent. We have continued to use it for the last four days of our vacation, and are completely satisfied: no hint of outhouse smell whenever the toilet lid is lifted, only a little bit of the very pleasant Fresh Scent smell.

Bottom line is that if others out there are also no longer able to get Thetford AquaKem (with formaldehyde), and Thetford's AquaMax doesn't seem to be working for you, consider trying Walex PortaPak in your Trailmanor's Thetford recirculating toilet. It has worked well for us!

By the way, no, I don’t work for the Walex Company, just a satisfied user, glad to be camping in our Trailmanor!