Elkmont flush toilet

[brulaz]

The Elkmont we've purchased has the flush toilet with the 15 gal black water tank, not the re-circulating toilet (Thetford?)

Does anybody know how many gallons it takes to flush this toilet? (or how many flushes per 15 gal tank).

In case that's not good enough, I'm sure I read somewhere here about the possibility of replacing the flush toilet with the re-circulating model and keeping the black water tank for additional storage. But i can't find that anywhere. Can someone point me to that thread? Has anyone actually done this?

Thanks ...

[Bill]

Can you give us the make and model of the toilet you have in the Elkmont? Somewhere on the web you will find the gallons-per-flush rating. Is it not covered in the owner's manual?

Bill

[brulaz]

I can tell you in four weeks when we drive down to Texas to pick it up, Bill.

For now, we're just dreaming, planning and scheming. As that's all we can do ...

[Wavery]

The amount of water that it takes to flush depends on how long you hold in the flush button. It doesn't have a fresh water "Tank", like your home toilet.

Your home toilet needs at least a gallon (or more) of water to get the refuse past the trap and into your sewer drain pipe.

The Elkmont toilet flushes directly into the holding tank so your only concern is to empty the bowl. That could take 1 cup of water if the bowl is clean to start with.

Here are a few tips for conserving flushing water:

Wax the inside of the toilet.
Wet the bowl before using.
Put a layer of TP on the bottom of the bowl before using.
You could also use teflon spray before using.

If you're careful, you should get 10-15 flushes from a gallon of water.

[ShrimpBurrito]

If you're careful, you should get 10-15 flushes from a gallon of water.

If that is indeed accurate, that doesn't make for a good argument to use a Thetford recirculating toilet. Since the charge is about 3 gallons, that would give you a quota of 30-45 flushes on the conventional toilet before the Thetford becomes more efficient on water.

Since we typically fill the Thetford in about 8 person days (more if I find some nice trees), that would give an average of about 4-6 flushes per person day on a conventional toilet. Only if the toilet is used more than that does it seem that the Thetford starts saving water.

And of course, this presumes one is conservative with the water in the conventional toilet, which might be difficult for some folks, and especially kids.

Dave

[brulaz]

Wow, I had no idea so little was needed.

We already have plans for recharging the battery and propane, emptying the grey water and refilling the drinking water, all without having to move the trailer, but the black stuff was worrying me. Doesn't sound like it will be a problem if we're careful, as there's only two of us.

[mtnguy]

If that is indeed accurate, that doesn't make for a good argument to use a Thetford recirculating toilet. Since the charge is about 3 gallons, that would give you a quota of 30-45 flushes on the conventional toilet before the Thetford becomes more efficient on water.

Dave

The water saving grace of the Thetford toilet, is that 2 1/2 to 3 gal. charge can be done at home, and then you would fill your fresh water tank. Any flushes done on a conventional toilet at a campsite would use a pint or 2 of your fresh water supply........even more for solid waste, as you need to put water in to bowl before the deed.

I now have a conventional RV toilet in my Surveyor TT. The jury is still out with me concerning which system is best. If I were to order a new Elkmont, I believe that I would order the Thetford recirculating with the holding tank.....seems like the best of both systems. You would have to use fresh water for your 2nd charge, but that could come from any source...... a gallon water jug filled from a creek or like place. Also, sometimes I did not bring my Thetford up to pump level, and used water from a milk jug to flush until the level came up high enough to flush. I did that several times on 6 nite boondocking camping trips, and didn't have a problem.

[rumbleweed]

I have had good luck using Rain-x ( Windshield Spray) on the bowl of my Thetford. When it is clean and I am packing the TM for a trip, I spray a little rain-x on the bowl. It keeps things very clean once you start using it. If you use it sparingly, it is not damaging to the bowl.

[Dave E]

My wife and I have found that it takes about 3 to 4 days for us to fill the blackwater tank on our Elkmont with a flush toilet. It is at the dealer now to work on because when I tested it, I could only pour about 9 gallons into it before it filled. I suspect that the toilet pipe and the vent pipe were placed too far down into the tank and created an air pocket which cannot be filled. We'll see what they find.
If you have a flush toilet, you may want to see if you can pour 3 five gallon buckets into it to verify the capacity.

[brulaz]

Dave,
What make/model of flush toilet is installed in the Elkmont?

[Wavery]

Wow, I had no idea so little was needed.

We already have plans for recharging the battery and propane, emptying the grey water and refilling the drinking water, all without having to move the trailer, but the black stuff was worrying me. Doesn't sound like it will be a problem if we're careful, as there's only two of us.

Just to be clear.....

Most usage of the toilet is for urine. That merely takes a quick flush to rinse the bowl.

In marine toilets, it's recommended to have a small container (with a lid) next to the toilet for women to deposit small amounts of T/P. The same method could be used for extended usage of an RV holding tank. This does away with holding the flush button down until the TP disappears down the drain.

This may sound gross to some RVers but it is quite common in the marine environment (even on multi-million dollar yachts). My 45' sailboat had 2 heads. Each head had a separate 15G holding tank. If we were careful, we could go several weeks without emptying our holding tanks when we were living aboard in the marina with zero over-board dumping.

Having said all that, my daughter's family (3 kids) can barely make it through a weekend campout in there 35' camper with a 30G blackwater tank.

[Dave E]

Dave,
What make/model of flush toilet is installed in the Elkmont?

Thetford model 24300 according to the data sheet in the notebook the dealer gave me. It is a foot pedal, high rise, flush toilet.
As harvyrv pointed out, a quick tap on the foot pedal is all that is needed to move the flapper valve to empty liquid. Solids require the pedal to be held down longer, with more water squirting out for the flush. You can conserve water if you are "fleet of foot".

[PopBeavers]

If I run out of water, I sometimes have to drive more than 10 miles to get more water. The last think I want to do is pour precious water down the toilet unnecessarily.

When camping, I see no advantage to a traditional RV toilet. They waste too much water.

I estimate our total water usage at about 5 gallons of water per person per day. That includes cooking, showering, shaving, brushing teeth, dishes, flushing the toilet, etc.

In a pinch, we could get by with 1.5 gallons of water per person per day.

[Wavery]

Thetford model 24300 according to the data sheet in the notebook the dealer gave me. It is a foot pedal, high rise, flush toilet.

HMMMMMMMMMM!!!! Something doesn't look right....
http://www.folandsales.com/catalog.asp?prodid=488920

A little off-topic but there is no way in heck that I would pay $900 for that toilet. All it is, is a bucket with a seat ($12), a valve on the bottom ($30) and a small water pump ($50). How on earth do they come up with $900?????? :new_all_c

I've said it before and I'll say it again......If I ever have to change our toilet, I would install a cassette potty with a door on the outside of the camper for removing the holding tank for emptying.

[brulaz]

HMMMMMMMMMM!!!! Something doesn't look right....
http://www.folandsales.com/catalog.asp?prodid=488920


That web site says the Thetford 24300 is an "Electra Magic® Model 80 RV Permanent Recirculating Toilet". It doesn't require an External holding tank.

Not sure, but I think the one in ours will be the non-recirculating Thetford 31671 "Aqua Magic V" ... (who comes up with these names?). At least that's the closest I can get from the photos I've seen. And it's quite a bit cheaper.

[mtnguy]

Thetford model 24300 according to the data sheet in the notebook the dealer gave me. It is a foot pedal, high rise, flush toilet.
As harvyrv pointed out, a quick tap on the foot pedal is all that is needed to move the flapper valve to empty liquid. Solids require the pedal to be held down longer, with more water squirting out for the flush. You can conserve water if you are "fleet of foot".

Dave, I wonder if the factory put the wrong model down on your data sheet. The Thetford model 24300 is a recirculating toilet, and your description is that of a flush model. I found 1 item on 2003 TM data sheet wrong, so that is not out of the question.

[voyager2]

We purchased an 09 Elkmont last June and had the dealer replace the flush toilet with the recirculating Thetford. Left the black water holding tank in place. Now we can recharge the Thetford at least 3-4 times before having to dump. As I recall, the dealer charged us a couple of hundred dollars to switch them out.

[Al-n-Sue]

According to the latest Elkmont brochure, you can now get it with the flush or recirculating toilet from the factory.

[chanticleer]

I'm not Dave...but my 2010 Elkmont has a Thetford "Aqua-Magic V" conventional toilet installed. It supposedly has a 15 gal. black waste tank. I say that because It'll be another two weeks before I use the TT for the first time.

The following is a tangent to the thread but I have a question that I haven't found a suitable thread for...

From my observation, the grey water system appears to be entirely independent from the black tank/system. It seems from reading the somewhat generic Owners Manual that other TrailManor units have integrated the grey and black drainage. Having them seperate would change their operation ISTM. e.g. one wouldn't "chase" the black water with the grey to empty, among other things. Is this typical? Only with the Elkmont? Only with the conventional Thetford?

chanticleer

[PopBeavers]

Recently, the law has changed and the discharge drains for black and gray must be independent of each other.

I would probably drain the black first, then move the hose over to the gray and drain that.

I'm not sure what was accomplished by the law change.

[chanticleer]

Thanks Pop! I evevtually found the pertinent thread...btw the minimalist water usage you execute is admirable and worth trying to emulate. Wish me luck :rolleyes: