Thetford Recirculating Toilet

Hi
We're thinking about purchasing a Trailmanor but are leary of the recirculating toilet. Wondered about smells etc.
Need info from users on pros and cons of the toilets.
Thanks
Barepagan

[Bill]

This same question was asked on August 21. Scroll down (actually, go to page 2) and look for a thread titled "Toilet".

Bill

[MikeD]

Perhaps there could be a new board created, something like "Frequently Asked Questions". Really useful for people considering a purchase, and using this board to help in the process. Maybe we could persuade Chris to move some threads to that board ? The toliet, rain water leakage and perhaps search strategies might be helpful topics. What do you think ??

MikeD

[dlajoie]

Definately agree with MikeD. The TM Owner's site is still very useful and relatively easy to navigate. However, his suggestion is a good preventive measure to keep the information flow manageable. If you go to the Good Sam web site, you will see that their forum is absolutely HUGE! With the TM community being smaller, we should be able to do common sense things to keep our site useful to us.

DGL

[Bill]

The FAQ section already exists, in the Owners Forum section. It was one of the really nice additions that Chris made when he recently reorganized the site. The problem is that someone has to write up the questions and their answers - they don't just "appear". I have done a couple, Denny has done a great one on weight that everyone should read - but it takes time to write up a clear comprehensive question and a clear comprehensive answer.

I will take a whack at the toilet question - stay tuned. But I'm the wrong guy for Water Leaks - never had one. Anyone want to jump in? Anyone?

Bill

[MikeD]

Bill -- DOH !! Don't know why I didn't see that.

I guess that my intent on leakage was the question of "Doesn't it leak ?" (in rain, heavy rain, driving rain, when setting up in rain, etc.). I admit it was one of my very first questions. There is a thread addressing this (just by giving people's experience).

I'd offer to help put together info on the FAQ, but I don't have my 2720 yet, so I think it would be the blind leading the blind.

MikeD

[kempert]

:) I've never had a problem with a leak and have spent several nights with heavy rain. BTW - Some people complain about the noise that rain makes but earplugs will take care of that complaint.

I've not had a problem with odors from the toilet. Sometimes you can smell bad odors if you stick your head down near the toilet. I don't do that at home so why would I want to do that in my TM?

[Bruce]

Back when we were new TM owners a few years ago I remember asking Bob Turner, then president of the TrailBlazers, how to keep the TM toilet from smelling so bad.
He said (not an exact quote but I'm trying to be polite here) 'To keep your toilet from smelling don't poop in it'.
You will find that this is the strategy used by most experienced TM owners. Make use of the campground bathrooms and save the Thetford for emergency use.
In order to keep the weight down in the TM's some compromises had to be made and the Thetford recirculating toilet is a light weight alternative to the standard holding tank and ball valve type system on the large RV's.

Bruce

[BOB_STRONG]

We never had any problem with our toilet if you use the correct products. I came across the potty tablets in Camping World. Use 2 of these with each charge and the Thetford Blue Chemicals in a bottle, and you will not have any problems no matter WHAT is PUT in the toilet. It seems that the Potty Tablets in conjunction with the blue Thetford liquid chemicals work really well. I would recommend the 2 products to anyone. I buy the Thetford chemicals at WalMart. Six bottles come in a box. Good price too!!!

Bob Strong

[SweetSue]

Bob,

What's the name of the potty tablets that work so well?

[Bill]

Back when we were new TM owners a few years ago I remember asking Bob Turner, then president of the TrailBlazers, how to keep the TM toilet from smelling so bad.
He said (not an exact quote but I'm trying to be polite here) 'To keep your toilet from smelling don't poop in it'.
You will find that this is the strategy used by most experienced TM owners. Make use of the campground bathrooms and save the Thetford for emergency use.Bruce -

I must respectfully disagree. We use our toilet for everything, and have never had an odor problem. We use the Thetford blue liquid from Wal-Mart - a full 8-oz bottle for each charge, as instructed. I have heard suggestions that one can "economize" by using only half a bottle, and I reckon that might result in an unpleasant smell. But the stuff is cheap, so why risk it? I suppose I have to admit that my nose is not so sensitive - but my wife's more than makes up for it! If she says it's OK, then in my book, IT'S OK!

What's the point of having a toilet if you can't use it?

Bill

[BOB_STRONG]

SweetSue,

I don't know if you have a master catalog from Camping World, but they are on page 100 of the 2003 master catalog. They are called Potty Toddy Tabs. The best money I ever spent to make the recirculatin toilet work well. The product comes in a bottle of 50 or you can buy a card which has 6 tablets attached to it. After trying a pack of six, I bought the bottle of 50 which are a lot better price. The product numbers are 7796 and 3160 depending on which size you want. I always buy from Camping World when they have the $1.00 shipping charge. Sure saves a lot of money that way. The phone number for Camping World is 800-626-5944.

Hope this helps out.

Bob Strong

[arknoah]

We will always use the full 8 ounces of chemical, but still encourage the kids to use the campground facilities for solid waste. It lets the capacity build a little slower and prevent any possibility of a smell problem. And when the kids or us need to use the toilet for solids, that is what it is for, so it's no problem.