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Old 02-19-2010, 02:03 PM   #1
brulaz
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Default Elkmont flush toilet

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 ...
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Old 02-19-2010, 05:13 PM   #2
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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?

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Old 02-19-2010, 05:33 PM   #3
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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 ...
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Old 02-19-2010, 08:14 PM   #4
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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.
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Old 02-19-2010, 08:57 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by harveyrv View Post
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.

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Old 02-20-2010, 05:58 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ShrimpBurrito View Post
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.
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Old 02-20-2010, 07:09 AM   #7
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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.
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Old 02-19-2010, 09:11 PM   #8
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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.
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Old 02-20-2010, 10:34 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brulaz View Post
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.
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Old 02-20-2010, 10:04 AM   #10
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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.
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