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Old 09-26-2021, 04:29 PM   #1
Larryjb
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Default Options for discontinued Recirculating Toilet

With the Theford Toilet being discontinued, I'm wondering about options in case of the need to replace my existing recirculating toilet.

1) Buy a new recirc toilet before they sell out. This is a viable solution that I am seriously considering. I do like the toilet, and plan to take care of the odor problem by venting the tank. There are at least two threads on this:

https://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...venting+toilet

https://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...venting+toilet

2) Cassette Toilet. This is pretty much not on my list. I just don't fancy having to remove the cassette and walk it up to a campsite toilet every day or so.

3) Incinerating toilet. This one catches my fancy. It looks like they may be very expensive, but the idea it holds enough for a weeks worth of use without having to do anything. The ash you can just dump in the garbage on your way out.

Has anyone ever installed an incinerating toilet into a trailer?
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Old 09-26-2021, 09:06 PM   #2
Texastrailerguy
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Default one more option-salvage sales

One can go to the sales sites for salvage trailers and keep and eye out for a good trailer, think parts. Might have to drive a ways to pick up and may not be real cheap. But remember that you would be taking a chance that the toilet may/or may not be the right one and may/or may nor work. I have bought 2 from Copart and both had the recirculators and they both worked. Both trailers took less then $500 to fix, my labor of course. Now would I buy another, No. At one time I owned 3 TM's all at one time, now I am down to one. Wife said if I buy another trailer I gonna be in big trouble.
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Old 09-26-2021, 11:06 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Texastrailerguy View Post
One can go to the sales sites for salvage trailers and keep and eye out for a good trailer, think parts. Might have to drive a ways to pick up and may not be real cheap. But remember that you would be taking a chance that the toilet may/or may not be the right one and may/or may nor work. I have bought 2 from Copart and both had the recirculators and they both worked. Both trailers took less then $500 to fix, my labor of course. Now would I buy another, No. At one time I owned 3 TM's all at one time, now I am down to one. Wife said if I buy another trailer I gonna be in big trouble.
Being in Canada, such a source is probably rare. Also, the wife would say no to used toilet sources.
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Old 09-27-2021, 08:59 AM   #4
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Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Larryjb View Post
With the Theford Toilet being discontinued, I'm wondering about options in case of the need to replace my existing recirculating toilet.

3) Incinerating toilet. This one catches my fancy. It looks like they may be very expensive, but the idea it holds enough for a weeks worth of use without having to do anything. The ash you can just dump in the garbage on your way out.

Has anyone ever installed an incinerating toilet into a trailer?
I can give you only my one experience, and it is not recent.

Many years ago, my father built a small cabin on a lake in Maine, no larger than an upright trailer. He started with a privy out back until my mother expressed significant dissatisfaction. He then installed an incinerating toilet in the house. The installation instructions required a 6-foot vent above the peak of the roof, which he dutifully installed. But he ripped out the entire appliance after one summer. In operation, it stank way worse than anyone expected. It could be smelled literally a quarter mile away, and stink was way worse than raw poo.

You can imagine a bit o' poo sitting in a box. It smells. Now imagine applying a roaring propane flame to that bit! Poo is wet, and it takes a long time to heat up and dry out to the point where it will burn to ash, and while it heats up - well, you get the idea. Perhaps the current idea is that if you force all of the vented gas to pass through the flame, it will be de-odorized in the process. I don't know - but be sure you know before you buy one.

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Old 09-27-2021, 10:21 AM   #5
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I went with the cassette option and its not an everyday dump. Normally, I can go for a weekend trip and dump the last day. I bought a back up cassette for longer trips and it's no worse than using a portable smart tote folks here have used. The newer ones have wheels, so you don't have to carry 4-5 gallons to your dump site. If you have a lot of campers, then you'd need to dump sooner of course.

The good thing is people have options. What ever I, you or anyone decides, I hope they are happy with their choice.
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Old 09-27-2021, 10:41 AM   #6
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I have the same experience as Kidraz. For 3 people, we typically dump every 3 days or so.

You can also add a composting toilet as an option to consider. I know little about them, but they have been discussed here, and I have talked with people out on the road that seem to be quite happy with them, some having installed one as part of high end Airstream restorations.

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Old 09-27-2021, 05:54 PM   #7
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Thanks all for your comments.

My wife made it quite clear that a new recirculating toilet it would be. The main factor was cost, as long as I can get one. And honestly, for what we paid for our trailer, it would be sad that an incinerating toilet cost almost as much.

Bill, as for smell from an incinerating toilet, I have only heard one comment regarding that. I don't know if people didn't go outside to check for odor, or if the technology is that much better these days. The modern incinerating toilets heat the waste up to at least 1000°F. I read that most offensive smells occur during the first few minutes when the liquid waste boils off. BUT, having never used one, I can only rely on what people say. A lot of people found the recirculating toilet offensive. We can tolerate it quite nicely, and my wife is Asian who grew up camping in motels. Moving to a trailer was a big step for her! (I sold her on camping in the middle of a lavender farm)

Dave, I read that several people switched from composting toilets to incinerating toilets because the composting toilets had quite a smell too. Again, I'm only going by what I have read.

KidKraz, I would only use a tote in difficult circumstances where there were no hookups.

Honestly, as long as there isn't much smell, an incinerating toilet makes sense in my mind for boondockers if waste disposal is difficult. However, venting restrictions may make this option unworkable as a factory option.
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Old 09-27-2021, 08:15 PM   #8
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Though I haven’t really looked into it, my impression with the odor coming from the composting toilets has to do with urine getting mixed with feces. These toilets somehow collect urine into a separate vessel, and then I think you then are to simply dump it in the woods. Maybe some models do this better than others, or perhaps there is room for user error, or maybe the technique isn’t effective.

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Old 04-08-2022, 07:22 PM   #9
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I wonder if the purchase of Thetford was involved in this decision or not. In the best of worlds, the new owner could reverse this decision or allow someone else to make the product. In the worst of cases, discontinuing the product might have been forced by the new owner.

Monomoy Capital Partners acquires Thetford Corporation
Posted on December 10, 2021
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