Date:         Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:36:01 -0400
Reply-To:     David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Subject:      Re: Morning Gnarliness: how to deal with
Comments: To: Mike S <mikes@FLATSURFACE.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <20090827011803.085B21165C2@hamburg.alientech.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

At 09:17 PM 8/26/2009, Mike S wrote:
>You can get a Thetford 135 for about $80, not much bigger than a 5
>gallon bucket, but much easier to deal with - just pour into a toilet
>(other than a septic system) when you get a chance - and it's
>environmentally correct, because it will go into a waste stream

Hear, hear!  If you don't want to use it inside the van, take it
outside.  Properly used it stays odorless for weeks, and the waste
tank is easy to carry and convenient to dump.  Uses a few ounces of
water per flush.  If you open the flush gate before use, there's
little or no wiping down of the bowl to do, because the doings drop
directly into the waste tank.

The Thetford line has one bad point, depending on how you use
it.  *If* you don't open the gate before use, and *if* the waste tank
is already full, once you load up the hopper and open the flush gate
it's going to force some amount of (treated, mostly) sewage out of
the flushing vent which is located between the waste tank and the
flush tank.  There's another good line (Sea-Land? -- check _Practical
Cruiser_ from '90s) that doesn't have this fault.

If the 135 is too low to be comfortable, the next model up is
identical but with a larger (taller) waste tank.  Heavier to carry
for dumping, of course.

If you're concerned about the thing flying about during heavy weather
or crashes, Thetford has either models or a kit to secure the thing
to the cabin sole.


  --
David Beierl - Providence RI USA -- http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/
'89 Po' White Star "Scamp"