Date:         Tue, 6 Jun 1995 09:10:05 -0700 (PDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Tobin T. Copley" <tobin@freenet.vancouver.bc.ca>
Subject:      Re: Camper Toilets

On Tue, 6 Jun 1995, Stratis M. Kakadelis wrote:

> Ok this isn't the most tasteful of subjects but has anyone got any good
> suggestions for  portable toilets for my '82 Vanagon Camper?  I've got a
> wife and two little kids that want to go camping in the bus but aren't
> trilled about using the "o-naturale" latrine facilities.  Any real world
> experiences along with manufacture and model information would be appreciated.
> 
> Please keep the bathroom humor to a minimum ........Thanks
> 
> 
> + ==================================================================== +
> /  Stratis M. Kakadelis                  BDM Federal                   \
> /                       ============     stratis@rspac.ivv.nasa.gov    \
> /  '82 VW Vanagon      /_| |__||__|:|    304-367-8327                  \
> /    The only way    O|             |    304-367-8211 (fax)            \
> /    to travel!       '-()-------()-'    http://www.rspac.ivv.nasa.gov \
> + ==================================================================== +
                               ^
			      / \
			       |
			       |
Hmmm.. looks familiar! :)  ----           (I LIKE it!!)

Bathroom stuff:  Christa and I have and use (when we're camping, not all 
the time!) a porta-potti, and it's great.  What we have is a Thetford 
Porta-potti 235 and we got it on sale in Canada for about $100.00 CAN.  
Highly recommended.  C and I are extremely enthusiastic about it, and we 
even (kind of) talked Harry Yates into buying one.  Harry bought one, but 
apparently they don't make the 235 anymore.  

What it is, how it works:
The porta-potti (PP) is a 2-part unit.  The top part is the, um, sit-on 
and temporary hold-it part.  A slide type valve keeps, uh, stuff in the 
bowl until sliding the little door lets the stuff fall into the lower 
part, which is the holding tank.  Slide it shut, and that's the last you 
see/smell/etc. of it.  A little of the blue goop that airlines use is in 
there (you put it in after emptying), and it nuetralizes everything, 
turning it into a bluey-brown more-or-less odourless syrup.  (Enjoying 
your lunch, people?).  When the holding tank gets full (and there's a 
little indicator on the tank to tell you how full the tank is) just dump 
it out in the nearest toilet/sanidump/etc.  It even has a little 
swiveling pipe-thing you uncap that the yummies pour out of so that 
emptying is controlled and mess-free.  

Using a PP in a VW bus:
I built a box that fits just behind the passenger seat in our westy.  
This box holds the PP, toilet paper and blue goop under the PP, and has 
two deep bookshelves next to where I slide the PP in.  Just try to find 
(non-sexist/racist/etc.) reading material in a gas station bathroom!

Because I built the box with very tight clearance for the PP, I have a 
length of seatbelt strapping I tie around the PP to help me lift it in 
and out of the box.  The box has a top lid, so we can use the box as a 
seat when cooking inside the camper.  

We have NO smells from the PP, although the closed box may help in this 
respect.  Having it in the box also keeps it from sliding around on tight 
corners/rough roads/whenever you get air on the drive to pick up 
grandma.  

The only problem we've experienced was the result of rapid air pressure 
changes and hours of VERY hard cornering (I think).  In Mexico, we 
dropped close to 10,000 feet in just a few hours on an absolutely insane 
"road", accompanied by a 10-15 C temperature increase.  Perhaps the seal 
between the holding tank and the upper 'bowl' part of the PP is too good, 
'cause shortly after reaching close to sea level it kind of... exploded 
(in a minor way) when Christa tried to use it.  Interestingly, though, by 
far the worst paret of the smell was the chemical smell of the blue goop, 
not the, uh, other portion of the contents.  Moral: bleed pressure from 
the holding tank occaisionally if you're driving up or down a steep high 
mountain range.

Our holding tank is good for 3 - 5 days, depending.  We use regular 
toilet paper.  The blue goop is cheap, don't need much, and is available 
at any RV store.  I highly recommend the THetford brand of porta-pottis 
(std. disclaimer, etc., etc.) and maybe other folks have their own 
preferences.  Good RV stores seem to always have a good selection of 
them, although these places tend towards the larger models which may not 
be neccesary for us VW types.

We lived out of our camper for 3 months, 15,000 miles of driving in all 
kinds of conditions, and I think a good quality porta-potti was one of 
the best equipment investments we made.  You'll never want to take your 
chances at a gas station again.  And the reading material is better, too!

Happy, uh, camping!

Tobin    

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tobin T. Copley                  Currently               =============
(604) 689-2660                    Occupationally        /_| |__||__| :| putta
tobin@freenet.vancouver.bc.ca      Challenged!         O|             | putta
                                                        '-()-------()-'
Circum-continental USA, Mexico, Canada 15,000 miles... '76 VW Camper! (Mango)