Use of the toilette

Norseman · 02-24-2014, 03:36 PM

I am a total newbie. Will take a possession of the 2014 Solera soon and wonder what one does when travelling empty on water, stuck in traffic or overnight in the Walmart parking lot. Do you travel with a bit of water?

**ependydad** · 02-24-2014, 03:39 PM

I personally always travel with some water in the tank. I shoot for 1/4-1/2 full. Lots of opinions on this, of course.

Otherwise, just use a pre-filled gallon jug of water and "flush" with that.

Norseman · 02-24-2014, 03:43 PM

Thank you for the reply.How do you manage the smell and such? I used to have a boat and it was a bit gamy.

Brother Les · 02-24-2014, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Norseman

Thank you for the reply.How do you manage the smell and such? I used to have a boat and it was a bit gamy.

knock on your neighbors door in the Wally World parking lot and use their facilities....

.. Or you can go inside Wally world and buy the chemicals that they sell in the camper section for your stool/black tank.

**ependydad** · 02-24-2014, 03:50 PM

I personally use chemicals in my tank and haven't ever had issues with smell. Make sure your bathroom fan is off while flushing. They can actually pull stink up as you flush.

Otherwise, lots of people use what is called the "geo method" using laundry softener (Calgon) or something:
https://sites.google.com/site/cbruni/

Lots of water is your friend.

ChooChooMan74 · 02-24-2014, 03:51 PM

I try and travel with about a quarter of a tank for the emergency bathroom break.

If you are talking about a smell inside, then you are doing something wrong. There should not be a smell inside. There are 2 ways to treat the system. One is with chemicals, and the other is a more eco friendly natural way. I am going to try the oer way when I use up all my chemicals.

If you are talkjng about the smell when dumping, maybe my nose isn't working right, but I don't find it all that bad. Wear disposable gloves for the job and carry hand sanitizer.

Sent from my GT-N5110 using Forest River Forums mobile app

HONDAMAN174 · 02-24-2014, 03:52 PM

Walmart have these TST treatment pouches in the RV section. They have different flavors- we get the orange. Just throw a pouch in the first time use on a trip and forget about it.

garbonz · 02-24-2014, 04:40 PM

I use Raritan KO Kills odor, which is a scented natural enzyme based liquid that works great. It is used on boats with great success and I've never had a problem. Keep plenty of water in the tank.

garbonz · 02-24-2014, 04:40 PM

http://www.raritaneng.com/products/c...lls_odors.html

**bikendan** · 02-24-2014, 05:08 PM

we use Odorlos in our black tank and always travel with water, usually a full tank of water. never had a smell issue in over 7 years.

don't see why you shouldn't travel with a full tank, since you have a motorhome.
the extra weight of water will only affect fuel mileage in the fractions.

**Herk7769** · 02-24-2014, 05:14 PM

Other than the typical, "Mine don't stink;" I have to say that with proper maintenance your black tank should never smell.

There are quite a few threads here on how to keep your tank squeaky clean and odor free.

LittlePM · 02-24-2014, 06:24 PM

We use TST as others have stated. You should not dump your tank every day, waste needs time to break down the tanks will empty better.

This is not a statement is more of a question and would love to know what others think. I have always been told that you should either run with your tanks full or empty, because the weight can flip your rig over. Any thoughts??

ironj · 02-24-2014, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LittlePM

We use TST as others have stated. You should not dump your tank every day, waste needs time to break down the tanks will empty better.

This is not a statement is more of a question and would love to know what others think. I have always been told that you should either run with your tanks full or empty, because the weight can flip your rig over. Any thoughts??

the weight of the black water flip the rig?....

might change your tongue weight a little...no way on this planet is 400lbs of poop n pee water gonna flip a rig.....

then again..how much poop does a poop tank hold?...is poop heavier than water? ok.......ill stop....lol

Ford Idaho · 02-24-2014, 06:54 PM

Water in the fresh tank to flush, water and the orange stuff from Wal-Mart in the black tank to keep stuff from sticking to the bottom of the tank.

force · 02-24-2014, 07:00 PM

I tend to travel with my water tank full

But I also have tongue weight to spare, plus half my trips are to friend or family homes where I can't always reach fresh water (at least, not with a potable hose)

Without those conditions, I'd still travel with 1/4 to a 1/3 of a tank, to cover any number of just in case scenario's.

Phil57 · 02-24-2014, 07:31 PM

I carry at least a half tank if water. You never no when you might get stuck broken down or get sick. We never travel empty. Besides its nice to use the clean MH toilet than a truck stop.

**Herk7769** · 02-24-2014, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LittlePM

We use TST as others have stated. You should not dump your tank every day, waste needs time to break down the tanks will empty better.

This is not a statement is more of a question and would love to know what others think. I have always been told that you should either run with your tanks full or empty, because the weight can flip your rig over. Any thoughts??

Well, (a deep subject), remember your black tank is a "holding tank" not a "septic" tank. You are not going to do much "breaking down" in the 4 or 5 days it takes to fill one.

So, <sigh> in my opinion, anything that keeps the "stuff" slippery and not stuck is all you need. ALWAYS turboflush for 15 or 20 minutes when you are hooked up to a sewer or have time at a dump station (no line).

If you dump to a "Blue Boy" wheeled tank, you are not going to give it the good turbo flush so it is even more critical to avoid solids remaining behind. This is why I am a big proponent of a Blue Boy big enough to hold ALL your black tank. Partial dumps can leave solids behind since the second (or third) dump will not have the force of a full tank to rip the solids out.

Driving over bumpy roads with full tanks is not recommended due to the way the tanks are restrained in the frame. There is a chance that the tanks will bow and pull themselves out of the frame retainers and cause a "big" problem. Tipping over the rig is a new one on me.

Although I have heard that putting more troops on Guam could cause the island to tip over.

Congressman Hank Johnson fears Guam will tip over, March 25, 2010 - YouTube

LittlePM · 02-24-2014, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ironj

the weight of the black water flip the rig?....

might change your tongue weight a little...no way on this planet is 400lbs of poop n pee water gonna flip a rig.....

then again..how much poop does a poop tank hold?...is poop heavier than water? ok.......ill stop....lol

I was really talking about all water tanks not just black water

Although now that I really think about it, we don't always run with a full or almost empty gas tank.

Thank you to all

ironj · 02-24-2014, 07:49 PM

Again, although if I had 90 gal of waste and 40 of fresh beteen the 4 tanks that would be about 1000lbs of water....quite a chunk of my payload no doubt but given the low mounting of the tanks yhey are more like a balast I would guess....

I would never travel like that though..

For me I take 1/3 of fresh and put a orange Wal-Mart thing and 5 gal of water in the black....thats it...

sent from fat fingers via a space dish thing with no regard to grammer.

**Herk7769** · 02-24-2014, 07:55 PM

I have photos of how the tanks sit in the frame so you can see why running over bumpy roads with full tanks could cause a problem. In these photos you can see the shape of the tank itself holds the black and gray tanks in the frame (in my camper). The fresh tank sits on a plywood board.

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