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 Topic: Smelly cassette toilet
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08/8/2010 at 7:00pm
Location: Scotland
Outfit: Elddis Breeze
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We have just come back from a short break - I empty the loo every 2nd day on site and rinse it out and usually wash it out at home and its fine. But not this time.....
I use One chem and am not to enamoured of it as compared to the old Thetford stuff (seems to get smellie in the loo itself quicker) so was wondering if it was using that that's caused the problem.
I filled it up with hot water and put tea tree oil in it to try and kill the smell - left it overnight, emptied it and left it outside to air dry - just brought it in and its still smelly. Not too sure what else I can use to clean it with.
Has anyone any suggestions?
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Hols 11
Easter - East Calder
Wee break in tent - Aberfoyle
Summer - Whitby/Barnard Castle
Aug - Craigielands
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08/8/2010 at 7:36pm
Location: Lancashire
Outfit: Nissan X-Trail & Bailey Ranger
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Smells are caused by bacteria. Use a little bleach to kill the bacteria, leave it for a while and then rinse well. Be careful about getting neat bleach on the rubber seal around the top of the cassette.
OneChem's great, but not as "aggressive" as some of the older chemicals.
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08/8/2010 at 8:46pm
Location: Scotland
Outfit: Elddis Breeze
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I wasnt sure if I could use bleach on it thats why I used the tea tree oil - had another niff of it and its still not nice - will do the bleach thing this time - thanks for the replies
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Hols 11
Easter - East Calder
Wee break in tent - Aberfoyle
Summer - Whitby/Barnard Castle
Aug - Craigielands
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08/8/2010 at 9:21pm
Location: NW of Glasgow
Outfit: Sterling Searcher 2008 Volvo XC90
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Thetford make a special cassette cleaning product, we have tried it and found it very effective.
If you are near Glasgow, you can get it from The Caravan Shop in Great Western Road.
We have tried a few different products, but now stick to the Thetford or Elsan ones, we find them more effective.
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Jennifer
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08/8/2010 at 9:43pm
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I'm not to impressed with the Thetford toilet fluid. I would recommend Elsan. Never had any smells since we started usign it and never had a reocurrense of the "black bits" that we had with the Thetford pink.
There's no denying that Thetford make a good toilet, but their chemicals are not the best.
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08/8/2010 at 9:58pm
Location: west midlands
Outfit: Buccaneer Caravel & Toyota Amazon
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zaflora works ..simple and effective ..leave overnight
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08/8/2010 at 10:56pm
Location: NW of Glasgow
Outfit: Sterling Searcher 2008 Volvo XC90
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Quote: Originally posted by LegsDownKettleOn on 08/8/2010
I'm not to impressed with the Thetford toilet fluid. I would recommend Elsan. Never had any smells since we started usign it and never had a reocurrense of the "black bits" that we had with the Thetford pink.
There's no denying that Thetford make a good toilet, but their chemicals are not the best.
We now use only the sachets of Blue, very convenient to use, no risk of spills, and much less weight to carry on our long trips.
We have tried both the Thetford and the Elsan ones, I prefer the smell of the Thetford, but both work well, so now we buy on price. At the moment we are using Elsan ones.
For the Pink, we have the Elsan Double strength. This is the first year we have used any pink, only used plain water before. And our previous van had no flush tank at all.
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Jennifer
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08/8/2010 at 11:57pm
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We've moved to Fenwicks Top and Tail. Plus a soak in Fendox now and again cleans both the flush and the cassette - with no black bits any more !
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09/8/2010 at 7:12am
Location: Scotland
Outfit: Elddis Breeze
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Thanks for all the replies - I have a bottle and a half of this One chem to use up and then I am going to try Elsan (I really didnt like the smell of the Thetford Blue but at least it didnt end up with a smelly loo!). I filled the loo up with bleach and water and will see if that takes the niff away
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Hols 11
Easter - East Calder
Wee break in tent - Aberfoyle
Summer - Whitby/Barnard Castle
Aug - Craigielands
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09/8/2010 at 8:50am
Location: Keswick
Outfit: Bailey
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Just a note that Thetford say that we should never use household cleaners (bleach, solvents or other powerful cleaning agents) as they may cause permanent damage to the seals and other toilet components.
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09/8/2010 at 11:08am
Location: Lancashire
Outfit: Nissan X-Trail & Bailey Ranger
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Quote: Originally posted by cwdc56768 on 09/8/2010
<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU" lang=EN-AU>Just a note that Thetford say that we should never use household cleaners (bleach, solvents or other powerful cleaning agents) as they may cause permanent damage to the seals and other toilet components.</SPAN></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN>
And they have their own range of chemicals and cleaners to sell. What a coincidence!
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09/8/2010 at 12:16pm
Location: roche cornwall
Outfit: lynton 5th wheel
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hi. you need bacteria to break down the waste. having worked in the sewage industry i say dont use any thing maybe a splash of vinegar. never wash the inside of cassette and ideally always leave a bit still inside to let the bacteria breed and grow. chemicals cause real problems in sewage works as they kill the bacteria used to digest the waste. you really dont need them.
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vwalan
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09/8/2010 at 5:36pm
Location: Lancashire
Outfit: Nissan X-Trail & Bailey Ranger
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Quote: Originally posted by vwalan on 09/8/2010hi. you need bacteria to break down the waste. having worked in the sewage industry i say dont use any thing maybe a splash of vinegar. never wash the inside of cassette and ideally always leave a bit still inside to let the bacteria breed and grow. chemicals cause real problems in sewage works as they kill the bacteria used to digest the waste. you really dont need them.
The waste's (hopefully) not in the cassette long enough to "break down" to any major extent, surely? The cassette's a short-term holding tank, not part of the processing. Chemicals are used to suppress and mask unpleasant odours and reduce the formation of gasses.
I understood the OP's problem to relate to the cassette after it had been emptied, inbetween caravan trips.
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09/8/2010 at 5:52pm
Location: roche cornwall
Outfit: lynton 5th wheel
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the trouble is when you use chemicals you kill all the bacteria .not just the bad. i never wash mine out. its 10 yr old and only if used and left part full and travel do you get a whiff. the secret is dont keep emptying it. i see some every day empgtying. i can only tell you what i have asked the scientists about. i drove tankers for awhile and because i am interested in my job asked lots of questions. i only drive in summer i live in my camper all winter abroad so needed lots of questions answered. i also asked about fresh water filtering etc. i now use a berkenfield filter system .ceramic candle and silver inlay. i had several chances to get into discussions with the labs about all this . i do know that summer here in cornwall is a nightmare with so much chemicals used in elsans etc. some sites have seperate emptying poimts so the chems shouldnt get in to the sewage system .yet do still tip it down the toilet. it stops many campsite sewage works and costs thousands to fix, chemicals should be banned . even the so called green are bad.
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vwalan
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09/8/2010 at 6:39pm
Location: Lancashire
Outfit: Nissan X-Trail & Bailey Ranger
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vwalan, you've said yourself that you don't stop on campsites. Those of us that do use the sewage system that's provided, which should sluice the contents of caravan toilet cassettes into a tank which is emptied periodically and dealt with correctly by specialist contractor, and should certainly not go straight into the normal sewage system. Chemicals in the sewage system could indeed cause a problem if they were in sufficient quantities, but let's remember that households pour bleach and other cleaners down the sewer every day, and the water companies don't tell us to stop. If that caused a problem, you could bet they would.
You suggest not emptying the cassette. I presume you mean "unless it's full". Unless they have access to other toilet arrangements, I'd say that two people can fill a standard cassette in two days or so. At that point, it's pretty heavy, and not everyone wants to man-handle a tank full of sh1t. Emptying daily is easier for people who struggle with heavy, cumbersome objects.
You also say you never wash out your tank. In my experience, unless you rinse the tank you'll take back half of what you arrived with.
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