Bogs

[HenryFreeman]

I've been making use of a separating bog for a number of years now, useful when I had somewhere to compost my jobbies but now I'm a part time boater (😩) and don't have somewhere to compost my jobbies, I'm thinking of replacing it with a cassette toilet.

 

What's the latest in cassette bog technology? Has Thetford got some proper futuristic bog tech that my buttocks will savour?

 

Ideally one that doesn't have to be built into some kind of cabinet.

 

Cheers!

[LadyG]

1 hour ago, HenryFreeman said:

I've been making use of a separating bog for a number of years now, useful when I had somewhere to compost my jobbies but now I'm a part time boater (😩) and don't have somewhere to compost my jobbies, I'm thinking of replacing it with a cassette toilet.

 

What's the latest in cassette bog technology? Has Thetford got some proper futuristic bog tech that my buttocks will savour?

 

Ideally one that doesn't have to be built into some kind of cabinet.

 

Cheers!

I have an Excellence it is suitable for one person for a week, there are no spares, you need two if you are a couple, or use the separating idea.

The lid scratches so get a fabric cover or sticky vinyl or don't put anything on it.

The flush stopped working after two years, I spray with dilute blue and laundry liquid.

It is freestanding, no spares.

I've had it for four years. It has to be carried horizontally to the Elsan.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 12, 2023 by LadyG

[Peanut]

Overview of the Thetford range is here:

 

https://thetford-thetford-p01.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/2023-03/Thetford_Cassette-toilet_2023_EN.pdf?VersionId=_.KHYiPI0GAuCaajKzfhpjTarRp8dP1J

and here:

 

https://thetford-thetford-p01.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/2023-03/Thetford_Portable-Toilets_2023_EN.pdf?VersionId=nto_.ybljJyaxr_kaBj1wo27amAAyI7e

 

in general, depending on the model, you can have it plumed in to your water tank or fill the top tank as you need to.  You choose an electric flush or a manual flush. If the electric goes down, you lose your bog, and have to use a jug to flush until it is fixed.  Some cassettes can have a ceramic bowl if that is important to you. The bigger the bottom tank or cassette, the longer it will last, but the heavier it will be to carry.

 

As lady G says, there are no spare tanks for Porta Potties, but there are for cassettes.  With a cassette, you will need space to slide the cassette out from under the toilet, possibly into a corridor outside the toilet compartment. Whereas with a Porta Potti you will need somewhere to put the top tank down when you separate it to empty the tank.

 

They can both suffer from a pile up in the tank under the exit, blocking the flush.  You will need to play poo sticks to clear it. Vigorous flushing may cause flush water to run up under the seat, giving you a wet posterior when you sit down.  Generally speaking, the seats are small, narrow, and uncomfortable, your mileage may vary.

 

There is a lot to be said for a dump through, not a lot to go wrong, it may be more civilised. But you will need to sleep on top of a large poo tank, find a pump out, and pay for it. Alternatively, walk the muddy tow-path in the rain, queue up for the Elsan, find it blocked, and have to find another, crossing your legs while you queue again.

Edited August 13, 2023 by Peanut
typo

[mrsmelly]

13 minutes ago, Peanut said:

Overview of the Thetford range is here:

 

https://thetford-thetford-p01.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/2023-03/Thetford_Cassette-toilet_2023_EN.pdf?VersionId=_.KHYiPI0GAuCaajKzfhpjTarRp8dP1J

and here:

 

https://thetford-thetford-p01.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/2023-03/Thetford_Portable-Toilets_2023_EN.pdf?VersionId=nto_.ybljJyaxr_kaBj1wo27amAAyI7e

 

in general, depending on the model, you can have it plumed in to your water tank or fill the top tank as you need to.  You choose an electric flush or a manual flush. If the electric goes down, you lose your bog, and have to use a jug to flush until it is fixed.  Some cassettes can have a ceramic bowl if that is important to you. The bigger the bottom tank or cassette, the longer it will last, but the heavier it will be to carry.

 

As lady G says, there are no spare tanks for Porta Potties, but there are for cassettes.  With a cassette, you will need space to slide the cassette out from under the toilet, possibly into a corridor outside the toilet compartment. Whereas with a Porta Potti you will need somewhere to put the top tank down when you separate it to empty the tank.

 

They can both suffer from a pile up in the tank under the exit, blocking the flush.  You will need to play poo sticks to clear it. Vigorous flushing may cause flush water to run up under the seat, giving you a wet posterior when you sit down.  Generally speaking, the seats are small, narrow, and uncomfortable, your mileage may vary.

 

There is a lot to be said for a dump through, not a lot to go wrong, it may be more civilised. But you will need to sleep on top of a large poo tank, find a pump out, and pay for it. Alternatively, walk the muddy tow-path in the rain, queue up for the Elsan, find it blocked, and have to find another, crossing your legs while you queue again.

With regard your last paragraph, that answer always makes me laugh. Why would you have to " Walk a muddy tow path " in the rain and queue? I just boated to the elsan the same as I boated to the pump out point. Why do you think you have to walk with the cassette, yet move the  boat to empty a tank? 

[Alan de Enfield]

23 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

With regard your last paragraph, that answer always makes me laugh. Why would you have to " Walk a muddy tow path " in the rain and queue? I just boated to the elsan the same as I boated to the pump out point. Why do you think you have to walk with the cassette, yet move the  boat to empty a tank? 

 

We'd empty the toilet cassette at the same time we were filling up the water tank - you don't have to wait for it to be full.

 

Maybe those that walk down muddy towpaths to empty the cassette also walk down muddy towpaths carrying bottles of water to fill their tank.

 

(I suppose it could happen 'down South' when you do not want to lose your mooring spot)

[magnetman]

Although I now burn all the solid lavatory waste in the fire my country estate boat has a Porta Potti 365 and also a 265. These to me are the best cassette lavatories for boats and occasionally visitors will prefer this to the caveman option. My only visitors are family members and I only have female family members so having a proper loo does make sense for their purposes. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Peanut]

45 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

With regard to your last paragraph, that answer always makes me laugh. Why would you have to “Walk a muddy towpath” in the rain and queue? I just boated to the Elsan the same as I boated to the pump out point. Why do you think you have to walk with the cassette, yet move the boat to empty a tank? 

 

Oh, so true, but explained by Allen in his post. It doesn't affect cc's but catches continuous moorers out if the cassettes get full, before moving day.

 

A Porta Poti is not a cassette.

 

[LadyG]

I did not know I had a portapotti, but that is semantics.

I like mine (Excellence) because it is at a proper height and vaguely resembles a domestic w.c.

Not using the flush means it can last for up to nine days not six, or less.

I moor up at the CRT services and empty it every time I pass one 

Edited August 13, 2023 by LadyG

[blackrose]

16 hours ago, HenryFreeman said:

What's the latest in cassette bog technology? Has Thetford got some proper futuristic bog tech that my buttocks will savour?

 

One thing that I've done with my Thetford cassette is utilise the headspace extractor valve at the top of the cassette. Thetford sell a fan kit for caravans which sucks air from under the toilet, but this is obviously not an option for most boats unless you cut a hole in the floor and remove some ballast. However with a bilge blower, a couple of funnels, jubilee clips and some hosepipe connected to a hull skin fitting you can achieve the same effect. 

 

The basic rationale is that (apart from a remote vacuum cassette) all cassette toilets are basically mini-dump throughs, so whatever volume of solids and liquids are put into the cassette the same volume of fetid headspace gases will be displaced, and the escape route for those stinking gases is straight back out the bowl. Even in the case of a lot of pump-out dump through toilets where the tank is vented outside, the path of least resistance for the displaced headspace gas will be back out the bowl into your bathroom. It's basic bogology.

 

As far as I know I'm the only boater to have done this modification to my Thetford, there may be others out there of course, but it makes using the toilet much more pleasant. Plenty of caravanners use the Thetford cassette headspace extractors and they wouldn't do it if it didn't work.

 

I know people say "just use more blue, or green or bio-whatever" but in my experience none of them really work very well unless you're emptying the cassette every couple of days.

Edited August 13, 2023 by blackrose

[TheBiscuits]

41 minutes ago, LadyG said:

I moor up at the CRT services and empty it every time I pass one 

 

It doesn't need to last a week if you empty it every time you pass one ...

 

[LadyG]

I àssiduously followed Blue instructions, result was smelly mush when emptying, not nice.

I now have a bottle of Blue, plus water and laundry liquid, for the a.m.dump and a spray of the same. No nasty odour.

12 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

It doesn't need to last a week if you empty it every time you pass one ...

 

........ cc does not mean I'm on the move 24/7.......

Edited August 13, 2023 by LadyG

[Alan de Enfield]

36 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

It doesn't need to last a week if you empty it every time you pass one ...

 

 

We reckoned to pass more than one (elsan point) every day (but we didn't moor up for weeks on end as we like to cruise)

[blackrose]

Some people also use cassette toilets when they're not on the move and just sitting at their moorings. Yes there will be an elsan point within walking distance, but I'm living alone on the boat and often work away from home, so sometimes it can take a couple of weeks to fill up a cassette.

 

If I'm cruising then of course I'll empty a part filled cassette if I pass an elsan point, otherwise as far as I'm concerned the less often I have to empty a cassette the better, so at my mooring I never empty them until they're full. 

Edited August 13, 2023 by blackrose

[Sea Dog]

22 hours ago, Peanut said:

But you will need to sleep on top of a large poo tank

I've heard this often but I've never really understood how sleeping above a completely sealed tank that most rarely even see is somehow worse than the horrendous interactions described in your post and others above. 

[HenryFreeman]

5 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

I've heard this often but I've never really understood how sleeping above a completely sealed tank that most rarely even see is somehow worse than the horrendous interactions described in your post and others above. 

I'd find the sloshing of turds going back and forth in their tank quite soothing, personally.

[Sea Dog]

3 minutes ago, HenryFreeman said:

I'd find the sloshing of turds going back and forth in their tank quite soothing, personally.

Ah, of course - those with macerators would miss this bonus. Also those with boats on flat calm canals, I suppose... 

[Peanut]

6 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

I've heard this often but I've never really understood how sleeping above a completely sealed tank that most rarely even see is somehow worse than the horrendous interactions described in your post and others above. 

Yes indeed, with a cassette system, you may have full tanks stored in the well deck or on the roof, and you risk getting splashed when you empty them. Though this is not quite as bad as if a pump out goes wrong.  Cassettes do leak a little when the seals wear out. It is a difficult job to know what is best.

[Tony Brooks]

1 minute ago, Peanut said:

Yes indeed, with a cassette system, you may have full tanks stored in the well deck or on the roof, and you risk getting splashed when you empty them. Though this is not quite as bad as if a pump out goes wrong.  Cassettes do leak a little when the seals wear out. It is a difficult job to know what is best.

 

It is difficult because so much of it is personal preference and experience. Maybe if things are as bad up north as has been claimed, then a cassette of some sort makes better sense. I think too many people are too dogmatic about their personal choice of toilet system.

[Sea Dog]

I've noticed a significant number of dogs (not all, obviously) have trained humans to follow them around bagging up their waste - for free too. Perhaps we could extend the system?

[Onewheeler]

7 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

I've noticed a significant number of dogs (not all, obviously) have trained humans to follow them around bagging up their waste - for free too. Perhaps we could extend the system?

But since brexit the foreigners aren't coming here and taking our jobbies.