Comprises: 20+ years ago my wife wanted a 13” tv in the bedroom I wanted a 21” tv in the bedroom. I compromised! We got a 13” tv! I have been married 36 years. I think compromise has a lot to do with it. You could also make the toilet 18” tall with a 4” movable foot stool so you can both be comfortable.
It only happens when we change the pressure in the RV. One step we didn't do, because I (Chris) didn't have the emotional energy to study any more examples, was to punch a hole through the side and run a small computer fan to keep the smelly air moving sideways and out of the camper... We have learned that if we use our overhead vent fans the smell gets pulled in whichever direction the vent is open, so until we get to a more settled place to add the fan we've just done what we do best, and learn to short cut our way through it! Thanks for the idea of the p trap/plug. Both were options we explored when we started building. But the space was so small and this being our first build, we did what we could!
Unfortunately the man who made the one we purchased stopped making them! We had a crack in ours when I was doing an upgrade in adding a P-trap and I freaked out because we couldn't buy a new one. We ultimately heated up the plastic and used some glue to make ours work again. This is just to say, we haven't researched these in years since we knew the guy stopped making them. But we found it initially on E-bay.
We are meant to squat to poo so a lower toilet height is better. Install a grab handle if you feel your thighs are too weak to rise up after your job is done.
Idk why folks make such tiny storage for their dirt or whatever they use to cover. I use peat moss and keep another 5gal bucket full of it next to my other two bucket toilets. I keep two bucket toilets at all times cuz I use an enema/douche kit as a little bidet, every dang day! I empty the buckets once a week. This is my main toilet. Im not just camping.
How is the toilet working for you after a few months of use? Have you changed anything? We’re looking to do the same in our small travel trailer. Thanks for all the great info and safe travels!! ~carol
So what we built is a modified composting toilet and it works for the most part. We don't actually "compost" the #2. It sits in a bag and gets covered with cedar shavings (we'll switch to coconut coir when we get back to the US and can find it). So it doesn't dry out and it's not churned like the expensive composting toilets. We empty it as often as we can't take the smell. Surprisingly, this will be about 5-7 days. We were considering adding a vent fan to the side of the RV to draw air out of the toilet space but the way I built it with different compartments and the plastic box really defeats that purpose. We love that it is plumbed to our black tank. So we can go weeks between dumping the urine stored there. But we've put a cap over the diverter to ensure smells don't waft up from the tank, particularly if we're using a fan in the camper... If we were to go back and do it again, we'd have some kind of ball valve/knob to open/close the hose to the black tank. But otherwise this has been a game changer for us when it comes to boondocking. Let us know how your build goes!
Thanks! We decided 40 gallons of pee in our black tank means we can go quite a while without having to dump. But our backup was a 1 gallon jug. Just didn't want to empty it frequently. Glad it works out for you!
I'm trying to figure out the simplest way I can make a composting toilet for my 1965 Shasta Compact, my "bathroom" is 21 1/4" X 18". With minimal carpentry "skills" 😁
You can do it! We didn't have any idea what we were doing when we started, which is why the video is less "How To DIY" and more "WTF is Chris doing?!" Hopefully you can glean some information to encourage you to carry on with your project. A big thing for us was deciding to plumb the diverter into the black tank, which you may or may not want to do since you have the tank there beneath the existing toilet. But the simplest thing is to get a urine diverter like this one (www.ebay.com/itm/173983863226) and plumb it either to your tank or to a gallon container. Drop that inside a bucket with a trash bag (we like the bucket as an extra layer of protection against any "poo spills"). You can frame out the thing more simply by not adding storage compartments and trusting in 3/4" plywood to hold your weight. Cut some squares, slide them together and screw them in place. Put another square of plywood on top with a hole for your toilet seat. Slap a hinge on the back of the plywood cover so you can access the "poopy bag" to empty it and go with it! We'll try to throw a website post together soon but it may be too late for you by then! Let us know if we can help!
Doing our best to pursue the Abundant Life on the road, that's for sure! The dream... maybe not exactly, but we like the life we've chosen! Thanks for watching and reaching out!
I tried scratching the vinegar and all it did was move around the container. So far no issues with attracting flies to the toilet. But will keep it in mind!
Dude, elevate the bin an inch, run the tubing underneath the bin and use a 90° elbow to go into the black tank cover. This way the bin is water tight since there's not a hole in it and I'd use a square bucket rather than the "bag holder". Just a few suggestions for whatever they're worth.
Thanks. Tried all of the above. But the custom “bag holder” fits perfectly with the diverter shape. And the 90 degree elbow doesn’t work with the tubing we used. I’m going to try another attempt at a p-trap down the road. But it has to be as small as possible. You’d be surprised how quickly stale pee smells, over night. And the idea is not to have to flush with water every time, or else we might as well keep the plumbed toilet. So always a work in progress! Thanks for the ideas!
This is now all the rage now making your own toilet I'm laughing but I will be making a toilet soon myself mine will be a frame w toilet seat resting on top only one bucket no pee bottle the bucket has a lid they also sale which will seal it if you put enough litter or pellets stink will not be bad plus u use a bag nothing to clean just buy cheap bags. But for some unknown reason I like watching toilet building on RUclips good job enjoy.
Looks good thus far. It might be a hook shot if you stand to go, or I guess you could put one knee on, or a han held urinal extender. Ahh, nice storage area!
This is a squatty potty. We’ve yet to find an RV where you can stand and pee without making a mess. The convenience of the composting toilet and diverting the urine to store for weeks if needed outweighs anything else
That was the original idea (cut from the video for time sake) as I thought through it trying to figure out where to put the valve. In this iteration I couldn't find a place to put it. In a future version I may plumb with PVC where I don't have to be so worried about the bends in the hose and I could put a valve on the outside of the toilet near the floor. But for the first try, not too bad and it functions wonderfully!
I think a storage box under the seat, with a bag holder in the style of Chris, and a diverter and pee pot inside the box would work. Even for your Mexican Splash. Details to be refined.
Pee pot is our backup if ever the hose to the black tank fails. But you’d be surprised how much pee 2 people can make and. How often you have to empty it! Glad our black tank idea is working for now!
"RV manufactures don't realize that people will need to change things". Well actually, they expect you will have one of their dealers do that work for you. This helps keep the dealers happy and operating. Of course the real idea is that after a few times having the dealer fix it. The owner will come to the realization (with dealer sales dept. help of course) they need to upgrade anyway. It's called churn, and churn is what keeps manufactures building new toys and making big profits. Churn is also the biggest addition to "weather change" on our planet that no one wants you to talk about. (governments and manufactures do not want anyone talking about this when they can push _buying_ new "carbon appropriate" objects)
No no no you should have used pvc pipe that is stationary where your pee port is just the right size maybe a rubber pipe connector so when u lift the rig it disconnects with no problem.
Six one way a half a dozen the other. Our method worked out fine in the end but I can see your suggestion being valuable as well. Maybe the next time we find ourselves in need of building a toilet!
We got all the "splash" areas covered with the tub and tile paint and it's working out great so far. The rest of the toilet area we painted white to match. But great idea!
@@CalledToWander You actually gave me an idea at the beginning of the video since I have another bathroom that im not using the toilet at all and only using it to take showers. I have to redo the floor in that anyhow and I may go with taking out that toilet and replacing it with a composting one.
Great question. So nobody in an Rv or van with a composting toilet has a garden for the compost. The point of a composting toilet in RV lifestyle is to reduce the amount of water you use with a plumbed toilet and the amount of waste collected in the black tank. So while it is a composting toilet by definition and we do use organic coconut coir to dry out the #2, we do not churn it for compost but rather discard. We divert the #1 to our black tank to dump as needed without the additional water wasted in the flushing and storage. We do know some long term campers in places that do compost the poo in makeshift gardens. But mostly the idea is to conserve water and reduce the need to dump tanks frequently. Hope this helps!
Unfortunately the man who made them stopped selling them. They were available on eBay but as of about 6 months ago when we last looked, it was not available
If you run a vent tubing for the computer fan on the permanent fixed side the run to the bottom of the camper that would give you the room for the fan. I have a compost toilet and the fan is the trick. Make sure to add wire screen between fan and the outside so unwelcome guests don’t come in. My fan runs 24/7 but you could put a switch on it.
What did u use to cover the flange, or did u have to take the other one out and replace it? I'm not sure if it unscrews or what but I can't find a cap for it that I can add a whole for the hose.
There is a 4" flimsy plastic cover that we got at Home Depot that fits perfectly. I drilled a hole exactly wide enough to fit the hose, but not so wide that air/stench could escape around the hose. It was not an easy find. But we had a few Home Depots in the area to shop and found one eventually.
3:55. Squatting is best for pooping which is why shorter toilets are best.💩🚽👍
Unintentional benefit. Thanks!
Comprises: 20+ years ago my wife wanted a 13” tv in the bedroom I wanted a 21” tv in the bedroom. I compromised! We got a 13” tv!
I have been married 36 years. I think compromise has a lot to do with it.
You could also make the toilet 18” tall with a 4” movable foot stool so you can both be comfortable.
Great idea we'll save for the next time! Compromise is definitely whatever Lindsay wants! Thanks for watching and reaching out!
The smell from the black tank will come up through your diverter unless you have a pee trap or plug.
It only happens when we change the pressure in the RV. One step we didn't do, because I (Chris) didn't have the emotional energy to study any more examples, was to punch a hole through the side and run a small computer fan to keep the smelly air moving sideways and out of the camper... We have learned that if we use our overhead vent fans the smell gets pulled in whichever direction the vent is open, so until we get to a more settled place to add the fan we've just done what we do best, and learn to short cut our way through it! Thanks for the idea of the p trap/plug. Both were options we explored when we started building. But the space was so small and this being our first build, we did what we could!
great video, please share the link for the urine diverter. nature's head over $1000; I don't think so. D.I.Y
Unfortunately the man who made the one we purchased stopped making them! We had a crack in ours when I was doing an upgrade in adding a P-trap and I freaked out because we couldn't buy a new one. We ultimately heated up the plastic and used some glue to make ours work again. This is just to say, we haven't researched these in years since we knew the guy stopped making them. But we found it initially on E-bay.
We are meant to squat to poo so a lower toilet height is better.
Install a grab handle if you feel your thighs are too weak to rise up after your job is done.
We've figured out how to make it work out. The compromise was perfect for us!
Idk why folks make such tiny storage for their dirt or whatever they use to cover. I use peat moss and keep another 5gal bucket full of it next to my other two bucket toilets. I keep two bucket toilets at all times cuz I use an enema/douche kit as a little bidet, every dang day! I empty the buckets once a week. This is my main toilet. Im not just camping.
Nice job! They way you didn’t screw it to the motorhome walls was brilliant!
Thanks! Probably an accidental genius moment
How is the toilet working for you after a few months of use? Have you changed anything? We’re looking to do the same in our small travel trailer. Thanks for all the great info and safe travels!! ~carol
So what we built is a modified composting toilet and it works for the most part. We don't actually "compost" the #2. It sits in a bag and gets covered with cedar shavings (we'll switch to coconut coir when we get back to the US and can find it). So it doesn't dry out and it's not churned like the expensive composting toilets. We empty it as often as we can't take the smell. Surprisingly, this will be about 5-7 days. We were considering adding a vent fan to the side of the RV to draw air out of the toilet space but the way I built it with different compartments and the plastic box really defeats that purpose. We love that it is plumbed to our black tank. So we can go weeks between dumping the urine stored there. But we've put a cap over the diverter to ensure smells don't waft up from the tank, particularly if we're using a fan in the camper... If we were to go back and do it again, we'd have some kind of ball valve/knob to open/close the hose to the black tank. But otherwise this has been a game changer for us when it comes to boondocking. Let us know how your build goes!
@@CalledToWander thanks!!
Where do you dispose of the poo? First time viewer- thank you for all the details, yall are inspiring.
Great question. As it is collected in a trash back we dispose of it in dumpsters or other proper trash can.
Great job ... I did same thing in my truck camper . I just use a 1 gal. Jug for the urine .
Thanks! We decided 40 gallons of pee in our black tank means we can go quite a while without having to dump. But our backup was a 1 gallon jug. Just didn't want to empty it frequently. Glad it works out for you!
It's the way of the road.
This is now your crowning achievement. Be proud of yourself.
I think our cedar shower is the crowning achievement, or the sofa. But the toilet makes a top 3! Thanks!
I'm trying to figure out the simplest way I can make a composting toilet for my 1965 Shasta Compact, my "bathroom" is 21 1/4" X 18". With minimal carpentry "skills" 😁
You can do it! We didn't have any idea what we were doing when we started, which is why the video is less "How To DIY" and more "WTF is Chris doing?!" Hopefully you can glean some information to encourage you to carry on with your project. A big thing for us was deciding to plumb the diverter into the black tank, which you may or may not want to do since you have the tank there beneath the existing toilet. But the simplest thing is to get a urine diverter like this one (www.ebay.com/itm/173983863226) and plumb it either to your tank or to a gallon container. Drop that inside a bucket with a trash bag (we like the bucket as an extra layer of protection against any "poo spills"). You can frame out the thing more simply by not adding storage compartments and trusting in 3/4" plywood to hold your weight. Cut some squares, slide them together and screw them in place. Put another square of plywood on top with a hole for your toilet seat. Slap a hinge on the back of the plywood cover so you can access the "poopy bag" to empty it and go with it! We'll try to throw a website post together soon but it may be too late for you by then! Let us know if we can help!
Living the dream guys!!!! Love it!!!!
Doing our best to pursue the Abundant Life on the road, that's for sure! The dream... maybe not exactly, but we like the life we've chosen! Thanks for watching and reaching out!
I love the adjustable construction technique. . A good suggestion for me to use.
Glad you like it! We tried to make everything adjustable in our remodel!
Nice design, is it still working?
Yes, it is. I went back and plumbed with PVC from the diverter to the black tank and put a proper p-trap in. Works perfectly now.
@@CalledToWander Yes, I think P-traps are a necessity. I'm planning on putting one on my bus when I'm able to start my conversion. 😁
Scratch the vinegar. It may attract flies!
I tried scratching the vinegar and all it did was move around the container. So far no issues with attracting flies to the toilet. But will keep it in mind!
just a thought how about rubber gaskets around all the cracks around your toilet so fumes would be restricted to venturing around out of the toilet.
Yeah still haven’t found the right size one. I’m going to give it another try in a few months when I have the chance to work on it.
Dude, elevate the bin an inch, run the tubing underneath the bin and use a 90° elbow to go into the black tank cover. This way the bin is water tight since there's not a hole in it and I'd use a square bucket rather than the "bag holder". Just a few suggestions for whatever they're worth.
Thanks. Tried all of the above. But the custom “bag holder” fits perfectly with the diverter shape. And the 90 degree elbow doesn’t work with the tubing we used. I’m going to try another attempt at a p-trap down the road. But it has to be as small as possible. You’d be surprised how quickly stale pee smells, over night. And the idea is not to have to flush with water every time, or else we might as well keep the plumbed toilet. So always a work in progress! Thanks for the ideas!
Build shorty a step. This will also be helpful to you when you're having pooping issues. 💩
Great idea.
This is now all the rage now making your own toilet I'm laughing but I will be making a toilet soon myself mine will be a frame w toilet seat resting on top only one bucket no pee bottle the bucket has a lid they also sale which will seal it if you put enough litter or pellets stink will not be bad plus u use a bag nothing to clean just buy cheap bags. But for some unknown reason I like watching toilet building on RUclips good job enjoy.
Thanks for watching. Hope your build goes well!
Looks good thus far. It might be a hook shot if you stand to go, or I guess you could put one knee on, or a han held urinal extender. Ahh, nice storage area!
This is a squatty potty. We’ve yet to find an RV where you can stand and pee without making a mess. The convenience of the composting toilet and diverting the urine to store for weeks if needed outweighs anything else
@@CalledToWander Squatty😄,🙂👍
In addition to a plug or pee trap you could install a ball valve between the diverter and black tank to keep sewer gases out of your rv.
That was the original idea (cut from the video for time sake) as I thought through it trying to figure out where to put the valve. In this iteration I couldn't find a place to put it. In a future version I may plumb with PVC where I don't have to be so worried about the bends in the hose and I could put a valve on the outside of the toilet near the floor. But for the first try, not too bad and it functions wonderfully!
@@CalledToWander here is an example of plumbing in the valve if you want to do that in the future ruclips.net/video/8zZtozakkB8/видео.html
I think a storage box under the seat, with a bag holder in the style of Chris, and a diverter and pee pot inside the box would work. Even for your Mexican Splash.
Details to be refined.
Pee pot is our backup if ever the hose to the black tank fails. But you’d be surprised how much pee 2 people can make and. How often you have to empty it! Glad our black tank idea is working for now!
@@CalledToWander There's but one prospective occupant of my vehicle.
You could have built her a small stool. They work great for us short people
Yeah, not a bad idea.
TMI, Too funny, thanks for the info.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I liked your video very much. Where did you get your urine diverter?
Thanks. We bought this one from ebay: www.ebay.com/itm/173983863226
"RV manufactures don't realize that people will need to change things". Well actually, they expect you will have one of their dealers do that work for you. This helps keep the dealers happy and operating. Of course the real idea is that after a few times having the dealer fix it. The owner will come to the realization (with dealer sales dept. help of course) they need to upgrade anyway. It's called churn, and churn is what keeps manufactures building new toys and making big profits. Churn is also the biggest addition to "weather change" on our planet that no one wants you to talk about. (governments and manufactures do not want anyone talking about this when they can push _buying_ new "carbon appropriate" objects)
To everything, churn churn… There is a season, churn churn…
No no no you should have used pvc pipe that is stationary where your pee port is just the right size maybe a rubber pipe connector so when u lift the rig it disconnects with no problem.
Six one way a half a dozen the other. Our method worked out fine in the end but I can see your suggestion being valuable as well. Maybe the next time we find ourselves in need of building a toilet!
Highly recommend you paint ALL the inside surfaces, top and bottom, especially around the pee diverter (some splash is guaranteed). Great job!
We got all the "splash" areas covered with the tub and tile paint and it's working out great so far. The rest of the toilet area we painted white to match. But great idea!
@@CalledToWander Will this work for an outhouse?
@@CalledToWander You actually gave me an idea at the beginning of the video since I have another bathroom that im not using the toilet at all and only using it to take showers. I have to redo the floor in that anyhow and I may go with taking out that toilet and replacing it with a composting one.
Where do you dispose of the poo? Is the point to complete the composting process and use the compost in your garden in the end?
Great question. So nobody in an Rv or van with a composting toilet has a garden for the compost. The point of a composting toilet in RV lifestyle is to reduce the amount of water you use with a plumbed toilet and the amount of waste collected in the black tank. So while it is a composting toilet by definition and we do use organic coconut coir to dry out the #2, we do not churn it for compost but rather discard. We divert the #1 to our black tank to dump as needed without the additional water wasted in the flushing and storage. We do know some long term campers in places that do compost the poo in makeshift gardens. But mostly the idea is to conserve water and reduce the need to dump tanks frequently. Hope this helps!
so helpful. Thank you!
You're welcome!
you did not add the link to the urine diverter you used. Any way you could add that, that is the best one i've seen
Unfortunately the man who made them stopped selling them. They were available on eBay but as of about 6 months ago when we last looked, it was not available
If you run a vent tubing for the computer fan on the permanent fixed side the run to the bottom of the camper that would give you the room for the fan. I have a compost toilet and the fan is the trick. Make sure to add wire screen between fan and the outside so unwelcome guests don’t come in. My fan runs 24/7 but you could put a switch on it.
What did u use to cover the flange, or did u have to take the other one out and replace it? I'm not sure if it unscrews or what but I can't find a cap for it that I can add a whole for the hose.
There is a 4" flimsy plastic cover that we got at Home Depot that fits perfectly. I drilled a hole exactly wide enough to fit the hose, but not so wide that air/stench could escape around the hose. It was not an easy find. But we had a few Home Depots in the area to shop and found one eventually.
Genius Guy...Happy trails...& I mean on the road, not from toilet build...
Thanks!