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If you’ve ever gone to empty your RV’s cassette toilet and felt like everybody was staring at you, this video is for you.
I realize most people probably aren’t paying attention or don’t really care what I’m doing when I go to empty a toilet cassette, but that’s certainly not how it feels. I mean… I’m toting around five gallons of liquid poop! How could people not be staring, right? Maybe it’s just me and other people don’t feel this way. Regardless, I came up with two ways to make your RV’s cassette toilet hide in plain sight.
How It Looks: The Cassette Koozie
We all know that the toilet cassette looks a bit like a rolling suitcase when you remove it from your RV, so my first thought was to make it look A LOT MORE like a piece of rolling luggage. It turns out, this was pretty easy.
Nothing to see here…. Move along.
We’re trying to get some made, just for fun, to see if anyone else might like to hide their cassette in plain sight. Our hopeful supplier is making us a prototype that we should see any day now. From there, we can determine if it’s something we’ll move ahead with. It can’t turn out to be a super expensive item, because I don’t know how much people would be willing to spend on something just to cover up their… evidence.
I’ve seen people put their cassettes inside a large rolling duffel or suitcase. I like the koozie concept better, because a) it’s smaller and would fold down to almost nothing, b) it’s lighter, and c) if you get poo on it, you can hose it off or throw it in the wash. (Let’s face it. It could happen.) I know Thetford makes a tote bag for cassettes, but then you have to carry it on your shoulder. And a full cassette is over 40 pounds, so that could get uncomfortable. Plus, it says “THETFORD” right on the side of it, so it’s hardly stealth.
Watch this space to see if we ever get the product off the ground and it’s something you can buy. We’ll make a video if we’re successful so you can grab one. Unfortunately though, we probably won’t call it the “Cassette Koozie” if it comes to pass, because there are lots of trademarked “koozies” out there and we just don’t need that kind of hassle. (Even though, I hope nobody would ever realistically confuse the two products. lol!)
How It Sounds: Quiet Wheels for the Cassette
I mention this in the video, and it’s true. I’ve never rolled our cassette anywhere to dump it. The wheels are so loud and obnoxious, you just have to turn your head to see what the racket is. Well, no more. For the second mod in the video, I show you how to replace the janky plastic wheels with proper luggage wheels with bearings.
Here are some of the tools and supplies you might need to complete the mod.
- 6mm Diameter aluminum rod
- Luggage wheels, with bearings, 90mm
- This handy 3D printed bushing to secure the wheels in place. (you’ll need two)
- 1/4-20 Die for cutting threads
- 1/4-20 Nylon Insert Nuts
I walk you through the whole bit in the video, and it’s really not that hard. Most reasonably handy people should be able to pull it off.
The end result of the wheel swap is a cassette that rolls much much more smoothly and quietly than the standard plastic “HEY!! Look at me!!” wheels.
Caveat
I should mention that this whole wheel-swap procedure and the cassette cover have ONLY been tested with the Thetford C-220 series toilets. I’ve also only checked the fit putting the cassette back into our own Winnebago EKKO. It may work with other models, or you may have to make some adjustments. If the cover thing takes off, we’ll eventually make other models available.
Questions or comments, sound off below. Thanks for watching!
James, your replacement of the cheap wheels with high-quality versions is exactly what I’d be interested in. My wife often asks why I don’t roll our cassette either and you hit the nail on the head. Count us in as customers if you ever decide to manufacture some!
I don’t know if I’m going to make a ready-made kit. The parts are sooo inexpensive, and they’re all linked.
After five years smelly years with our cassette, we got rid of it and went with a composting toilet. Best thing we did ever. The small pee container gets dumped daily, it easily fits in a plastic grocery bag for those undercover trips at a rest stop. Poop that goes into the larger container can easily go a month with two people using the toilet without having to changing out the coconut coir.
James, you are the scientist, try out a composting toilet!! Dump the smelly cassette!!
We did! Quite famously, for about 5 years.
The Straight Poop on our Composting Toilet
As far as retrofitting one into our current EKKO, there is currently only one option I’m aware of that would work, and it’s a kit from Arwinger. It doesn’t have a fan though, so we’re unsure how great that would be.
How has Climate Change, heat and rain, affected RV travel?
For us personally, not much. But then… we live in the desert, so we sort of expect high temperatures and very little rain.
Others living elsewhere may have different experiences.
So wheeling a “suitcase” into the rest stop toilet is less conspicuous than wheeling the cassette straight up? And then you’ve got the process of removing the cover in the stall? What am I missing?
Well, at a rest stop I probably wouldn’t bother and would take the “naked” cassette. (A toilet cassette is far from the shadiest thing I’ve ever seen at a rest area…). For us, it’s certainly not an every time thing. But say we post up at a hotel for a few days while we’re having work done on the RV. I don’t particularly relish the thought of tracking the cassette through the lobby and onto the elevator…
Everyone will have their own level of comfort with something like this. It’s all about options!
Thanks for the video James. I’m really interested in this and can fully identify with every point you brought up. Hope the concept takes off. I would just like to purchase an entire kit.
We’ll put up a video/post to let everyone know when we have anything available.
James, You are brilliant. And uber-handy. And we…are not! We’re currently in our fifth year of full time life, in a Class A diesel pusher. I gaze longingly at the Sprekko, and as soon as we gain some confidence that the wiring/fire issues are resolved, I would love to downsize. One thing standing in the way is my DH’s desire for some way to “plumb” the cassette into a sewer connection, for when we are at our winter site. Can you dream up some way the cassette or toilet system can be modified for situations like that? We feel like if anyone can, it will be you.
The Americanizer is the best idea I’ve had on this subject. Plumbing the toilet directly into a sewer connection is a bad idea (think, poo pyramid kind of problems). You’d still need a tank to prevent those kinds of issues. And the space available for a tank is typically just the size of the cassette, so you’re right back at the cassette again. You could always look at replacing the entire toilet with something like a macerating toilet, but then you need to find a place for a tank, and you have to swap back during the summer…
The cassette isn’t that bad to deal with, especially with the Americanizer. It’s far easier and less expensive to just deal with it.
Pretty funny.
We have your old toilet with the pee bottle, and we use a special heavy paper grocery bag, the one with the paper handle, to “take it for a walk”.
Also, on the subject of toilets, I have heard good reports on the Laveo Dry Flush Toilet. You seen them yet?
Cheers, Don
We’ve not used one. I like the idea. My only problem with it is the cost per flush. It’s like a dollar or something.
If they could come up with a way of doing a liquid separation function, ahead of the bag, that’s a million dollar idea. Then the bags would only be needed for solids, and the economics make a lot more sense.
Didn’t know that, good point.
Wonder if “if it’s yellow, let it mello; if it’s brown, flush it down” would work. You might need an air control device to control smell (like in the composting toilets)l…
But still, a lot water in that waste!
I think there’s a massive market for this in europe, 90% of all motorhomes / caravans use cassettes there.
There is a company in the uk who make lots of bags for the motorhome/campling market , https://bags4everything.co.uk maybe they could help with a cost ?. I have seen there products at motorhome shows in the uk.
I wish you Well
Karl
Hadn’t really thought of Europe, but maybe…
When we were RVing in Europe, 100% of their RVs seem to have cassettes. And so, 100% of their RV facilities have an appropriate place to dump them. Imagine a big, square, stainless steel funnel, a yard across. So I think they have less need to try to go “stealth”.
But maybe… we’re far from experts on European RVing. Maybe this comes up for them as well. We’ll ask some of our European friends.
I can’t see any market within continental Europe: there’s always a proper motorhome service point nearby so no need to go stealth.
In the UK….possibly, as there are very few motorhome facilities apart from on campsites, so full timers or stealth campers might find it useful. Though there are so many different cassette sizes, and not all of them have replaceable wheels (or even wheels at all) so probably quite a difficult market to address..
That’s kind of what I was thinking as well. But you never know. I can see that Americanizers are occasionally shipped to Europe, and I can’t imagine what they want them for. If there is any demand for this in the EU, I don’t think it will be much.
I always get a kick out of your efforts that sometimes seem like complicated solutions to simple problems. No offense intended.
I would have bought an appropriate length of 1/4” threaded steel rod (less likely to break under the 40# load), and cut it to the exact length, saving all that threading hassle. I’m sure Ace Hardware has something usable to thread on there to keep it in place laterally.
Well, I don’t (usually) show the attempts that don’t work.
1/4” threaded rod was too large. I had some on hand, but decided not to force it. If you did manage to get it in there once, you’d not likely be able to remove it and try again. Between the too large diameter and the teeth of the thread, you’d trash the axle notch and the tiny little nibs that hold it in place.
Besides… What’s the fun of having a shop full of tools if you don’t use them?!?!
I already have a tap and die set, and a 3D printer. Neither is a hassle. The total effort for both of those was less than an hour, and I got results that were exact – not approximate.
Couldn’t one just use a 6mm threaded rod? No need to 3D print (just use washers/nut instead) and no need for a die cutting tool.
Maybe. If you’re looking to try this yourself, and don’t have a printer, it might work. But I worry that the threads would chew up the tiny plastic nibs that hold the axle in place.
The other problem you’d face is that the notch that holds the axle in place laterally is rather thin – thinner than just about any nut I’ve seen. You could try to mail order some sort of “metric low profile nut”, if there is such a thing. That might work if you could find one.