Vans with Cassette Toilets

[Shelber]

Does anyone have a list of Class B vans that have cassette toilets? I know not everyone likes cassettes but we have had the black tank and in our situation a cassette would work best.
Thank-You
Shelber

[Davydd]

What situation is that where a black tank won't work? Usually it is because toilets are in the back of the van and there is not space to install a black tank for a direct gravity dump or coupled with the grey tank. The back is a better place to put the cassette because you don't have to install an access through the body of the van. Just open the back door for access. That makes the composting (misnomer) toilet popular as an option to the cassette where you also don't need a black tank. I didn't like the Jack Nicholson "About Schmidt" where you had to sit down to separate the liquid from the solids.

I like the black tank. It is less labor to dump and less frequent to dump as well. You can gravity dump with a 3" hose (low tech) or macerate dump with a 1-1/2" hose. I have a 25 gallon black tank instead of the 10-12 gallon most have. The black tank is not the decision to dump over filling fresh water (40 gallon) or dumping the grey water tank (25 gallon).

I put the toilet in the back behind the back axle near the center of the van, but not where you could open the back door to access it. The solution was a marine upflow toilet where you can put the black tank wherever convenient with more capacity than a direct dump tank. I naively and inadvertently challenged Advanced RV when I placed the toilet in the center said and didn't want a cassette or composting.

The marine upflow flushes similar to your home toilet and it macerates the waste (clumping mass in the tank) and pumps it up and over the back axle. I was wary of it at first and thought "what did I get myself in to" but really like it now. They put them in expensive yachts and ships. It's been reliable four years now though it operates with electricity. The name of our toilet company is Tecma. That's a solution rarely used in a van.

[MsNomer]

I can’t answer OP’s question, but I support his search. Black tanks, no matter how expertly or expensively configured, are not for everyone. I am thankful every day that I do not have one. (My toilet is bag-and-bucket—separating but not composting as Davydd suggests, because everything is disposed of daily.)

[Shelber]

Davydd, Clearly you were not interested in responding to my question. I was simply interested in knowing which Class B Campervans come with a cassette style toilet. Was not at all interested in hearing your feelings as to why one should consider a black tank or your knowledge of the different options and installation.
Next time , if you are not knowledgeable enough to answer the asked question, please feel free not to respond at all.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by Shelber

Davydd, Clearly you were not interested in responding to my question. I was simply interested in knowing which Class B Campervans come with a cassette style toilet. Was not at all interested in hearing your feelings as to why one should consider a black tank or your knowledge of the different options and installation.
Next time , if you are not knowledgeable enough to answer the asked question, please feel free not to respond at all.

... and you didn't describe what your situation a cassette would work best over a black tank to respond specifically and who would have an already list of cassette vans? You can make your own list going to manufacturer's web pages and contribute it to the members of this forum.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by MsNomer

I can’t answer OP’s question, but I support his search. Black tanks, no matter how expertly or expensively configured, are not for everyone. I am thankful every day that I do not have one. (My toilet is bag-and-bucket—separating but not composting as Davydd suggests, because everything is disposed of daily.)

I wasn't suggesting a composting toilet is a composting toilet and did say it was a misnomer (wrong name) in no one composts with them and do dispose the same way in locations as a bag and bucket. We had a cat with a litter box in our van we bagged and disposed of daily.

[MsNomer]

OP, I believe some of the Thor and Winnebago builds use cassette.

[Roadfossil]

I also believe the Hymer Activs had cassette toilets. They can occasionally be found on the used market. I have a cassette in my Snoozy and I prefer it for the type of campgrounds (usually primitive) that I frequent. Easy to empty in an outhouse.

I wish my 2013 chevy roadtrek had a cassette instead of black tank, macerator, and pump.

[jrobe]

I would also be curious to respectfully learn why some people would prefer a cassette toilet. I am sure some would have good reasons. That is a more interesting topic than finding a list of Class B's that have them which is easy to research.

[MsNomer]

Part of it is where you camp. We’ve been out for extended periods where there are absolutely no dump stations. Sometimes we even have to dump our bag (urine only) on an appropriate rock because there is not even a pit toilet. (Poop and used pee bags go in odor-proof bag.)

Part of it is simplicity and peace of mind—same reason I have no other plumbing, either.

[Davydd]

All-stays has a Dump Station app on a cell phone that list most dump station sites to dispose in a sanitary manner including rest stops, public campgrounds, private campgrounds, Loves and Flying J service centers, etc. Handling exposed poop and urine is not my desire and I think it makes for abuse at campsites when there is not a way to dispose in a sanitary manner. What does one do when there is no trash dumpster, pit toilet, regular toilet or dump station for poop and urine especially on a daily basis? I can go 1-3 weeks before needing to dump. I can easily find a dump station in that time period even when boondocking. On short trips like a few days, I have the luxury of a dump station at my condo garage complex. It is a no see, no touch, no smell, sanitary at all times operation inside the van and outside.

[Urlauber]

Originally Posted by jrobe

I would also be curious to respectfully learn why some people would prefer a cassette toilet. I am sure some would have good reasons. That is a more interesting topic than finding a list of Class B's that have them which is easy to research.

This is off-topic again, and has been discussed already, but a lot of it comes down to how/where you camp. The vast majority of campgrounds we frequent do not have dumping stations. So I would have to find some sort of commercial setup which would be super inconvenient and somewhat expensive, as they all want some money for their kindness.

With a cassette, it is super easy to empty into the toilet of the campground and/or my house. We also tend to do more weekend/short trips rather than months at a time, so the volume of the holding container and the frequency to empty it isn't that much of an issue.

That said, we don't use it for #2. To poop we just use whatever campground or restaurant toilets we find. That way, giving it a quick spritz with the garden hose after emptying out makes it like NEW. Rather than whatever remains in the black tank to stink up the camper.

And yes, I had my share of experiences with black tanks and wrestling with poop hoses and getting nasties sprayed all over myself.
Of course, if you are not careful you can have "accidents" with the cassette as well.

From your wording it seems have already made up your mind and a rebuke ready for any argument... but here you go. Everyone is different!

[Lazy Bones]

As said, the Hymer Aktiv, And the Winnebago pocket series both have cassette toilets. I have one of the former, and far prefer it to the black tank that I had in all my previous motorhomes. For example, on one occasion, will traveling cross country, I was able to empty my cassette at a highway rest stop. if you do that with a black tank, you’re going to jail.

[MobileCabin]

I have a classb with the traditional black tank and macerating pump system to empty. It works fine and I haven't had issues. But then I have not used the van much over the past few years. Instead I find that I use my 1-ton truck with popup camper most of the time. It has a cassette because that is what reasonably works in the camper format. I really like it and have no freezing issues (I use non-toxic antifreeze) to prep for on a trip. Dumping effort is about the same for either. My current bias is in favor of the cassette.

[SteveJ]

All fine and dandy if you want a cassette system but one still has to dump the grey water. Where else but a dump station when traveling?

[Urlauber]

Originally Posted by SteveJ

All fine and dandy if you want a cassette system but one still has to dump the grey water. Where else but a dump station when traveling?

Speaking for myself only... we don't produce that much grey water. Limited dish-washing (first using paper towels for the dirty stuff), brushing teeth is usually done outside, just a bit for washing ourselves.

Some may decide to dump the grey (shower) water on the lawn/vegetation which is, well, not a black and white, but more of a grey area I guess. Personally I dump the grey water on MY lawn when returning home. It thanks me with lush and green growth. For longer trips, yes, dumping station.

Having a cassette doesn't preclude you from visiting dumping stations, you know.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by Lazy Bones

As said, the Hymer Aktiv, And the Winnebago pocket series both have cassette toilets. I have one of the former, and far prefer it to the black tank that I had in all my previous motorhomes. For example, on one occasion, will traveling cross country, I was able to empty my cassette at a highway rest stop. if you do that with a black tank, you’re going to jail.

Who says you are going to jail? That is a gratuitous comment or you don't know much about black tank disposal. For one, there are rest stops that have RV dump stations. Secondly, it is probably impossible to dump a black tank in a rest stop flush toilet because no one carries a hose that long to do so in any rest stop I have encountered. Maybe you where talking about an outhouse at a rest stop? If so, it would be easier than a cassette pulling up, if you can, with a macerating black tank to dump. Granted you could not use a 3" gravity hose.

Good luck with enjoying the emptying of a heavy 4.7 gallon cassette every 2-5 days into a 1.3 gallon flush toilet without potentially making a mess with accidental overflow. How do you properly clean, as recommended, a cassette at a rest stop bathroom? Dump stations have a funnel 2' x 2' like concrete shape and a water hose nearby primarily for cassette users.

If you dump properly and at a place designed for sanitary disposal you have no more options than a black tank user.

As I previously mentioned I have an upflow marine toilet that flushes like a home toilet with water to a 25 gallon black tank. The toilet macerates the poop before it gets to the black tank so there is no clumping build up of solids. Then when dumping it goes through another macerator mainly to pump in a 1-1/2" hose that is permanently attached at the van end and a screw on attachment at the dump hole end so there is an entirely closed system. To flush the hose you dump the black first and then follow up with the grey tank with mostly soapy water to clean. Then you put away the hose in its own outside compartment. The hose has a quarter turn shut off valve at that dump end so it is entirely closed off in storage. Black and grey pull valves and a toggle macerator pump switch. Easy peasy, quick and sanitary.

[MsNomer]

We have essentially ZERO grey water. Toothbrushing rinse and spit go into the toilet. Dishwater, what little there is, goes into the toilet. And there’s still less than a gallon a day. It gets emptied every day—I’ve timed it at 30 seconds in and out the door of a public toilet.

Showers are less than 2 gallons for two, and are always in remote locations where it can be dumped on the ground. If we are somewhere we can’t dump, there’s probably a public shower.

[Davydd]

If I wanted to travel and camp that primitive I would save money and tent camp. I still have my tents and sleeping bags but I am getting too old for that. I can't get up off the ground as easily anymore anyway.

[MsNomer]

Davydd, you have personally seen my van, and you know that comment does not apply. It’s just not the way you would do it and we didn’t spend a bucket load of money on it. At least we don’t sleep in separate coffins.