"Must-Have" suggestions for potty area

[squrlgurl]

We have our black tank out of the trailer to do some floor repair. When it goes back in we don't want to have to deal with it for a long long time so here's my question...

After reading through the forum and seeing all kinds of tweaks and upgrades to the tank/toilet/sewer outlet/plumbing/etc systems I am a bit overwhelmed as to what may be the "must-haves". What are the best installs or upgrades that make life easier in the future?

So far the list is:
-Replace sewer valve
-Reinforce fiberglass tank
-Repaint Tank Facing (ours sits above the floor)
-Remove wood facing on walls around toilet and replace with something more sanitary and easier to clean (Poly or fiberglass sheeting?)
- New toilet
- New grey water and vent plumbing

I am thinking about installing a heater mat under the black tank (we live in the Mid-Atlantic with cold winters) and possibly heat-wrap around plumbing elbows.

Thanks!
-Tracey

[uwe]

Originally Posted by squrlgurl

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I am thinking about installing a heater mat under the black tank (we live in the Mid-Atlantic with cold winters) and possibly heat-wrap around plumbing elbows.

Thanks!
-Tracey

Tracey,
Your black tank is heated by the furnace. You should have a heat register right in front of the toilet area, which has a provision to circulate heated air around the black tank.
Which makes updating the plumbing at and around the black tank an even better idea. Imagine a tiny leak from teh black tank, and then the hot air circulating the odor into the trailer. Eeeww!
I further suggest to update the dump valve flange, so that a modern dump valve can be fitted. I did not follow your links above, you might have this one already taken into consideration.
But then, since you're already almost there, why not add a grey tank, at least a small one to enable having a shower or washing up while underway?

[tyndalelady]

Add a tank flush if you can. They screw into the tank and you can flush it out with a hose from the outside. Depending on where the tank is this would be a wonderful addition.

[squrlgurl]

Uwe, We are plannig on using a catalytic heater for awhile. The old furnace needs to go, so we won't have the hot air circulation to benefit from at least for now. The floor in the bathroom was rotten around where some part of the toilet had seeped into the wood over the years. ANd you are right...when we put a small space heater in the trailer and began working back there...well...it was a bit nasty! Take a look at my link (picture of my dump valve ass'y) and let me know if you have seen that type still in use. I am assuming it will need to go and that newer fittings will not be compatible with it.

tyndalelady, I can remember my grandparents going through the routine of flushing their black tank in their RV with a hose from the outside and how inconvenient it seemed. So a built-in tank flush is a great idea! Thanks.

-Tracey

[eubank]

Originally Posted by squrlgurl

After reading through the forum and seeing all kinds of tweaks and upgrades to the tank/toilet/sewer outlet/plumbing/etc systems I am a bit overwhelmed as to what may be the "must-haves". What are the best installs or upgrades that make life easier in the future? ... -Tracey

Wellll, speaking only from the perspective of owning our 67, I would, if doing a toilet makeover, add a TP holder that actually works.

Lyn

[squrlgurl]

Lyn, Is your TP holder the one with the gigantic spring to hold the roll? We haven't donned ours with a roll yet but now that you mention it, it does look a bit odd. Even though it is positioned right where you'd need it to the left of the bowl, it still seems to be in the wrong spot. And our toothbrush holder *right over* the toilet seems a bit of poor engineering as well. All I can imagine is *something* going wrong with the loo (saw the phrase "tower of terror" in another post) and having a mess to deal with directly behind where I sleep and eat is not my idea of a good vacation.
Call me OCD, but I want to have the toilet area as easy to sanitize as possible, and will probably be cleaning it obsessively.
Our VW camper has no toilet facilities so the AS will be my first experience with my own mobile potty.