Replacing the Thetford cassette toilet with a Separette separating toilet

Reading time 4 minutes

Updated – April 24, 2024

Everyone knows about the Thetford cassette toilet, the disposal problem, cassettes that are too small, daring people even buy several in order to extend the disposal intervals.

The separation toilet promises odor-free and simple solutions, easy replacement and little maintenance. Some come with a mechanical, manually operated agitator. Again, simple, therefore cheap sets are offered, consisting of two containers and a molded part for separating feces and urine.

The price of the toilets ranges between around 150 and 2,000 euros, depending on the complexity and more or less exclusive finish.

Ultimately, your wallet and requirements decide on your final choice. Most of the time you find the golden mean, i.e. around 700 euros for that Separette Tiny with urine container.

Experiences from practice – so far after about half a year:

• Comfort – You sit very comfortably, like at home
• Odor development – neither urine nor feces leave behind odors, not even in a skylight with a running fan; Externally, odors may be noticeable due to the outward vent flow.
• Care - a toilet paper with EM (Effective Microorganisms) to wipe the visible parts after each use is sufficient. DO NOT squirt the EM solution into the urine container as any addition of water to urine will cause odor.
• Tip: compostable waste bags may dissolve after just three weeks. Therefore, to be on the safe side, first place a conventional waste bag in the waste container, then the compostable bag. Moisture also diffuses out of the compostable bag, which settles as droplets in the surrounding waste bag. The container as such remains free of any contamination.
• The faeces container is full after about a week, the urine container needs to be emptied after 2-3 days (when used by 2 adults).
• The built-in, constantly running fan (1.6 W nominal 12 V) is very quiet and can no longer be heard when the toilet door is closed.
• When the toilet seat is folded up to remove the urine canister, the blue stones that are placed in the urine sieve always fall onto the slats of the waste container and become discolored (but can be easily wiped off without leaving any residue).
  Alternatively, we are currently testing toilet cleaner tabs that dissolve more quickly and disappear into the urine tank. What their effect is in terms of preventing urine stones remains to be seen.
  

The expansion of the Thetford unit was completed within 20 minutes. For pressure systems, make sure to release the pressure beforehand to avoid limited flooding when disconnecting the water hose of the flushing device.

The wall recess is closed with a 10 mm screen printing plate, smooth side facing out. Airtight seal with a circumferential silicone seam.

The installation of the Separette Tiny (Installation/operating instructions) is limited to two screws for the wall and three for the floor fastening, the connection for the ventilation and the fan motor, which is, by the way, quite economical and quiet at 133 mA / 1.6 W.
Before the final screwing into the wall and floor, we recommend a dry run: is the position suitable for all eventualities? If not, you can now correct it in one direction or the other.

Exhaust air routing is time-consuming if you want to implement it via the existing and nearby service flap.

The exhaust pipe included in the accessories is cut to Separette width and provided with a 90° HT angle DN50. The flexible hose is connected to this, the end of which is in a so-called rubber adapter Crassus combination adapter CKA leads.

The adapter is shortened on both sides. The 40 mm side is cut off in the middle groove with a cutter knife. The smooth 70 mm part is separated from the grooved part at the intended joint in the same way.

The hole in the SD plate measures 76 mm (corresponding to the existing drill bit). Ideally, you drill from the outside, with the service flap closed, through it and immediately through the screen printing plate. This ensures that both holes are congruent and that the exhaust air duct fits together precisely.
The screen printing plate is glued to the side wall from the inside in an airtight manner using silicone.

The cut smooth adapter part is pushed over the grooved area and inserted into the hole in the screen printing plate. Now the fixed, tapered end of the flexible hose is shortened to about 1 cm remaining and pushed about two thirds into the prepared rubber adapter from the inside.

The hole in the closed service flap is equipped with a DN75/50 reduction Airfit 7550IR, which is fixed all around with plenty of silicone in the service flap. The reduction is pressed firmly onto the rubber seal mounted in the screen printing plate and fixed all around with a few small wedges in the appropriate central position until the silicone has set. The wedges are then removed and the recesses and the surrounding joints are filled with silicone and smoothed with soapy water.

The water socket still installed here was connected to the existing flush connection of the Thetford toilet. For this purpose, the existing water hose was shortened accordingly and firmly connected to the connection of the water socket using a 90° angle. The existing straight hose nozzle was replaced with a 90° angled one.

Since the standard water socket is connected to a compression fitting on the assembled connector, this connection also had to be dismantled and replaced with a compressed air connection.

The switch does not require a connection for a pressure system, otherwise it is used to manually switch on the water pump.

Finally, the ventilation remains to be provided with a fly screen and a suitable one Exhaust grille to cover.

ps If you need personal support in the implementation for a fee, you are welcome to Ticketing make!