Composting Toilet Install on a Fleetwood Excursion
When we moved RVs, from Windy to Roy, we only took one of our major mods with us: The Composting Toilet. When I told the service manager at Fleetwood Headquarters that I could install the toilet he said jokingly “I saw your last install video, I think we better do it for you!”
Since you don’t get to see another one of my handy man videos I thought I should at least share how the composting toilet install in our Excursion turned out.
I was impressed with the attention to detail from the service team at the Fleetwood factory in Decatur Indiana. Originally I told them not to worry about building out the platform wall for the toilet to sit on, but they wouldn’t hear it! Since we’ve been living with the toilet install for a few months now I am glad they talked me into extending the platform as it does make it easier to use the toilet, and it gives us room to put the our vinegar/water solution, the stool and some extra toilet paper.
To access underneath the toilet the service team pulled up the tiled floor on the platform, this gave them easy access to connect the power supply and drill the hole to run the vent hose. They used my same PVC pipe from the original toilet install to extend the vent hose supplied with the toilet. I love what they did with the PVC pipe install here securing it to the basement wall, I will use this same method for the next time we move our toilet.
If you’re wondering about the folding stool, at first it was a little bit of a pain, but now it’s just second nature to grab it and set out…it’s now all part of the ‘ceremony’. For me being able to stand and pee is a nice bonus, not that sitting was a lot of trouble.
Building out the platform took a few hours of R&D but everything else went pretty seamlessly. I think the total time billed was 5 hours to install the toilet, considering it would have taken me a few days I’d say it’s cheaper to let the pros handle it.
If you’re interested in buying our same composting toilet, the best place to purchase is directly from Nature’s Head.
Larry, the owner of Nature’s Head, has offered up a special discount to everyone that reads our site. If you click the link below he’ll beat the Amazon Price:
Buy From Nature's Head DirectlyThe main advantage of ordering direct, vs Amazon, is to make sure you get the options you need for your specific installation (i.e. do you need the spider handle? Do you need a solar fan? Do you need spare parts?) Click the link above, select your configuration (we have the Spider handle with extra Liquids Bottle) and at checkout the discount will be automatically added.
If you’re still in research mode you’ll want to visit our site just before you purchase to click the link above, otherwise the discount may not be automatically applied. If you have questions, the customer support team is extremely helpful and can be reached by email or phone which you’ll find on the Nature’s Head contact page.
Mark Watson
Just finding and reviewing the whole composting toilet section, and I really appreciate the effort and detail you put into your posts. Two questions I have are:
1. After all the time you have used it (another year has gone by since your last update), do you have any issues with urine odor or stains?
2. Why on both installs is the black tank exhaust vent pipe not tapped into and used? Is it only for a clean uninstall for selling the RV?
Thanks for all the info!
Jason Wynn
1. We do get urine scaling as we touched on in the video, it’s difficult to remove but using the rocks I can get our tank back to clean with a lot of shaking. Smell is not an issue at all.
2. I too have thought tapping into the exhaust vent would be an option, however since we haven’t owned our last two coaches its not been an option. I would ask the toilet mfr if they have any experience with this.
Steve Goldstein
I was watching your composting toilet video with great interest. Excellent idea. My off-subject question, if I may: When you closed the compartment-where the air vent is(end of video)- there was a object above the vent with Dust Devil on it. Would you mind, what was that about? I’m always looking for new “stuff” and that piqued my curiosity.
Thank you.
Nikki Wynn
That is the built in vacuum cleaner that we did not like, so I wouldn’t recommend it. For the same price you can get a dyson which works much better and is what we have.
Jenn
Hi,
(you can probably tell I have been reading your website a lot) I want to know if you have any advice on installing in rv’s that are not fleetwood. I am thinking about living in a bus conversion or an RV. However I watched your how not to install video and I fear my experience may be similar ha! I don’t have many handy skills..
Jason Wynn
Jenn,
The best thing you can do is make friends with a person that loves to work on household projects 🙂 Sorry I can’t be more help here, we’ve only had experience with our Fleetwood Excursion and our Monaco Vesta.
Kevin
Can you use wet naps in the Nature’s Head composting toilet? Sometimes toilet paper can be a bit rough and it’s nice to use something a bit softer on the hiney. Granted, I understand even wet naps that say they flushable in home toilets, can still clog up the pipes.
smacdiesel
I like the idea of having one of these, I’m just wondering if my two little girls will be able to use it, the height seems to be an issue for the little ones.
Jason Wynn
hmmmm, not sure if the kids will have trouble with the height as the toilet is the same height as a standard toilet…unless you have a ledge for your toilet like our Excursion.
Amy
Hi Jason and Nikki!
We just purchased our first RV and I felt like you guys needed to be some of the first people we told! 🙂 We went with the same rig you guys have (different color) due to it’s size, driveability and affordability.
We are dead set on using a composting toilet. I love what Fleetwood did for the install of your toilet. Based on your experience, is this type of work something most RV service centers could do or should we think about having the work done at a Fleetwood factory.
Thanks for all of your help!
Nikki Wynn
It is simple enough you could try it yourselves or have a service center handle it for you. At least you can show them our fleetwood install video so they know what to do!
Nikki Wynn
Congrats! Where’s your first trip?
Lisa Wood
Great Job – so totally understand why the company wanted to install it for you 🙂
Love how high it is, maybe then my boys wouldn’t miss each time!!!
Jon Almada
Hi!
I really like your site and videos and am in the process of building a teardrop trailer for my own travels and explorations. Not quite ready to go as big as you two have.
That said, I’m doing lots of RV research and I’m curious about the composting toilet you two installed – mainly, how often do you have to empty things out? And which of the two of you are the lucky one to do the emptying ( I’m gonna guess Jason!).
Take care and keep the articles and videos coming!
Jon
Jason Wynn
John,
You’ll find everything Composting Toilet related here: https://www.gonewiththewynns.com/all-composting-toilet
We are working on another video now that should go live sometime this month that goes into more detail about how to prep and dump the composting toilet.
Truly it’s no big deal dumping, and both me and Nikki have done the emptying.
Good luck building your RV, if we had the resources and expertise we’d build our own as well.
Jon Almada
Hi Jason – Thanks for the reply. I’m thinking of getting one of these toilets that can be set up for my situation, so I think I’ll definitely be researching options for the more portable versions. I never liked all the chemicals in the conventional ones and think saving water with a composting version will definitely prove useful for longer trips
As for my build, it is well under way… I’m about to put the side walls up and am getting into my framing in the coming few weeks and should be done by July and perhaps we’ll cross paths out there… I’ll be towing mine with a 2005 Mustang fastback ;>)
Also – Liked your WifiRanger that Nikki was talking about on one of your videos – I checked the WifiRanger site and saw they have two packages.. Which one did you get and how well is it working for you? And is power consumption a big deal with the WifiRanger?
Many thanks!
Jon
Tracy
thank you guys, I just bought my natures head toilet and used your discount code, perfect timing! We have ordered our cute little Jayco 19rd and it is still being built and won’t ship until late May early June I think. Can’t WAIT!!!
We won’t be able to full time yet like you guys, but the planning and getting all our ducks in a row is good. So grateful for you guys blazing a trail for us =)
Regarding someones questions about cleanup, that vinegar in spray bottle solution would be great cleanup for #1 or #2 i bet, just use a little extra TP to wipe down and throw that down the hole. Clean as you go will reduce problems later on I bet.
Jason Wynn
Tracy,
So glad you took the plunge on your Jayco and the composting toilet! You are smart not to hit the road immediately with your new RV, the best thing you can do is take a few trips within a hundred miles or so, this way if you breakdown or something goes wrong you’re not too far from help.
As for the toilet cleanup you’ve got it! We rarely need to clean after #2 but if we do a little spritz and some TP does the trick.
Have fun and good luck!
Scott
Thanks Jason. You have me sold. Now what first: compost toilet or 3k watt inverter? Let’s do both!
Jason Wynn
Scott,
We like them both so that is a great question. I would say toilet then inverter. Also make sure you need 3k watts before you just purchase, we have 2k on the new RV and it seems to work pretty well.
Richard
Jason, I think you should take out the toilet and re install it. The way you do things its much more fun !!
Richard.
Jason Wynn
Richard, Fun for whom? 🙂
Nate
This is perfect timing. We just sold our truck and camper and bought a van. We were going to get this compost toilet for it, anyway. Going through the order process, I don’t see any place to enter the coupon code. Do we just put it in the comments box? How much did Larry say the discount was?
Thanks!
Jason Wynn
Hey Nate,
I think Larry is still working on their “discount code entry” on the online shop, for now just put the code in the comments box. I believe he mentioned a discount plus no sales tax. If you email him let me know what he says! Happy we could help you “take the plunge” with a composting toilet.
Nate
Jason,
I talked with Larry. He said that the comments box is just fine, and that we’ll get a $25 discount. Plus he said that shipping in the USA is usually cheaper than what the shipping calculator on their website says.
Thanks again!
Jason Wynn
Thanks Nate,
I know he also mentioned ordering from him there’s no tax, so that’s another $60+ off the Amazon price.
Enjoy!
Scott Elliott
You guys are awesome! So, I’ve been researching installing a composting toilet in our Chalet TS116 truck camper (that black tank thing really puts a crimp on boon-docking). One question I still have is: How much cleaning does the toilet need after a “poo” session? I imagine the sun / earth / moon will align every now ant then and the “poo” goes through the open hole leaving no, ahem, trace.
But we all know that sometimes the results are not “All net” and your left with post poo work just like a flush toilet. Sorry for the Potty Talk but a valid question I think.
Thanks, Scott
Jason Wynn
Scott,
The poo really drops down, even if it’s not solid. I think in the time we’ve owned the toilet I’ve only had to clean the bowl a few times, and it’s very simple with a disposable wipe. It is truly something you cannot comprehend until you actually use the toilet, until then it just seems unbelievable.
RVgeeks
Great overview of the install. Fleetwood did a beautiful job. But cut the cr*p Jason… that toilet is normal height off the floor and your feet always dangle. 😛
Jason Wynn
haha Geeks…after we introduced you to the dark side of composting toilets you’ve become much larger smart a**es 🙂
Shirlene
I love the composting toilet…where do you recycle the compost when you empty the toilet and what is the vinegar/water for? By the way, Love, Love you guys.
Jason Wynn
Shirlene,
We spritz the vinegar + water solution after going number one, more details to come in a future video.
Thanks for saying hi 🙂