We are using our Phoenix 2552 a lot putting more than 14,000 miles on it this year and planning to add another 8,000 miles this winter. Spending this much time in our Phoenix I find we are frustrated with how quickly our black water tank filled up and we seem to always be running short of fresh water. Not knowing there were any alternatives I accidentally tripped onto composting toilets and after a lot of research decided to bite the bullet and purchase one.
In my research I found two to consider the most famous is called Natures Head
http://www.natureshead.net . This seems to be the Cadillac of Toilets and also carried a hefty price of nearly $1000.00 even with this price I was ready to purchase. But the problem is it was just too large for the space in our 2552 in most every way measurement. Most notable not being able to open the closet doors in the bathroom as the toilet is to tall plus it requires a vent hose to be exhausted outside.
With these challenges, I continued the search and found another model called C-Head
http://c-head.com . Which just fit the bill, the size is perfect to go into the space of our previous toilet the the C-Head information says no exhaust hose required and it is only $600.00
If you want to see more and how it works there are few videos on their website on the right-hand side of the homepage. I ordered one from the website which can be a little confusing as they have so many models. I ordered the basic Box type for $589.00.
Upon receiving the Toliet from UPS I was a little concerned as it showed up in a Generic packaging box from Home Depot. But when I opened up the very well packaged toilet and saw the quality of what I had purchased I was very pleased it arrived without a scratch.
Now it was time for the install which actually pretty easy after I got all my materials together. Removing the old toilet is super easy two nuts on studs on either side of the toilet disconnecting the water line and carried the old unit out of the motorhome in 5 minutes.
Then was time to figure out how to mount the C-Head and come up with the materials. I had ordered the $40.00 Rubber Latch Tie-down kit to tie down the unit but after reviewing the manual find the unit can be screwed down to the floor with four 1/4" x 3" wood screws. So I did not use the Rubber Latch Kit.
Next I had to solve couple other problems, first was to plug the water line that previously ran to the old toilet and plus the 3" hole that went to the black water tank. This was easy as I was able to buy 1/2" plug for the water line and 3" rubber (test plug) from local hardware store. After installing both I had a little issue with space behind the C-head as the newly plugged water line kept me from pushing it back against the wall. To solve this I notched out above the water line and able to push it up and back into the wall to get the C-Head all the way back to the rear wall. The last problem to solve was the flange for the black water tank extended above the floor 5/8". So I would have to space up the C-Head using a piece of 3/4" plywood which I cut out with the same footprint of the C-Head and then cut out the Plywood to allow the flange to stick up into 7" opening I cut out in the center of my plywood spacer. Once that was finished just pushed C-Head into place and screwed down the toilet with my 4 1/4" x 3 wood screws with fender washers.
As you can see from the pictures the C-Head fit perfectly and looks like it comes that way from Phoenix. As you can see in the videos on their website the Urine drains into a one-gallon jug which we empty every day at rest areas or in porta potties. And number 2 goes into a separate chamber with wood type medium which covers it.
The Pros are the reduction in freshwater needed because we no longer have to flush the toilet. Note I also posted a recent post about reducing water consumption installing new faucets and shower heads
http://forum.phoenixusarv.com/index.php/topic,2928.0.html along with removing our old toilet I feel we may have up to 40% savings on our fresh water usage.
Now we are free from looking for places to dump our black water tank every 3 or 4 days and when I open the valve between my black and gray tank we can use nearly 2 tanks of fresh water before we have to look for a dump site for grey water.
And finally the best is this toilet does not smell. I have had motorhomes of all types for over 30 years which we use a lot and there is always that slight and sometimes not so slight sewer smell. Well that is gone now. With all the good news there is one downside which should be noted but not a big deal for me is no matter if female or male you will need to set down todo #1. If the guys stand up and use the toilet the splash will go everywhere so guys if you put one of these in remember to set down.
In short, if you are interested in the benefits that i have listed above then from our opinion a well worthwhile investment. We love our C-Head.
