Nature's Head composting toilet installation in an Oliver.

[topgun2]

I'd be surprised if there wasn't already a strong enough floor there already given that there is a porcelain toilet sitting there whose weight is probably fairly similar to that of the composting toilet.  However, it never hurts to check!

Bill

[Overland]

The floor under the toilet (the raised section) is an inch thick, with the rest being ½".  It's extremely sturdy, and in fact I've cut out a 9" x 10" opening under the toilet for easier access to the space below with no flex whatsoever in the floor (that's where I store extra bags of peat for the toilet).  You definitely do not need reinforcement.  My toilet was attached by Oliver with four screws into the ½" areas of the floor and it seems perfectly solid.  I think it would be possible, with ample patience and dexterity, to bolt through if you wanted, depending on how much of a gap there is between the black tank and the floor.  I've pulled my black tank out, but if I remember correctly I think the gap was bout an inch.  

[John E Davies]

Overland, is the core of the floor fiberglass or wood (like the partition wall)? If the latter, it must be sealed very well, or it will get wrecked by water intrusion from showers.

I like the storage space, I never though about storing the “media” underneath. I would feel a little more comfortable with a flush fitting hatch, does water get down there, or is that even a concern? After showering I usually sluice that area pretty heavily.

Thanks

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Overland]

With our shower curtain, water isn't an issue - unless I leave the bath window open in the rain.  The floor is all fiberglass construction, and there's a hull drain underneath, so I'm not too concerned about water at all, though on my to do list is a small gasket around the opening just because.  Though really, the only thing that might accomplish is making it more difficult to clean.  

[John E Davies]

Fan failure! My fan just stopped working right before my fifth camping season.

https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/6878-natures-head-fan-failed-the-day-before-first-trip/

An email to Natures Head resulted in their shipping ASAP at no charge TWO upgraded fan assemblies. My old fan on the right has unprotected solder joints and the tiny connector is open and corroding. The new one has heat shrink tubing over the connector and waterproofing compound applied liberally to it and to the main round connector.

I highly suggest that if your fan looks like mine, go ahead and ask for a pair of replacements. They obviously saw that corrosion was a problem and took steps to eliminate it. Bravo.

I tested the extra one to make sure it worked and added some paper towel padding inside and wrapped it all in stretch wrap, and I put it in the overhead cabinet in the bathroom for any future need.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[rich.dev]

I read the whole thread, if I missed it is there anyone with instructions on how/where you hooked up the DC power and air vent? Thanks!

[2008RN]

I ran a wire from the fuse box , I think I used the fuse labeled Streetside awning under the floor into the area below the bathroom sink.  We do not use the Pump switch in the bathroom, so I use that switch to turn the Natures head fan off  on and off.

 

I purchase an extra flange and 2 of the rubber boots for the tubing to run the compost vent into the trailer vent.  I ended up cutting out about 6" of the vent pipe from the Black tank., and you can see where I used a rubber cap to seal it.  I also drill a small hole through the flags to fish eh wire through.   On a side note, after I had finished the Nature Head Install I then decided I wanted to use the Black tank for extra gray water storage when we are boon docking.  

Oops, the cap I put on the pipe from the black tank did not allow air out of the tank. So I had to open the cabinet back up, I cheated and drilled a .125 hole in the top of the rubber cap, so the black tank would vent.  I set a timer when ever I am pumping from the gray to the black tank, and only fill to 80% capacity.  I know it is venting into a open cavity. I haven't any bad smell yet.  I clean the black tank out good after use. 

This is the upper portion of the tubing that goes into the camper vent system.  I used a rubber reducer to go from the camper vent size down to the  Compost vent size, and then used a piece of white PVC pipe to connect the two. 

[John E Davies]

8 hours ago, 2008RN said:

On a side note, after I had finished the Nature Head Install I then decided I wanted to use the Black tank for extra gray water storage when we are boon docking.  

Oops, the cap I put on the pipe from the black tank did not allow air out of the tank. So I had to open the cabinet back up, I cheated and drilled a .125 hole in the top of the rubber cap, so the black tank would vent.  I set a timer when ever I am pumping from the gray to the black tank, and only fill to 80% capacity.  I know it is venting into a open cavity. I haven't any bad smell yet.  I clean the black tank out good after use. 

This is not good! It violates code,  and may cause serious  problems. You should seal the cap properly and install a 3/4” vent/ overflow line which connects near the top of the black tank and goes out the belly (just like your fresh tank). Your design allows somebody to connect unregulated city water to the black flush port, which will probably rupture your tank or drain plumbing, which is not designed to contain that kind of pressure. A large drain line will also allow your tank to drain correctly, which it won’t do as it is now (it will “glug glug glug” back through the drain pipe).

Also you need to add a 2.5 or 3 amp inline fuse to the toilet power wire, as per Natures Head’s instructions, to protect that small gauge wire. The awning fuse is probably 15 or 20 amps!

The water pump switch is fine, but I am not sure why you felt it was needed, you can simply unplug the round connector from the toilet vent fan, you have to do that when servicing the compost tank anyway. Normally you leave the fan running 24/7 when there is human waste in it, otherwise it gets gross inside. 

John Davies

Spokane WA

[rich.dev]

8 hours ago, 2008RN said:

I ran a wire from the fuse box , I think I used the fuse labeled Streetside awning under the floor into the area below the bathroom sink.  We do not use the Pump switch in the bathroom, so I use that switch to turn the Natures head fan off  on and off.

Thanks, how easy was it to run wire from the fuse box to the water pump switch, and isn't there an open spot on the far right of the DC fuse box where you could add a 2.5-3 amp fuse and run the wire from there, I believe that's where Oliver run the wire from when they do the install right? 

35 minutes ago, John E Davies said:

You should seal the cap properly and install a 3/4” vent/ overflow line which connects near the top of the black tank and goes out the belly (just like your fresh tank). Your design allows somebody to connect unregulated city water to the black flush port, which will probably rupture your tank or drain plumbing, which is not designed to contain that kind of pressure. It will also allow your tank to drain correctly, which it won’t do as it is now (it will “glug glug glug” back through the drain pipe).

Also you need to add a 2.5 or 3 amp inline fuse to the toilet power wire, as per Natures Head’s instructions, to protect that small gauge wire. The awning fuse is probably 15 or 20 amps!

Very good points John. Would it be possible to connect the toilet vent to the black tank vent with a "wye/y" type of connector? Also, I was thinking of replacing the black tank vent on the roof with a solar powered vent for additional venting, would that work? 

[2008RN]

1 hour ago, John E Davies said:

This is not good! It violates code, violates common sense, and may cause serious  problems. You should seal the cap properly and install a 3/4” vent/ overflow line which connects near the top of the black tank and goes out the belly (just like your fresh tank). Your design allows somebody to connect unregulated city water to the black flush port, which will probably rupture your tank or drain plumbing, which is not designed to contain that kind of pressure. It will also allow your tank to drain correctly, which it won’t do as it is now (it will “glug glug glug” back through the drain pipe).

Also you need to add a 2.5 or 3 amp inline fuse to the toilet power wire, as per Natures Head’s instructions, to protect that small gauge wire. The awning fuse is probably 15 or 20 amps!

The water pump switch is fine, but I am not sure why you felt it was needed, you can simply unplug the round connector from the toilet vent fan, you have to do that when servicing the compost tank anyway. Normally you leave the fan running 24/7 when there is human waste in it, otherwise it gets gross inside. 

John Davies Spokane WA

John ,

 I appreciate your feedback, 

1. I did not like my kludge to the trapped air problem.  Sorry I do not have your common sense.  I have NO experience at cutting and adding a vent port to tank like this.  I do not know where to begin.  Maybe you have resource information on how to do this.  

2.  The awning fuse slot was the ONLY fuse slot not being used on my 2020 Oliver.  I replaced the fuse with a 3 Amp when I set it up, but thanks for mentioning it so someone would just assume you could use the higher amp fuse.  Natures head states to use between 2-5amps.

3. We like to get out and camp about once every 2 months, with our schedule it hard to go out more than that, so what we normally do is let the fan run for about 2 weeks after camping during that 2 week period we are in/out the camper doing things so we turn the agitator when we are out there, then the fan is shut it off until we start getting ready for the next adventure.  We clean it out once a year at winterizing time.  In a years time, we probably have around 5 BM's in the head. So far it has not got gross inside. I always worry about having a connection failure from plugging and unplugging things all the time. I know this violates the KISS principle, but I have seen to many connector failures in the my past, and for me the redundant pump switch was not needed.  

[John E Davies]

34 minutes ago, Rich.Dev said:

Would it be possible to connect the toilet vent to the black tank vent with a "wye/y" type of connector? Also, I was thinking of replacing the black tank vent on the roof with a solar powered vent for additional venting, would that work? 

You can connect the NH vent flex hose to the existing ABS vent plumbing any way that works and meets code, what is really important is that the old black tank vent pipe is completely terminated, and that a new overboard vent line for the  black tank is added. If you are just going to add grey water to the tank, that is all you need to do. If you want to carry fresh water in it, you need to disconnect and cap the big black tank drain pipe and add appropriate PEX plumbing from that point, back to the water pump area.

I don’t know what effect the solar roof vent cover will have on the airflow through the toilet. It might be beneficial, but OTH I don’t thing it is actually needed. Have you been having issues with smells from the existing roof vent?

John Davies

Spokane WA. 

[rich.dev]

1 hour ago, John E Davies said:

You can connect the NH vent flex hose to the existing ABS vent plumbing any way that works and meets code, what is really important is that the old black tank vent pipe is completely terminated, and that a new overboard vent line for the  black tank is added.

John sorry I'm confused, you say I can connect the NH flex vent hose to the existing ABS/black tank vent, why would I then terminate the black tank vent? Here's what I want to do, do you mean I have to cap/terminate it below the "Y" connection so it vents directly to the roof and not into the black tank? Oh and what do you mean by "a new overboard vent line for the black tank is added"?

[2008RN]

7 hours ago, Rich.Dev said:

Thanks, how easy was it to run wire from the fuse box to the water pump switch, and isn't there an open spot on the far right of the DC fuse box where you could add a 2.5-3 amp fuse and run the wire from there, I believe that's where Oliver run the wire from when they do the install right? 

Very good points John. Would it be possible to connect the toilet vent to the black tank vent with a "wye/y" type of connector? Also, I was thinking of replacing the black tank vent on the roof with a solar powered vent for additional venting, would that work? 

I did not see an open slot on my Oli for another fuse.  I used fish tape and went from the kitchen seat, and routed towards the center of the Oli. Plenty of space. I just had to reach down through the cabinet to pull the fish tape up.

[John E Davies]

On 10/5/2022 at 9:50 AM, Rich.Dev said:

John sorry I'm confused, you say I can connect the NH flex vent hose to the existing ABS/black tank vent, why would I then terminate the black tank vent? Here's what I want to do, do you mean I have to cap/terminate it below the "Y" connection so it vents directly to the roof and not into the black tank? Oh and what do you mean by "a new overboard vent line for the black tank is added"?

That drawing is fine, that is how the factory does it,  but ONLY if you do not plan to use the black tank for either grey or fresh water storage. If you do NOT (edited) plan to do that, use the tank, you should also disconnect and cap off the black tank rinse port under the front dinette area. It is important to “idiot proof” mods so somebody who has a senior moment can’t flood the trailer or burst the tank, if it isn’t vented correctly. Overfilling the black tank (with the black vent pipe connected) will send the overflow water back down the grey tank vent pipe and will flood the bathroom through the shower drain hole.

John Davies

Spokane WAj

[rich.dev]

2 hours ago, John E Davies said:

That drawing is fine, that is how the factory does it,  but ONLY if you do not plan to use the black tank for either grey or fresh water storage. If you do plan to do that, use the tank, you should also disconnect and cap off the black tank rinse port under the front dinette area. It is important to “idiot proof” mods so somebody who has a senior moment can’t flood the trailer or burst the tank, if it isn’t vented correctly. Overfilling the black tank (with the black vent pipe connected) will send the overflow water back down the grey tank vent pipe and will flood the bathroom through the shower drain hole.

John Davies

Spokane WAj

Ah ok yes that makes sense! 🙂 

[HelOnCoast]

Hi John, this is fantastic information - my apologies if it's already been covered, but I am planning on creating a 'wet room' with my Nature's Head composting toilet and wondering how you protected the power source/cord/plug in for the fan?

Does it get wet when you shower?

Thanks!

[John E Davies]

52 minutes ago, HelOnCoast said:

Hi John, this is fantastic information - my apologies if it's already been covered, but I am planning on creating a 'wet room' with my Nature's Head composting toilet and wondering how you protected the power source/cord/plug in for the fan?

Does it get wet when you shower?

NH and Oliver doen’t seem to worry about it, it is a regular round 12 volt connector. I have never noticed any issues. It is carrying low voltage and not much current. It isn’t a safety hazard if it gets splashed..  

John Davies

Spokane WA

[GreenFlash]

When it was time to place my order, I didn’t know anything about composting toilets. I watched a 20 minute YouTube video and then checked the block. I’ve had it for a year and love it. I don’t know how I ever lived before without it. It really is a must for living the unplugged life. I’ll never empty another black tank in my life. 

[GAP]

Results After 2 Years Of Use:  We have never had any problems at all with our composting toilet.  This is mostly due to doing our homework by having read through the earlier parts of this forum and watching a few you tube videos.  Helped us avoid problems others have suffered through.  The only modification we've done is John's idea on drilling a few small holes in the bottom of the container holding the pee tank. 

Never had bugs of any sort.  The fan housing unit has a fine screen where it feeds into the solid tank so no bugs can come from the vent pipe into the solids container.  There is also a fine screen on the intake side.  For good measure we add a half cup of diatnatious (sp?) earth to every load of coir.

We don't add toilet paper to the solids container.  Seemed like a gross option when we first started but has turned out to be an easy solution.  We use the same round step lid garbage container suggested earlier in this thread.  We line it using recycled plastic bags from grocery store - the type you put fruits and vegis in. Soiled paper and wipes take about 5 days to start to fill the bag and we've never had any smell at all.  Weird but true.

As previously discussed, the only smell associated with the toilet is a slight potting soil odor when changing the coir, even if the toilet has been recently used.  We add a few ounces of vinegar to the pee bottle before using and there is never any smell from there either except while emptying a full container.  Even then, it's surprisingly slight.  To clean, we allow to soak for a few hours filled with water with 1-2 tablespoon of bleach.  Our bottle is 2 years old, has had lots of use and looks practically new.  

To empty the solids bin, while on the road, we simply cover with a 13 gallon recycled garbage back, invert and ban the bottom a couple of times.  If anything sticks, we use a paint stir stick to dislodge which, in turn, we wipe with alcohol and store in a zip lock.  If at home, we dump the contents at the base of a bush and spread out with a rake.  Plants seem to love it.  While on the subject, we dump full bottles of pee around bushes as well and they really seem to benefit from it.  

We use coir as it is cheap and more environmentally friendly than peat moss.  We travel with two 1 gallon zip locks of prepared material (the perfect amount to fill container to center line of stirring units) and an extra brick big enough for to make another batch.  Soaking for an hour is all it takes to totally break a brick down to the right consistency.  The video on the first page seems like an easy process.  Our test for proper hydration is to squeeze a fist full of material in our hand.  If it almost holds together, it's just right. Takes about two weeks of constant use by the two of us to be ready for changing.  If not quite ready after a trip, we leave the fan on for about a week, then unplug and let it sit and continue to decompose.  True for winter as well but, if around freezing or colder, the decomposition will pause till things heat up again.  No smell at all even after the fan is turned off.  

We couldn't be happier with this system.  

[Katjo]

On 11/17/2022 at 5:48 PM, GreenFlash said:

When it was time to place my order, I didn’t know anything about composting toilets. I watched a 20 minute YouTube video and then checked the block. I’ve had it for a year and love it. I don’t know how I ever lived before without it. It really is a must for living the unplugged life. I’ll never empty another black tank in my life. 

We feel the same. We would never go back to a traditional rv toilet.👍🏼

[rich.dev]

On 10/6/2022 at 10:46 AM, John E Davies said:

On 10/5/2022 at 12:50 PM, Rich.Dev said:

?

That drawing is fine, that is how the factory does it,  but ONLY if you do not plan to use the black tank for either grey or fresh water storage.

John, I intend to use the black tank for grey water, how do you then propose I attach the NH vent tube to the existing blank tank vent? 

[John E Davies]

Bump, added a link in the first post to the Oliver Service page about this toilet.

https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/6720-natures-head-compost-toilet-troubleshooting-user-guide/
 

John Davies

Spokane W/

[Boudicca908]

On 11/15/2017 at 9:16 AM, Overland said:

John, you might be interested to know that Oliver is still installing 1 amp fuses for the fan, and they're still blowing.  Our toilet wasn't working optimally, and fortunately I remembered your post and checked the fuse.  Works well now.

So, I arrived at a boondocking site this afternoon, set up, and discovered that my Nature’s Head fan isn’t working.
I took it apart, cleaned the filter, but the fan doesn’t run. I read the OTT manual (primarily it focuses on installation, and notes how different configurations will require different electrical connections or elements). I cannot figure out where a fuse is located. (I am typing this on my phone; if I can, I will add a photo of the parts I have in hand, but I don’t think iPhone images play nice for uploading). The wire that plugs into the fan is strapped along the flexible vent pipe, and comes out from behind the sink — between the hulls I guess — I looked at the fuse panel underneath the dinette and didn’t see anything noted for the NH. I don’t see anything that looks like a fuse. 

*** I have a 2022 Oliver E2***

*** EDIT: Now I see John’s bump post with diagram showing fuse location. I will check it in the morning, and update as I see what it looks like. Can anyone point me to the fuse (if there is one)? ***

Do you think I need to replace the entire fan unit itself? 
I wonder if it is a problem in the wire that disappears under the sink. I sure hope not; I’m boondocking out in Utah, and if I need “service” I will be thinking about last summer.   

I will be ordering spare parts, per John’s post suggestion, tomorrow, even if this issue is just the fuse. 
 

Suggestions are appreciated. 
** I will add photos if I can, after I post **

Edited May 3 by Boudicca908
Added info

[MobileJoy]

6 hours ago, Boudicca908 said:

Do you think I need to replace the entire fan unit itself?

If you have a meter, you can check to see if the fan is getting power. You'll be touching the power plug with the meter leads, so be careful not to short out or you will blow the fuse (assuming it's not already blown).

If it is getting power, then the fan probably needs replacing. We had this happen to ours early on in the toilet's life. Nature's Head responded very quickly with two fans (no charge, and I did not ask them for a spare). I replaced it and have not had a problem since. Now I have a spare, and will order another if it ever gets installed.

[rich.dev]

11 hours ago, Boudicca908 said:

*** EDIT: Now I see John’s bump post with diagram showing fuse location. I will check it in the morning, and update as I see what it looks like. Can anyone point me to the fuse (if there is one)? ***

The fuse should be under the street side  access panel. It’s an inline 2A fuse I believe.