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Topic: Waste tanks might be going away some day ... (Read 2 times) previous topic - next topic
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Re: Waste tanks might be going away some day ...
Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 126924
It's interesting. I imagine an RV sized one would be quite small. Think how much fresh water you could carry if you didn't need gray and black water tanks - a boondocker's dream!

Eric
2005 Jayco 24SS
Re: Waste tanks might be going away some day ...
Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 126926
Yea-but!  Since he is using engine heat to evaporate the water, for this to work
Re: Waste tanks might be going away some day ...
Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 126927
Something very much like this was commercially available some 15 or 20 years ago.  It was like a catalytic converter on your exhaust pipe that would turn the waste to water out the exhaust.  You still had your holding tanks.  The idea was to drive until the unit was at the proper temperature, and then you sent the waste into the exhaust.  So you didn't have to drive every day, just when the tanks needed emptying.  It was pulled off the market for some reason.  I think people weren't letting it get up to temperature before pulling the rip cord.  Not a pleasant thought.

Dick
Re: Waste tanks might be going away some day ...
Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 126930
"I'd be surprised if this idea isn't incorporated into RV's very soon.
It's a fabulous idea."

Victor

A good idea, well maybe, but is not a new ideal.
GMC offered the very similar Thermasan System on their motorhomes almost 40 years ago. Thetford later sold the same system.
http://www.gmcgreatlakers.org/GMCGreatLakers/Technical/Livingarea/Thermasan-System/Pages795-800%20from%20X7425.pdf>
http://www.bdub.net/manuals/Thermasan-flyer.pdf>
http://www.bdub.net/manuals/Thermasan-Flyer-2.pdf>
 Reading the GMC Service Manual indicates a maximum disposal of five gallons per hour so to empty 60 gallons will require a minimum of 12 hours of freeway driving.
Not sure if I could afford to empty the tanks this way.

Larry

Staying with the macerator for the time being.
2001 MB
* Not to be confused with Larry W (3000 of my posts are actually from expert Larry W due to Yahoo transition mis-step)
Re: Waste tanks might be going away some day ...
Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 126931
Had one
20 + MH's since 1977 incl...
Past
FMC, 2x GMC's, Foretravel, 2x LD
Present
1996 LD RB under restoration, my project to keep me off the streets.
Re: Waste tanks might be going away some day ...
Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 126936
Quote
Yea-but! Since he is using engine heat to evaporate the water, for this to
work in an RV one would have to drive several hours EVERY DAY. Probably not to practical.

Quote
Linley
If I was going to do something like that I'd probably cobble up something that used a large Fresnel lens to spot heat the evaporator and use excess solar power to drive the mist maker.  We have 2 large Fresnel lenses, one linear and one spot and the spot lens temperatures go beyond 2500F in a 1 inch radius.  The linear lens temps are around 900F (1 inch by about 7 inches).  To put it in perspective wood starts to combust around 400-450F depending on the moisture content and density.
 So no need to run your engine.  There are other ways to achieve the same result though the initial solution wouldn't be very compact.  But if you were boondocking the system would keep up with general usage.

It is interesting to think about.

H

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: Waste tanks might be going away some day ...
Reply #7 –
Yahoo Message Number: 126937
Larry,
 Yep, looks like a similar system.  But 2 main differences, one, this new system has a macerator (or some kind of system to break up solid matter to very small particles).  The other, is it sprays it in a "fine aerosol".  Which, I'm sure, increases efficiency over the old unit.  As the article says, it can work at idle, whereas the older system would shut off below speeds of 35 mph.
 That all being said, I agree it isn't going to be practical for long term boon docking or if you are not travelling very far.  But I think it would be great as a supplemental system for any RV.
Re: Waste tanks might be going away some day ...
Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 126942
On Mon, 28 Nov 2011 11:21:29 -0800, Victor Sanchez vm.sanchez@...> wrote:

Quote
I agree it isn't going to be practical for long term boon docking
Before our black tank gets full our fresh water is empty. So unless this device can make water also, it would not extend our boom docking days.
Don & Dorothy
Sold our LD in June of 2023

Our boring always non-PC travel blog
Traveling Dorothy
Re: Waste tanks might be going away some day ...
Reply #9 –
Yahoo Message Number: 126944
If it really did the job, you could replace a waste tank with a new tank for fresh water. That would double your fresh water capacity.
 I suppose the unit might be adapted to use propane, gasoline, or diesel fuel to provide the heat, so you wouldn't have to drive to make it work.

Eric
2005 Jayco 24SS
Re: Waste tanks might be going away some day ...
Reply #10 –
Yahoo Message Number: 126946
Quote
So unless this device can make water also, it would not extend our boom
docking days.
 It could be possible to take the condensation output from the AC which might be used to "trickle charge" your freshwater tanks rather than let it run off the roof onto the ground.
 It might also be possible to use excess solar capacity to power a 12v TEC (thermo-electric cooler) and a small fan to basically do the same thing though at a lower rate. though you could have more than one going.
 A thermoelectric cooler is a solid state device that gets really hot on one side and really cold on the other when voltage is applied to it.  The more amperage the bigger the difference though there are limits on how much you can put in before things start melting.  A search on eBay for "thermoelectric" will pull up a bunch of results.  The flat white squares with 2 wires are what I am referring to.
 When harvesting moisture from humidity your primary consideration is the amount of airflow that you can push through the system.
 Anyway, it would be fairly simple to create a low budget add-on system that could trickle charge the fresh water tanks.

It's fun stuff to think about :)

H
 
Re: Waste tanks might be going away some day ...
Reply #11 –
Yahoo Message Number: 126947
"When harvesting moisture from humidity your primary consideration is the amount of airflow that you can push through the system."

H (another interesting name)
 Might work east of the Rockies where the humidity is high but would be mostly useless in the dry west. "Harvesting" the condensate from the A/C would only be useful when the A/C is run for long periods, which would require hookups, which normally already includes water.  Few of us operate the A/C for extended periods on generator power alone. The condensate would also need a filtering system.
A lot of complexity for very little production,  similar to the Thermasan System.
 Most or all of these interesting ideas for eliminating waste and producing water have been considered many times through the years by thousand of boondockers. The easy, practical ideas have already been implemented.
The free lunch doesn't happen until next week.

L (previously known as Larry)
2001 MB
* Not to be confused with Larry W (3000 of my posts are actually from expert Larry W due to Yahoo transition mis-step)