Trying to find a decent write up of an install of this toilet was a chore. I found one or two that guided me in the right direction and made me finally make the decision that this toilet and tank were right for me. So I figured I pay it forward and do a write up myself.
I bought my 96
Scamp 16 last March and quickly discovered how annoying a lack of a plumbing system of some kind really was. In the wilderness it isn't a big deal. However, running across a walmart parking lot at 3 AM in 20 degree weather got old rather quickly. So I finally started designing a plumbing system to include a toilet.
My
Scamp did not have a toilet or shower installed. It didn't even have a water pump, greywater tank, etc. The layout of the trailer includes a convertable bunk bed/bench seat, and a closet in front of the door.
Despite being a little tight, the closet seemed like a perfect place to install a toilet. I'll do another post about my plumbing system later on. The first step was to remove the carpet (let's face it, our aim isn't always the best....carpet around a toilet would be a nightmare to clean. While brainstorming at home depot, I was walking past the flooring/tile aisle and got a great idea. I picked up a pack of adhesive vinyl flooring which was more than enough to cover the floor of the closet.
Once the flooring was down, it was time for the nerve racking part of measuring and cutting for the blackwater tank discharge. The Dometic Sealand 711 M28 makes two versions: a marine version with a sewage discharge on top of the tank and an RV version that has a standard 3" discharge on the bottom of the tank. The
Scamp was tricky to measure for. The closet is elevated off of the floor on a platform the edge of which begins several inches underneath the floor of the closet. The platform is actually made of a frame member underneath the trailer which significantly reduces the amount of room you have to work with when it comes to cutting the hole. I spent at least 30 minutes measuring, remeasuring, drinking coffee, and taking deep breaths to make sure that I didn't cut through the hole only to run into a frame member. I finally placed the black tank on the floor, applied a little pressure so that the 3" discharge would make an imprint on the vinyl tile, and drilled a pilot hole within the ring imprint. I crawled underneath the trailer with a 4 1/2" hole saw, lined it up with the pilot hole, and found that it fit perfectly with about an inch to spare from the frame member. Anyways, cutting the hole was easy.
I drilled a few more pilot holes in preparation of using the 2" lag bolts that came with the toilet to secure the tank to the floor. I fell in love with PEX plumbing a while ago and decided to use it for my Scamp. I ran a 1/2" PEX line from the passenger side bench where the heart of my plumbing system will be located (again more in another thread) to the wall between the closet and the driver side counter. I attached it to a 90 degree elbow, and ran short section of PEX to the corner next to the door where I attached a 1/4 toilet valve and used a braided stainless line to connect the 3/8" discharge on the valve and the 1/2" discharge on the toilet.