In The Interest of Full Product Testing…
You asked for it, so I gave my all, and now my eyes are blue again. Must be a quart low…
Actually, after some considerations I decided that I needed an actual poop test. Primarily, I wanted to know exactly how much and how bad it was going to smell for those who might be in the neighborhood. I was also unhappy with how warm the outer shell of the exhaust pipe became. It was not hot enough to burn anyone, but I didn’t like the idea of dumping that much heat into my air conditioned living quarters.
No, I did not park my arse on it while in the driveway. I will leave it to your imagination how the deed was done, but suffice it to say that one actual turd was harmed in the making of this review.
I got a length of 4” diameter steel single walled ducting and then insulated it with 1” of fiberglass mat held on with aluminum duct tape. I then inserted it inside the existing 6” exhaust pipe, which is further insulated and surrounded by an 8” outer pipe. That makes the chimney a consistent 4” inside diameter almost 7 feet above ground level. It also provides 2” of insulation all around with an infra red reflective layer in the middle.
I started the test, as before, with a ˝ cup (of water) urine cycle, just to warm things up and to be consistent with the previous test. After about 15 minutes it was complete and nothing anywhere was more than slightly warm. The outer wall of the chimney was pretty much dead cold.
The actual poop and associated urine was placed in the bowl with no paper liner this time. I attempted to use the dual spray nozzles built into the bowl to wash down a few splatters, but they were ineffectual. I might be able to adjust their aim to help the situation, but at this point I think they are there mostly for show. The lid was closed and a waste cycle was initiated and the burn proceeded for about 45 minutes as expected.
During the initial phases of the burn there were some slight whiffs of unpleasant odor, similar in degree to the previous experience with wet bread, but of course it didn’t smell like toast. It didn’t smell like raw poop either, though I won’t claim that it was a nice smell. After about 15 minutes the poop must have been desiccated and started to burn because the character of the occasional whiffs changed. It became somewhat earthy and toasty and dare I say almost pleasant. By 30 minutes there was little if any detectable smell. As before, there was never any visible smoke, only heat shimmer.
I do not believe any of this would be detectable inside the living quarters, but there is no way for me to actually know that until it is properly mounted inside the truck. Until then, I will have to assume that the slight positive pressure inside the toilet housing in combination with the chimney draft will drive any smells up the exhaust pipe.
After the cycle was complete I was able to open the lid. As you might imagine, the auger was smeared with a thin layer and a couple of small globs of poop. The thin layer was completely desiccated by the radiant heat and airflow from the burn, though the small glob was not. Nevertheless, there was no detectable smell, only the unsightly smear. See the images provided under keyword “Stealth”.
The new chimney design worked perfectly. After the waste burn was complete the outside of the chimney pipe was only slightly warm.
Several hours later the whole thing was cool enough to examine the fire box for ash. I found one flattened charcoal lump about 3” in length, and a small amount of loose granular ash. As before I had to lightly scrape the bottom of the burn chamber to release the lump. It appeared more completely burned than the bread, and also of lesser volume. It appears poop doesn’t hold up to flame as well as wet bread. Naturally, it was completely desiccated and sterile. I am now reasonably assured that the fire box can hold a month or more worth of this kind of ash before it will need to be cleaned.
I think this completes my pre-installation testing. As much as you guys would like to see my lily white backside on the toilet, my son refuses to take the picture so you will just have to use your imagination.
To be Continued…
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