3 years later and this is still the without a doubt best diy composting toilet on youtube, everyone should see this who is in the RV / Van / OffGrid / Boating lifestyle. I know I will be doing my best to follow this example. A feature that I really like is the curved plywood base, everyone else is just being lazy and making boxes. Then you add a powered mixer to make it even more badass. Great Job. The only change I would make is get rid of the hose on the urine diverter. Having a pee covered hose flailing around is not ideal. I would make sure the top of the bottle rested at a level so that the diverter came to rest naturally in the neck of the bottle.
A little spray bottle of vinegar could rinse the urinal a little to reduce nastyness of flip flopping hose. My thinking is just keep a regular portable urinal next to the dry toilet. Less miserable to maintain that way, easier & cheaper to build. Additional big bottle to dump urinal into for capacity and spray bottle of vinegar to keep portable urinal daisy fresh.
@@davidbostock6776 I use a small spray bottle (courtesy of a hair dressing salon) filled with a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water to use after the urinal part has been used, just to keep the salt deposits off bay and clean the bowl and plumbing...
You could put the bucket on a bearing from a "lazy Susan", then turn the bucket either with a V-belt, or a rubber drive wheel (with 2 other rubber idler wheels). Love the idea of turning the bucket instead of turning the stirring device.
The fan is primarily used to keep the composing material on the drier side - it just happens to benefit by removing what little smell there is. Great design! Thanks!!
Ventilation and churning also encourages aerobic decomposition which not only does not produce odours and methane gas but also consumes the volatile organic compounds that produce odours.
@@johnwang9914 Exactly! The "good" (aerobic) bacteria need lots of oxygen, while the "bad" (anaerobic) bacteria are suppressed by oxygen. The constant flow of air ensures there is enough oxygen and ALSO helps to dry out the medium.
Love your composting toilet design and many of us are really looking forward to your next videos and upgrades. I also pursue many interests and sometimes have a challenge getting back around to one of my former interest. I just pray you are a cyclical personality, blessings
Yippee!!! Hi I am Faith. I'm a teenager and I am building my first tiny house 🏠 thank you Jesus for this instructional! I can't wait to build mine w my dad and grandpa!!!
When I say that God with His grace can heal through nature and act through infinite number of things, even believers in God often knock on the head and tell me that I am mentally ill or something. And I've just been in bad condition but it keeps getting all the way better. Certainly there are many graces of God in action for matters which are missing in the world and about which people think that they aren't working but work wonderfully. I hope that it will gradually change and people will be able to take advantage of the good that is contained in this matter and also be able to discover many other wonders so far hidden for humanity or old and forgotten or considered not working but works great. Cordial greetings and blessing for You everyone ❤
I got to say that's not only humanure for me Since I started doing it, my physical, mental and spiritual health inproved a lot. I recovered from a very hard and difficult to cure disease. Because of this, I could start doing in my life and invent many new things that I could not before due to poor health and poor general condition. Beacause of this, I was able to start working a lot physically and intellectually. I also feel better spritually- happier and freer to do good things and generally as me and I can also give this happiness to others. The very sad thing is that people do not want to see that the changes that have taken place are the results of working towards humanure.
Wow, very ingenious method with gears, I'm impressed! Great toilet. I'm especially glad you did not fork out $1000 for a plastic potty as do the Millennials. Well done! I would use a clip on microphone on your shirt for better audio that does not fade when you walk around.
Love the drill idea! And the turning bucket arrangement. I can't bring myself to drop $1000 on a plastic toilet with a computer fan and a hand crank. For now, I needed a small arrangement to fit behind my driver's seat. So far, I have a basic arrangement contained within a 5G bucket: hand held urinal on a nylon tube (it had a corrugated tube at purchase but why trap urine in the tube?) into a clear laundry bottle. Behind that (pun intended) is compostable bag lined deli bucket. I use coconut coir below and above as needed, bag, and discard with no stirring at present. I'm using a pool noodle for a comfort rim, and a gamma lid for between uses. If I can get a computer fan arranged, I'll swap for a camp-style toilet seat on the bucket. Easy peasy (also pun intended). Love this Vid and the comment section, too!
BEST video on this subject I have yet seen! A question for the producer of this video: I notice that you are based out of the San Pablo Yacht Harbor... Would that be the San Pablo Yacht Harbor in Richmond, CA? Because if it is - I would very much like to introduce you to my boss for a possible collaboration.
8:01 ....is that material made from PTFE material. I can't figure it out, is it TUFNOL, and engineered plastic? . That's thinking literally outside the box, it's very Ingenious, thanks for sharing your idea. It is greatly appreciated. That's the sign of a brillant person, someone who isn't afraid to share their knowledge and expertise.
My composting toilet also uses a 5 gallon bucket but my urine diverter collection jug holds 2 1/2 gallons. It fits nicely on one side of the bucket. My "poop bucket medium" is composted hardwood sawdust. I get it from a premium hardwood sawmill. It is a 50 mile round trip. My utility trailer is 5ft. x 10 ft. with 4 ft. sides. 3 loads is $60. Makes a giant pile of sawdust. It takes a year to make it suitable for using in my composting toilet but I am not using Peat Moss. After 1 year of "weathering" it gets raked out, dried, and bagged in giant paper leaf bags from the hardware store. I have enough bagged up for at least 5 years of using my composting toilet.
The chair left behind in the cabin purchase actually fits a standard toilet seat so it just needs side and shorter legs . I'm still learning to save things and recycle things better.
Robert thanks for your posting. Its highly informative. Now that its been 3 years since your installation and your video was based on theory. I am interested to learn what your practical experience has been over last 3 years? Are you still using it? Have you made any modifications? If so, what changes you've made? I am looking to install some thing like this in my RV. Look forward to hearing from you. regards
Awesome Robert! I've been trying to figure out a stir mechanism that wouldn't require a hand crank that came out through the top or side of the toilet and this is and excellent, low cost solution! Although it does require electricity, the fact that it can run off a 12volt battery is perfect. I assume that the fan also runs off the 12 volt battery? Have you ever considered having an air intake that brings air in from outside rather than sucking warm or cool air out of your boat all the time? Would be curious whether that would work. Probably work better in a land based home than on a boat as you don't want perforations in the side (or bottom!) of a boat and it wouldn't do to have the intake right next to the exhaust. Anyway, that's something I'm thinking about to avoid losing warm air to the outside in winter. Thanks for sharing!
Enjoyed the video, very clever design ... Are you going to be able to give us an update on changes you made and how it has worked out over the long term? Thanks
Hi robert I love this design and thinking of making something similar with a rotating bucket I would love to see a close up of the fixed churner is the plate at the bottom flat does the compost rise up as it is churned Thanks
Hi Robert. I really like your idea and am in the process of making my own with the help of some friends. We found a gear program on line and plan to use a CNC machine to cut them out. What are the dimensions of your two gears? How many teeth do each of your gears have? How did you attach the bucket to the wooden gear. To me it appears that they are glued together. If that is correct, what kind of glue did you use? My son says it looks like you cut a hole in the middle of the gear and wedged it in (with or without glue). I hope you will find some time to answer my questions, since you are the only person who posted anything about this innovative concept. By the way, how is it working for you?
The $1000. Alternatives to his DIY have a hand crank, you have to get on the floor to use it and they have holes in the chamber to use it. The $1000. Alternatives also require electric service for fan. His design is much more compact since you don't need space to access handle. Using large gear sized for bottom of bucket motor spins small gear for appropriate bucket rotation speed, with economical widely available & durable electric motor. His solution far superior to $1000. unit hand cranks. You design a hand crank version of his mechanism, build it, and use it, good luck.
Is that the fan running loud I used to build custom desktop there are some ultra quit fans out there but good job I'm going to build one it's different than most of these I've now seen more than I need to of video s but you did a good job I believe so thanks.
Nice job. I guess the main question for me is how well does it work...i.e. how often do you have to empty it? Is the bucket big enough for the material to sit long enough to actually compost (that doesn't happen overnight). I am on my boat alone a lot but we both often go out for a couple of months as well. Thanks for sharing, great video!
as some have pointed out, anaerobic bacteria produce "bad smells" while aerobic bacteria tend not to. I was wondering whether something like an "air stone" (such as used in aquariums) could be dropped into the bucket before adding the peat moss (or whatever) or have it anchored to that rod that projects into the compost area and then use the small air pump to add air to the mixture continuously to "aerate" the mixture. I'd still use the small exhaust fan (probably but I'd like to test out the air pump idea 1st to see if that by itself solved the odor issue just by itself) but possibly on a timer (say 10 mins ON after every use since as I understand it, "smell" from solid wastes is most pronounced when the solid waste has some volatile component that escapes into the atmosphere and MOISTNESS on the surface of the solid waste is quickly dissipated by the compost medium, especially if the contents are stirred up, as in this unit, so 10 mins might be more than ample time to remove offensive smells prior to this surface desiccation). this gadget here certainly seems to be workable. I wonder if the guy ever made any progress toward marketing plans for DIY builders since I WOULD prefer making something like this to spending $1000+ on some SIMILAR toilet from some manufacturer.
Sucking odor air out is a very goid idea👍, I am considering chimeny can cause vacuum and absorb odor air, save to use battery and fan. I may also use belt and pulley instead of gear, because precise motions are not required here.
Hey Robert I have an idea for you. Tie a little bit of string around the trigger and run it to a small hole on the top of the toilet; maybe behind the lid. Make a little loop and people just need to pull up on the loop to 'flush' i.e. stir.
Any thoughts on how to incorporate a bidet into this design? A south african company has a shelf sloped back that is slotted to allow liquids to pass but not the solid. Used with a urine diverter up top the only liquid in the bucket would be the bidet wash water. So maybe the composting bucket in the video design has holes in the bottom to allow the bidet wash water to pass through?
I'm very behind (For a lack of better word) your product. Once manufactured - will this unit come at a cheaper price point then most commercially sold rv composting toilets ? also, would the components be available i.e. sprockets, pee separator, etc... for the DIYer ?
This is an interesting design variation, rotating the entire bucket, instead of leaving the bucket stationary and rotating an internal mixing device. Seems like mixing might work better if there were two angled fins (~30-45°) offset at different heights a few inches apart (Maybe that would be his aforementioned update). Wonder how this would compare in longevity to ones with a hand crank to rotate a central mixer, instead of spinning the entire bucket (issues with moving parts & larger gears, concern over possibly catching the bucket handle at some point down the line (random, unexpected/unpredicted problems that occur), heavier/harder to turn when fuller, more likely to wobble itself out of alignment, etc). Great use of a drill! If you have an extra one lol. If not the cheapest DIY due to the drill, it's still far less expensive than spending $1,000.00 (!!!) on Nature's Head or Air Head versions (people are correct that they are rather unsightly; vaguely reminiscent of unattractive robots), or just slightly less on the C-Head. Great design! ☺💪👏
like your stir system.... what would you do different if you could.... (or have done different since posting this) can you offer a to do on making the gear for bottom of bucket and give heads up on where one might could find the one on the drill? thought of using an old vibrating sander inverted under the bucket to vibrate it.... simple.... but a stir would be better
Did you ever draw up a set of plan. Mostly the gear drive would be helpful. The rest of the build looks easy. I have plenty of HDPE 3/4" sheet. Getting the gear ratio correct would be helpful.
What material did you use for the large gear on the bottom of the bucket? You mentioned something like "tough 'n all?" How is it fastened to the bucket? Thank you...
What if you had the large gear as a permanent part of the floor of the device, and made the bucket attach to it, perhaps with several strong magnets? Then you don't have to get the gears synced up after each emptying. You could even make it a belt driven system.
Perhaps just have inserts mounted from the top of a five gallon bucket from whatever supports the toilet seat on the plywood box and rotate the bucket to stir the compost. Angle the inserts to drive the compost down so the fresh feces and any toilet paper gets drawn down similar to what the agitator in a washing machine does to clothes.
How is Your composting toilet prototype holding up??? Are You selling it yet??? Good, straightforward idea. Thankhz so Much for sharing. Wholeness n Essence of Love ((-;
Interesting design but what advantage does it have over just putting a bit more dirt to cover your poo each time you use it? Its way simpler, quicker and cheaper and needs no power. I'm not trying to 'poo poo' your design, just interested.
Churning aerates the compost thereby encouraging aerobic decomposition which not only produced no odours or methane but consumed the volatile compounds that very produce odours. Just layering more dry composting material like sawdust, peat moss, newspaper clippings, straw and or coconut husks risks developing a anaerobic zone which would produce odours and methane gas. It's the same reason why compost bins are stirred or tumbled and why compost bins are often perforated or made with chicken wire to allow air to enter the compost.
This bucket design isn’t that different than the others except the bucket turns instead of the mixer turning. That’s a innovative idea but I’m still looking for different design. These bucket composters are too small and low for my liking. Yes, I could raise it. But it’s still small. I found a 13 gallon barrel I like a lot better. So I bought 4 of them. I want hot composting action. And not to cool down overnight due to low mass and low insulation. Lots more research to do. And maybe I’ll come back to this if it’s too difficult.
Loving the pee separator and the mixer device but what do you do after a night out with the wife at Mexican food and beer might need a safety switch to kill the mixer in case of overload if you know what I'm Talking about and who cleans the mixer rod better design would use a compostable bag design that twists the bag thus sealing the poo poo and simultaneously opening a new bag then making a poo poo bag chain that can be dispatched to neighbors yard
Would you be willing to share a template for the gears, or is there some kind of software anyone could recommend that would generate such a template? Thanks.
Yes I can supply a template as well as gcode if you have access to a cnc machine. Or, email me at robert@robertedney.com and i might be able to cut the gears for you. Thanks for watching!
I would carve it out of polyurethane foam or make it out of wood and then cover it with fibreglass resin perhaps with some chopped fibreglass or if you like the frustration with sheets of fibreglass cloth. Using bondo to seal it and then sanding and painting is an alternative to fibreglass. If you have a 3d printer, just design it and let the machine make it. If you have a CNC machine, you can mill it from a block of aluminum. You could probably bend and weld one from sheet metal too. You could also make one out of clay, make a plaster mold or a wet sand mold and cast it with either plastic or metal or just fire the clay into pottery with a water proof glazing. A cheap way though very damaging to the environment to make fired pottery water proof would be to throw salt onto the fire while firing the clay, this method has been banned from commercial pottery for a few decades now. An easy DIY toilet would be to buy a portable camp toilet with a trapdoor flap to the waste compartment, drill and fit an urine diversion hole lining the urine capture area with either weather stripping as the curb or fiberglass a foam or wood curb in place then cut the bottom storage unit out and fit it to a larger storage container with some kind of crank to stir up the compost to bury the fresh feces and aerate the compost. You can also just drain the solid compost compartment of the urine and count on having enough dry compost to keep the moisture down.
You could use a cat litter box too or even a middle Eastern bathroom which is just a tiled area with curbed sides with a drain and a shower hose to clean up the mess you drop on the floor. You can also just poop in the woods or on your neighbour's porch.
Design feature? Entirely optional I imagine. It's certainly visually more appealing - little bit of class - but I'd be putting a few coats of waterproof spray on it. Or, thinking it through, I might use oilskin.
You should make and sell those gears, because I want some right now. Plz take my money. If not, I guess I will have to cut some by hand. Sounds time consuming
I imagine it could work if you trace a circle on a oiece of hardwood, thenuse Forstner bits and drill out a bunch of holes all along that line, just touching each other. Then cut the excess wood off so the larger part of the hole is left , if you know what I mean?
3 years later and this is still the without a doubt best diy composting toilet on youtube, everyone should see this who is in the RV / Van / OffGrid / Boating lifestyle.
I know I will be doing my best to follow this example.
A feature that I really like is the curved plywood base, everyone else is just being lazy and making boxes. Then you add a powered mixer to make it even more badass.
Great Job.
The only change I would make is get rid of the hose on the urine diverter. Having a pee covered hose flailing around is not ideal. I would make sure the top of the bottle rested at a level so that the diverter came to rest naturally in the neck of the bottle.
A little spray bottle of vinegar could rinse the urinal a little to reduce nastyness of flip flopping hose. My thinking is just keep a regular portable urinal next to the dry toilet. Less miserable to maintain that way, easier & cheaper to build. Additional big bottle to dump urinal into for capacity and spray bottle of vinegar to keep portable urinal daisy fresh.
I agree, this video did inspire me to build a similar unit...
@@davidbostock6776 I use a small spray bottle (courtesy of a hair dressing salon) filled with a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water to use after the urinal part has been used, just to keep the salt deposits off bay and clean the bowl and plumbing...
Very clever to rotate the bucket instead of the mixing blade. Thanks for sharing.
Rotating the bucket is a brilliant idea!
You could put the bucket on a bearing from a "lazy Susan", then turn the bucket either with a V-belt, or a rubber drive wheel (with 2 other rubber idler wheels). Love the idea of turning the bucket instead of turning the stirring device.
How about a crank or step crank mechanism to turn the bucket?
@@kindnessmatters5215 excellent idea.
That was the best churner I have ever seen! Composting is the way to go on a boat. Best of luck.... and keep up the great work!
Awesome idea... My next composting unit will have a banana stirrer system installed for sure...
That mixer mechanism is exactly what I've been looking for! amazing!
The fan is primarily used to keep the composing material on the drier side - it just happens to benefit by removing what little smell there is.
Great design! Thanks!!
Ventilation and churning also encourages aerobic decomposition which not only does not produce odours and methane gas but also consumes the volatile organic compounds that produce odours.
@@johnwang9914 Exactly! The "good" (aerobic) bacteria need lots of oxygen, while the "bad" (anaerobic) bacteria are suppressed by oxygen. The constant flow of air ensures there is enough oxygen and ALSO helps to dry out the medium.
Brilliant in its simplicity...you are a real craftsman.
Wow, by far the best video yet on building a compost toilet!!! Thank You
Love your composting toilet design and many of us are really looking forward to your next videos and upgrades. I also pursue many interests and sometimes have a challenge getting back around to one of my former interest.
I just pray you are a cyclical personality, blessings
I dig your ingenuity on this toilet. I can relate to over engineering things, but we have much more fun getting creative with everything!
-Cheers
Lol
Fantastic build, I love it, and the re use of an old drill...
Yippee!!! Hi I am Faith. I'm a teenager and I am building my first tiny house 🏠 thank you Jesus for this instructional! I can't wait to build mine w my dad and grandpa!!!
Really a good idea! Inventors are a unique bunch. Good job
you're so creative, thank you for sharing your gifts! Great Video
Brilliant stirring design!
great explanation. i had no idea how those things worked. thanks for your time.
Man you really kicked ass, I will subscribe so that when you go into production I will purchase! Good job
Davinci-esque! Fantastic build - thanks for sharing!
very nice work!
Nicely done! Thank you.
When I say that God with His grace can heal through nature and act through infinite number of things, even believers in God often knock on the head and tell me that I am mentally ill or something. And I've just been in bad condition but it keeps getting all the way better. Certainly there are many graces of God in action for matters which are missing in the world and about which people think that they aren't working but work wonderfully. I hope that it will gradually change and people will be able to take advantage of the good that is contained in this matter and also be able to discover many other wonders so far hidden for humanity or old and forgotten or considered not working but works great.
Cordial greetings and blessing for You everyone ❤
Great Job, cant wait to see the update video!
Thanks man! Great Video!
I got to say that's not only humanure for me Since I started doing it, my physical, mental and spiritual health inproved a lot. I recovered from a very hard and difficult to cure disease. Because of this, I could start doing in my life and invent many new things that I could not before due to poor health and poor general condition. Beacause of this, I was able to start working a lot physically and intellectually. I also feel better spritually- happier and freer to do good things and generally as me and I can also give this happiness to others. The very sad thing is that people do not want to see that the changes that have taken place are the results of working towards humanure.
Excellent idea.
Wow, very ingenious method with gears, I'm impressed! Great toilet. I'm especially glad you did not fork out $1000 for a plastic potty as do the Millennials. Well done!
I would use a clip on microphone on your shirt for better audio that does not fade when you walk around.
Love the drill idea! And the turning bucket arrangement. I can't bring myself to drop $1000 on a plastic toilet with a computer fan and a hand crank. For now, I needed a small arrangement to fit behind my driver's seat. So far, I have a basic arrangement contained within a 5G bucket: hand held urinal on a nylon tube (it had a corrugated tube at purchase but why trap urine in the tube?) into a clear laundry bottle. Behind that (pun intended) is compostable bag lined deli bucket. I use coconut coir below and above as needed, bag, and discard with no stirring at present. I'm using a pool noodle for a comfort rim, and a gamma lid for between uses. If I can get a computer fan arranged, I'll swap for a camp-style toilet seat on the bucket. Easy peasy (also pun intended). Love this Vid and the comment section, too!
I've made a recent upgrade to the churner that works incredibly well. I'll post details soon.
Can’t wait to see it! Please post!!!!!!😬
I'd love to see the upgrade!!
Thank you for the video Robert! I can't wait to see the upgrade! I'm subscribed!
robert where did you get the gears I really need a set really think your great
what is that "tough in all" material you mention? Link or spelling? thanks
Genius. ..ill make one in future. ..thanks for share this video. ...
BEST video on this subject I have yet seen! A question for the producer of this video: I notice that you are based out of the San Pablo Yacht Harbor... Would that be the San Pablo Yacht Harbor in Richmond, CA? Because if it is - I would very much like to introduce you to my boss for a possible collaboration.
8:01 ....is that material made from PTFE material. I can't figure it out, is it TUFNOL, and engineered plastic?
.
That's thinking literally outside the box, it's very Ingenious, thanks for sharing your idea. It is greatly appreciated. That's the sign of a brillant person, someone who isn't afraid to share their knowledge and expertise.
THAT was excellent!
My composting toilet also uses a 5 gallon bucket but my urine diverter collection jug holds 2 1/2 gallons. It fits nicely on one side of the bucket. My "poop bucket medium" is composted hardwood sawdust. I get it from a premium hardwood sawmill. It is a 50 mile round trip. My utility trailer is 5ft. x 10 ft. with 4 ft. sides. 3 loads is $60. Makes a giant pile of sawdust. It takes a year to make it suitable for using in my composting toilet but I am not using Peat Moss. After 1 year of "weathering" it gets raked out, dried, and bagged in giant paper leaf bags from the hardware store. I have enough bagged up for at least 5 years of using my composting toilet.
I think I'll make one and use a BBQ rotisserie motor for the drive. They are cheap and strong.
As to staying with off grid & re-cycled items I'm going to use an old jalousie window crank.
The chair left behind in the cabin purchase actually fits a standard toilet seat so it just needs side and shorter legs . I'm still learning to save things and recycle things better.
Great video..
You have a great heart dog love the best
Brilliant
Awesome idea! I wish I would have seen your video as my version works, but is inferior to your set up. Nice job!!!
I know you want to keep it simple, but a nice touch would be a simple timer switch so when you put the lid down the drill activates for 20 seconds.
Except it would stir every time you pee, which isn't needed, but I guess wouldn't hurt except to using power more often.
Great Job! Thats pretty amazing. Did you make another version?
Brilliant. Please update us on how it is doing for you.
Robert thanks for your posting. Its highly informative. Now that its been 3 years since your installation and your video was based on theory. I am interested to learn what your practical experience has been over last 3 years? Are you still using it? Have you made any modifications? If so, what changes you've made? I am looking to install some thing like this in my RV. Look forward to hearing from you. regards
Awesome Robert! I've been trying to figure out a stir mechanism that wouldn't require a hand crank that came out through the top or side of the toilet and this is and excellent, low cost solution! Although it does require electricity, the fact that it can run off a 12volt battery is perfect. I assume that the fan also runs off the 12 volt battery? Have you ever considered having an air intake that brings air in from outside rather than sucking warm or cool air out of your boat all the time? Would be curious whether that would work. Probably work better in a land based home than on a boat as you don't want perforations in the side (or bottom!) of a boat and it wouldn't do to have the intake right next to the exhaust. Anyway, that's something I'm thinking about to avoid losing warm air to the outside in winter. Thanks for sharing!
Enjoyed the video, very clever design ... Are you going to be able to give us an update on changes you made and how it has worked out over the long term? Thanks
thx for sharing.
Hi there Robert, have you finalised this project yet? Would love to see the final build ! All the best for 2020 👍
you are amazing
Great design. Thanks so much for sharing!
QUESTION: Did you make that urine diverter yourself? Or, is it a commercial brand?
Would you tell me more about the gears? I love your design and want to build my own. Thank you.
Hi robert
I love this design and thinking of making something similar with a rotating bucket
I would love to see a close up of the fixed churner is the plate at the bottom flat does the compost rise up as it is churned
Thanks
Hi Robert. I really like your idea and am in the process of making my own with the help of some friends. We found a gear program on line and plan to use a CNC machine to cut them out. What are the dimensions of your two gears? How many teeth do each of your gears have? How did you attach the bucket to the wooden gear. To me it appears that they are glued together. If that is correct, what kind of glue did you use? My son says it looks like you cut a hole in the middle of the gear and wedged it in (with or without glue). I hope you will find some time to answer my questions, since you are the only person who posted anything about this innovative concept. By the way, how is it working for you?
Dude! You saved me money. Thanks
you could make a churner that runs with a hand crank, no extra motor.
The $1000. Alternatives to his DIY have a hand crank, you have to get on the floor to use it and they have holes in the chamber to use it. The $1000. Alternatives also require electric service for fan. His design is much more compact since you don't need space to access handle. Using large gear sized for bottom of bucket motor spins small gear for appropriate bucket rotation speed, with economical widely available & durable electric motor. His solution far superior to $1000. unit hand cranks. You design a hand crank version of his mechanism, build it, and use it, good luck.
That’s exactly what I thought. All that’s needed is for the drive gear shaft to be extended up to behind the lid.
Maybe a foot pedal?
Is that the fan running loud I used to build custom desktop there are some ultra quit fans out there but good job I'm going to build one it's different than most of these I've now seen more than I need to of video s but you did a good job I believe so thanks.
Nice job. I guess the main question for me is how well does it work...i.e. how often do you have to empty it? Is the bucket big enough for the material to sit long enough to actually compost (that doesn't happen overnight). I am on my boat alone a lot but we both often go out for a couple of months as well. Thanks for sharing, great video!
as some have pointed out, anaerobic bacteria produce "bad smells" while aerobic bacteria tend not to. I was wondering whether something like an "air stone" (such as used in aquariums) could be dropped into the bucket before adding the peat moss (or whatever) or have it anchored to that rod that projects into the compost area and then use the small air pump to add air to the mixture continuously to "aerate" the mixture. I'd still use the small exhaust fan (probably but I'd like to test out the air pump idea 1st to see if that by itself solved the odor issue just by itself) but possibly on a timer (say 10 mins ON after every use since as I understand it, "smell" from solid wastes is most pronounced when the solid waste has some volatile component that escapes into the atmosphere and MOISTNESS on the surface of the solid waste is quickly dissipated by the compost medium, especially if the contents are stirred up, as in this unit, so 10 mins might be more than ample time to remove offensive smells prior to this surface desiccation).
this gadget here certainly seems to be workable. I wonder if the guy ever made any progress toward marketing plans for DIY builders since I WOULD prefer making something like this to spending $1000+ on some SIMILAR toilet from some manufacturer.
Sucking odor air out is a very goid idea👍, I am considering chimeny can cause vacuum and absorb odor air, save to use battery and fan. I may also use belt and pulley instead of gear, because precise motions are not required here.
Hey Robert I have an idea for you. Tie a little bit of string around the trigger and run it to a small hole on the top of the toilet; maybe behind the lid. Make a little loop and people just need to pull up on the loop to 'flush' i.e. stir.
Any thoughts on how to incorporate a bidet into this design? A south african company has a shelf sloped back that is slotted to allow liquids to pass but not the solid. Used with a urine diverter up top the only liquid in the bucket would be the bidet wash water.
So maybe the composting bucket in the video design has holes in the bottom to allow the bidet wash water to pass through?
Great video. What is the stuff you refer to as tough n all. Never heard of it and want to get some.
Question, how do you deal with dog sanitation while out on the water?
Can you make me one that looks really well put together
I'm very behind (For a lack of better word) your product.
Once manufactured - will this unit come at a cheaper price point then most commercially sold rv composting toilets ? also, would the components be available i.e. sprockets, pee separator, etc... for the DIYer ?
WHATS THE RIGHT STUFF YOU MENTIONED
I love maceration
This is an interesting design variation, rotating the entire bucket, instead of leaving the bucket stationary and rotating an internal mixing device. Seems like mixing might work better if there were two angled fins (~30-45°) offset at different heights a few inches apart (Maybe that would be his aforementioned update).
Wonder how this would compare in longevity to ones with a hand crank to rotate a central mixer, instead of spinning the entire bucket (issues with moving parts & larger gears, concern over possibly catching the bucket handle at some point down the line (random, unexpected/unpredicted problems that occur), heavier/harder to turn when fuller, more likely to wobble itself out of alignment, etc).
Great use of a drill! If you have an extra one lol. If not the cheapest DIY due to the drill, it's still far less expensive than spending $1,000.00 (!!!) on Nature's Head or Air Head versions (people are correct that they are rather unsightly; vaguely reminiscent of unattractive robots), or just slightly less on the C-Head.
Great design! ☺💪👏
In reality, ball bearing mounted slewing mechanisms cause problems over time
Bravo
you might want to find an old washing machine motor,preferably a small machine, I found those motors are good for just abou anything!!
How long does it take for one bucket to compost fully? What are the conditions? And how frequently do you replace the container? Thanks :)
Can you tell me, where can I buy this set of drive gears?
Great !!!!
like your stir system.... what would you do different if you could.... (or have done different since posting this) can you offer a to do on making the gear for bottom of bucket and give heads up on where one might could find the one on the drill?
thought of using an old vibrating sander inverted under the bucket to vibrate it.... simple.... but a stir would be better
The compost needs to be ventilated often, while the vibration would have the exact opposite effect and make it compact.
A horizontal mixer can deal with the soiled paper better. Vertical mixing it just floats on top ...
Did you ever draw up a set of plan. Mostly the gear drive would be helpful. The rest of the build looks easy. I have plenty of HDPE 3/4" sheet. Getting the gear ratio correct would be helpful.
What material did you use for the large gear on the bottom of the bucket? You mentioned something like "tough 'n all?" How is it fastened to the bucket? Thank you...
I thought you could use a pushbike chain wrapped around the bottom of bucket and sprocket of the derailer
What if you had the large gear as a permanent part of the floor of the device, and made the bucket attach to it, perhaps with several strong magnets? Then you don't have to get the gears synced up after each emptying. You could even make it a belt driven system.
I thought of using the chain off a bicycle to wrap arounf the bucket and use a gear off the derailer
Probably a simple crank would work well here
Perhaps just have inserts mounted from the top of a five gallon bucket from whatever supports the toilet seat on the plywood box and rotate the bucket to stir the compost. Angle the inserts to drive the compost down so the fresh feces and any toilet paper gets drawn down similar to what the agitator in a washing machine does to clothes.
How is Your composting toilet prototype holding up??? Are You selling it yet??? Good, straightforward idea. Thankhz so Much for sharing. Wholeness n Essence of Love ((-;
great...
lol, is that a carbon fiber urine diverter? I love it!! Also whats the deal with this 'upgrade' you mentioned.
Interesting design but what advantage does it have over just putting a bit more dirt to cover your poo each time you use it? Its way simpler, quicker and cheaper and needs no power. I'm not trying to 'poo poo' your design, just interested.
Churning aerates the compost thereby encouraging aerobic decomposition which not only produced no odours or methane but consumed the volatile compounds that very produce odours. Just layering more dry composting material like sawdust, peat moss, newspaper clippings, straw and or coconut husks risks developing a anaerobic zone which would produce odours and methane gas. It's the same reason why compost bins are stirred or tumbled and why compost bins are often perforated or made with chicken wire to allow air to enter the compost.
@@johnwang9914 - - Thank you. Perfect explanation 🤗🙏
ANY UPDATES?
You look handsome, it will be ok
Wood ashes are the ideal stuff in case you wonder
Do you sell these ?.
This bucket design isn’t that different than the others except the bucket turns instead of the mixer turning. That’s a innovative idea but I’m still looking for different design. These bucket composters are too small and low for my liking. Yes, I could raise it. But it’s still small. I found a 13 gallon barrel I like a lot better. So I bought 4 of them. I want hot composting action. And not to cool down overnight due to low mass and low insulation. Lots more research to do. And maybe I’ll come back to this if it’s too difficult.
Loving the pee separator and the mixer device but what do you do after a night out with the wife at Mexican food and beer might need a safety switch to kill the mixer in case of overload if you know what I'm Talking about and who cleans the mixer rod better design would use a compostable bag design that twists the bag thus sealing the poo poo and simultaneously opening a new bag then making a poo poo bag chain that can be dispatched to neighbors yard
Great job! Now If you could just train the dogs to use it. :D
still don'y understand how u make the drill
Would you be willing to share a template for the gears, or is there some kind of software anyone could recommend that would generate such a template? Thanks.
Yes I can supply a template as well as gcode if you have access to a cnc machine. Or, email me at robert@robertedney.com and i might be able to cut the gears for you. Thanks for watching!
Robert Edney I’d be keen to buy one if you’d be willing to cut one for me. I’ll send you an email.
Robert, how you make the pee separator?
I would carve it out of polyurethane foam or make it out of wood and then cover it with fibreglass resin perhaps with some chopped fibreglass or if you like the frustration with sheets of fibreglass cloth. Using bondo to seal it and then sanding and painting is an alternative to fibreglass. If you have a 3d printer, just design it and let the machine make it. If you have a CNC machine, you can mill it from a block of aluminum. You could probably bend and weld one from sheet metal too. You could also make one out of clay, make a plaster mold or a wet sand mold and cast it with either plastic or metal or just fire the clay into pottery with a water proof glazing. A cheap way though very damaging to the environment to make fired pottery water proof would be to throw salt onto the fire while firing the clay, this method has been banned from commercial pottery for a few decades now.
An easy DIY toilet would be to buy a portable camp toilet with a trapdoor flap to the waste compartment, drill and fit an urine diversion hole lining the urine capture area with either weather stripping as the curb or fiberglass a foam or wood curb in place then cut the bottom storage unit out and fit it to a larger storage container with some kind of crank to stir up the compost to bury the fresh feces and aerate the compost. You can also just drain the solid compost compartment of the urine and count on having enough dry compost to keep the moisture down.
I don’t have the mechanical ability to make this. Can I just poop in a bucket of sawdust ( shaking it around after each poop) and dispose every week ?
Yes.That works
You could use a cat litter box too or even a middle Eastern bathroom which is just a tiled area with curbed sides with a drain and a shower hose to clean up the mess you drop on the floor. You can also just poop in the woods or on your neighbour's porch.
I'm curious about the randomness of the "Irish linen" thing.
Design feature? Entirely optional I imagine. It's certainly visually more appealing - little bit of class - but I'd be putting a few coats of waterproof spray on it. Or, thinking it through, I might use oilskin.
Skip to 7:26 to see the mechanism and skip the chatting
You should make and sell those gears, because I want some right now. Plz take my money. If not, I guess I will have to cut some by hand. Sounds time consuming
I wonder if bicycle gears would work?
@@tonidoreengranke8502 Brilliant. I'm sure they would. You could have a 10spd toilet. 👍
I imagine it could work if you trace a circle on a oiece of hardwood, thenuse Forstner bits and drill out a bunch of holes all along that line, just touching each other. Then cut the excess wood off so the larger part of the hole is left , if you know what I mean?
PS - I can be contacted via the S.O.S-Richmond Facebook page.
Jess
Robert are you feeling Good 🥴
I assume your comment @6:22 refers to somebody having a bad case of the Shits!