loo

[k99bbb]

Has any one fitted the SOG toilet kit if so any good Also would you fit air suspension or rear spring assisters

To 2011 autotrail apache

[mildi]

Yes to the air assisters on the rear, it gave a much better ride. You can adjust it easily to what you find the most comfortable.

[arthur49]

k99bbb - 2017-08-27 12:01 PM

 

Has any one fitted the SOG toilet kit if so any good

 

Try searching the forum. SOG comes up regularly. Here's one example I came across following a search

 

http://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/SOG-II-Type-D-installation/47233/

 

..... and here's how to use the Search facility

 

http://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Code-of-Conduct-and-User-Guidelines/Forum-User-Guide/Using-the-Search-feature/5671/

[Den]

We had the SOG system fitted and it is excellent. We still use chemicals, but no odors come into the Motorhome when you slide the loo open

I've never noticed any unpleasant odor outside while it's in use.

The charcoal filter does a good job.

We purchased and had it fitted at a show and worth every penny.

Den

[starvin marvin]

A definite no to SOG, and a definite yes to spring assisters, ie MAD springs.

[Derek Uzzell]

k99bbb - 2017-08-27 12:01 PM

 

Has any one fitted the SOG toilet kit if so any good Also would you fit air suspension or rear spring assisters

To 2011 autotrail apache

 

A SOG kit for your Auto-Trial motorhome will cost around £130 and there will be an additional charge unless you DIY the installation.

 

I’m not exactly sure what your “air suspension or spring assisters” reference relates to.

 

Full rear air-suspension would mean dispensing with the existing rear leaf springs, replacing their springing function with pneumatic bellows. It would be expensive and of questionable value for money unless you had very particular requirements (like a need to lower the vehicle’s rear).

 

Semi-air rear suspension involves fitting a pair of air-bellows between the existing leaf springs and the chassis as described here

 

http://www.motorcaravanning.co.uk/shopuk/dunlop_semi_air.htm

 

The cost of a ‘kit’ will vary according to its specification and sophistication. A basic kit can currently be obtained for under £300

 

http://tinyurl.com/yd2ueyf4

 

but, once again, there will be extra costs for non-DIY installation.

 

Another type of spring assister comprises a ‘helper’ coil spring positioned between the rear leaf spring and the chassis

 

http://mad-suspension.co.uk/

 

http://www.leafspringassister.co.uk/peugeot-boxer-relay-ducato/

 

Although installation is normally very easy, unlike a semi-air system the ‘helper spring’ approach does not provide adjustability. So, if the strength of the coil springs chosen is too weak or too strong, nothing can be done to change this.

 

You really need to ask yourself why you might want to spend money on a SOG system or to modify your Apache’s rear suspension.

 

I’ve DIY-fitted a SOG system to my present 2015 Rapido motorhome and to the 2005 Hobby motorhome that preceded it, and I have not regretted the costs involved.

 

I have not fitted ‘spring assisters’ to my (three) motorhomes because I’ve never felt doing so was necessary or would provide predictable advantages. If any of those motorhomes had had limited ground clearance at the rear, or the rear end was showing signs of sagging, or the rear suspension’s springing was too soft for my liking, I would have DIY-fitted a semi-air kit based on Dunlop air-bellows units.

[Guest pelmetman]

SOG users seem to have a unpleasant reputation at the emptying point, when in a queue ;-) ........

 

 

[Derek Uzzell]

SOG systems have been discussed many times on the Out&AboutLive forums as the results of this GOOGLE-search show

 

http://tinyurl.com/ycdt2f9v

 

The solids and liquids that come out of a human’s insides and go into a motorhome’s toilet-cassette smell. And the gassy odours that emerge from a human’s bum also smell.

 

To suppress the smell of the solids/liquid mixture the traditional approach has been to ‘dose’ the cassette with smell-masking chemicals that also aid decomposition of the solid matter, but this does not address the gas-odour issue.

 

One of SOG’s advertised benefits is that toilet chemicals are unnecessary, and not using such chemicals saves money and protects the environment when the cassette is emptied. But it should be obvious that, if smell-masking chemicals are not employed, when a cassette is emptied what comes out can be very very smelly.

 

I’ve never queued at a toilet emptying point (I don’t do that sort of motorcaravanning) but I once emptied a SOG-equipped cassette in a very small WC cubicle and it was a pretty niffy experience. There is, of course, no reason not to use toilet chemicals with a SOG system if you so wish (as Den says he does) and, if you do, emptying the cassette 'in a queue’ should be no more offensive to other people’s noses than if your motorhome did not have a SOG system.

 

But where a SOG system really scores (and the reason I’m prepared to fork out over £100) is that it deals with the stinky gas-odour.

 

There are two types of SOG system, one designed to ventilate through the motorhome’s body-side and the other to ventilate through the motorhome’s floor. The former system is more prone to producing a smell outside the motorhome while the toilet is being used and the small charcoal filter through which the ventilation-fan blows can only do such much to suppress that smell. As I said in this 2013 forum discussion

 

http://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/SOG-toilet-systems-any-good-/30306/

 

my experience has been that, even when the charcoal filter is brand new, some ’toilety’ smell will be discernible at the outside vent and, if you want to prevent/minimise this, you’ll need to use chemicals in the cassette. It would also be inadvisable to ventilate a SOG system through a motorhome’s bodywork if the exterior vent will be within a safari room...

 

If it’s practicable (and it often is not) a SOG II system should be chosen. This is more efficient, with a better filter and, being designed to vent through the motorhome’s floor, should make any smelliness coming from the under-floor vent less noticeable.

[StuartO]

pelmetman - 2017-08-28 12:39 PMSOG users seem to have a unpleasant reputation at the emptying point, when in a queue ;-) ........

 

But only among the tiny minority who have a real thing about other people's smells?

 

We've had a SOG system since our current MH was new in 2006 and it has performed flawlessly.  I have never noticed a worse smell when emptying - but then I use a tiny bit of toilet fluid.  Certainly no one who has been around when I've been emptying has ever said anything or given me the death stare.  SOG certainly makes it pleasanter inside the MH than the last MH (where you did get a wiff as you opened the toilet for use) and for the user  I think it is a good investment.

 

[747]

pelmetman - 2017-08-27 9:39 PM

 

SOG users seem to have a unpleasant reputation at the emptying point, when in a queue ;-) ........

 

 

Are you sure the unpleasant reputation is for the SOG when you are in the queue? :D

[RogerC]

SOG yes.....excellent bit of kit.  Read the SOG web and you'll see it states 'not' to use chemicals as they can affect the action of the filter which might be leading to SOG users getting a bad reputation for niffs because folk still use chemicals.

 

Air suspension....I presume you mean air bag assister's......not yet fitted but will be doing so sometime not too far into the future.

[Brock]

SOGs work. I had one in my last van. You have to use the toilet quite a bit to get your costs back. Nothing prepares for that first inhale at the toilet point when you empty the cassette. It doesn't get any more pleasant but in time you learn to hold your breath.

 

There are environmental friendly toilet chemicals now and an increasing number of motorhomers swear by the cheap bio tablets from the German supermarkets. We found that with a SOG, we had to clean the bowl more frequently and add fragrances to the toilet compartment to make the place smell more like home than the bogs in the back end of nowhere. We've not bothered fitting one to the current van.

 

People who park too close to your van will undoubtedly notice you have a SOG unless you vent through the roof; people who park a safe distance away will notice it less - if at all.

 

Whatever you fit to the rear, be very clear about what you are trying to achieve. I had air-ride fitted to a previous van to improve handling. On my current van I have a top end semi air suspension system to improve the quality of the ride.

 

 

[aandy]

I'm not entirely sure what those who fit SOGs are trying to achieve but it appears from some of the comments on this thread that it is to eliminate smell from the toilet. We have been using organic fluid for many years, first something called BioMagic and more recently Elsan organic (simply because it is more widely available). I was sceptical at first, as the claims seemed too good to be true, but both have worked very well indeed. There is no smell inside the van and very little when emptying, and a two litre bottle (17 treatments with a 19 litre cassette) costs around £10. Anyone thinking of fitting a SOG just to eliminate smell might do well to give the organic stuff a try first, particularly if a little squeamish about excessive pongs when emptying.

[Derek Uzzell]

aandy - 2017-08-31 8:00 PM

 

I'm not entirely sure what those who fit SOGs are trying to achieve but it appears from some of the comments on this thread that it is to eliminate smell from the toilet...

 

It should be plain from my posting of 28 August 2017 8:00 AM above that the reason I’ve fitted a SOG system to two of my motorhomes is not to deal with the smell from what’s in the toilet cassette, but to address the smell humans produce when defecating.

 

SOG’s website explains how the system functions

 

http://www.sog-systeme.de/what-is-sog/how-it-works/

 

Air is passed through the toilet-cassette and this supposedly “guarantees optimal decomposition”. Well may be it does, but it would be naive to think that ‘solids’ entering the cassette will rapidly liquify without chemicals being used to break them down. A mixture of solids and liquids will naturally become a sludge after a few days without chemical treatment, but chemicals will speed up the process significantly. Decomposition without use of chemicals doesn’t much concern me though, although I did find that, pre-SOG, there was a real tendency to delay toilet-cassette emptying to minimise the cost of the chemical usage, whereas with SOG (and not using chemicals) there’s no financial disincentive to emptying the cassette whenever the opportunity presents itself.

 

However, it's not any no-chemicals/eco-friendliness/notional cost-savings aspects that really encourage me to fit a SOG system. As I said previously, it’s the “...huge increase in comfort thanks to the removal of odours by suction. No more toilet odours in the limited space inside your holiday vehicle!” and I would have thought that’s what most SOG-owning people find beneficial.

 

I can’t see BioMagic or any chemical introduced into a toilet-cassette combatting defecation odour and it’s simpler to fit a SOG system than insist that my motorhome’s toilet only be used by Vegans.

[Dave C]

No problem as far as I am concerned using the "proper" blue stuff in the correct dosage, and we get no unpleasant smells in the van because we have a well ventilate toilet room.

 

I wouldn't bother with a SOG.

 

 

Dave

 

[malc d]

Dave C - 2017-09-01 9:52 AM

 

No problem as far as I am concerned using the "proper" blue stuff in the correct dosage, and we get no unpleasant smells in the van because we have a well ventilate toilet room.

 

Dave

 

Having been on one or two campsites which do not accept " blue " any more - we have switched to " green " which is said to be more bio friendly.

 

I think that acceptance - or not - by sites depends on whether or not they are on main sewer systems.

 

 

[Brock]

My van is fitted with the Thetford 'Electric ventilator' which, according to the blurb, "Automatically filters smells from the waste-holding tank – odourless – to the outside of the vehicle. It removes the smell when the toilet is being used." The dealer told me it was like a SOG; Thetford told me it wasn't and I should continue to use chemicals to break up the solids. It's about £115 and noisy [supposed to be silent]. Filters are £13 and are supposed to be changed every 6 weeks if I remember rightly. It expels the odours through the floor.

 

It seems to work.

[Derek Uzzell]

It perhaps worth highlighting that Thetford’s own toilet-cassette electric ventilator product can only be fitted to a C250 or C260 toilet.

 

https://www.thetford-europe.com/product/electric-ventilator-c260/

 

As Brock says, the air/odours extracted from the toilet-cassette are expelled through a vent in the motorhome’s underside. This approach is less versatile than SOG's where kits are marketed to exhaust through body-panels, floor or roof. Thetford’s system also does not ‘suck’ automatically, the fan needs to be switched on by the toilet’s user.

 

Plenty more here:

 

http://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/SOG-Toilets/41353/