can we use auto antifreeze in the toilet?

Message Share Topic Printable Version Google Delicious Digg StumbleUpon Windows Live Yahoo Bookmarks reddit Facebook MySpace Newsvine Furl Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic

   Recently, on a trip we ran out of trailer antifreeze in our winterized r-pod and used car stuff instead to flush the toilet.
Is this harmful in anyway? I don't see how or why, but ....

The most important harm might be to the toilet valve's material.

Author	Message Share Topic Printable Version Google Delicious Digg StumbleUpon Windows Live Yahoo Bookmarks reddit Facebook MySpace Newsvine Furl Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic
Happy Tripping Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 27 May 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 473	Topic: can we use auto antifreeze in the toilet? Posted: 31 Dec 2018 at 7:22am
	Recently, on a trip we ran out of trailer antifreeze in our winterized r-pod and used car stuff instead to flush the toilet. Is this harmful in anyway? I don't see how or why, but .... The most important harm might be to the toilet valve's material.

furpod Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group - pHp Joined: 25 Jul 2011 Location: Central KY Online Status: Offline Posts: 6128	Posted: 31 Dec 2018 at 8:21am
	I don't think it will be a problem.. As far as the camper and tanks are concerned.. There are some issues with dumping it.. It isn't supposed to go into municipal or septic waste systems...

crankster78 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 08 May 2018 Location: Minn Online Status: Offline Posts: 163	Posted: 31 Dec 2018 at 9:25am
	Greetings It's very harmful to pets and other small creatures. Dulute it with water don't dump it on the ground. Crankster78 R-179
	Crankster 78 R-179 2015

GlueGuy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 15 May 2017 Location: N. California Online Status: Offline Posts: 2654	Posted: 31 Dec 2018 at 10:12am
	Just use non-toxic antifreeze. That's usually propylene glycol. Like this.
	bp 2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost

Happy Tripping Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 27 May 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 473	Posted: 01 Jan 2019 at 7:26am
	Thank for your responses. From what I can tell - regular antifreeze will have no effect on the black tank, far from inhibiting bacteria and their degradation of 'stuff', at low concentrations bacteria love antifreeze. https://dowac.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5207 Dumping the black tank with the car antifreeze in it is not a problem because of the low concentration of the car antifreeze in the black tank. I'm still worried about damage to the the toilet valves if the car antifreeze sits there for a prolonged time, so I will continue to use the car antifreeze to flush the toilet, but after each trip, will use the pink stuff to keep the toilet seals wet. If any of this is wrong, I am confident that someone here will let me know .

Tars Tarkas Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 14 Jan 2013 Location: Near Nashville Online Status: Offline Posts: 1447	Posted: 01 Jan 2019 at 7:58am
	Using it once in an "emergency" is one thing, but continuing to use it after you've had the opportunity to get some regular non-toxic RV antifreeze seems a bit much. The RV stuff is a fraction of the cost of cooling system antifreeze too. TT
	2010 176 FJ Cruiser

StephenH Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6326	Posted: 01 Jan 2019 at 8:48am
	RV antifreeze also does not contain the additional anti-corrosion chemicals needed to prevent corrosion in the 200+ degree F environment of the engine and car radiator. I agree that a one-time use in a pinch might be acceptable, but not on a regular basis. Then it turns into a case of Failure to Plan is Planning to Fail. Every Walmart that I have been in carries RV antifreeze so unless you are dry camping in the middle of nowhere, you should be able to find and purchase RV antifreeze to use.
	StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS

mcarter Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 07 Apr 2016 Location: Greenbrier, TN Online Status: Offline Posts: 3419	Posted: 01 Jan 2019 at 8:56am
	I think you'd have to see some extended, really cold temps to freeze a black tank. I would never use toxic anti-freeze unless I had a way to recover it. Not a habit you want to get into.
	Mike Carter 2015 178 " I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability."

jato Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Feb 2012 Location: Kewadin, MI Online Status: Offline Posts: 3255	Posted: 01 Jan 2019 at 9:57am
	+1 Good idea to recycle the antifreeze, even the rv pink stuff. Even though we have easy access for recycling antifreeze, I still use just 16 oz. each year to winterize our 177.
	God's pod '11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free."

Happy Tripping Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 27 May 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 473	Posted: 01 Jan 2019 at 10:27am
	With all due contempt to California, I think that there is an unreasonable 'eek' factor at work here seen too often in the way that state reacts to minimal or even imaginary hazards. Car antifreeze is definitely poisonous to mammals because of the way we metabolize it. I don't intend to drink the contents of our black tank. I have already shown that in low concentrations, it's actually beneficial for bacteria. At low concentrations, it also has no significant harm to plants. So what's the problem? The key of course is 'at low concentrations'. When the car antifreeze is used up I'll go back to routine use of the pink stuff, anyway.