I have reviewed the forums and am interested in replacing one of my two toilets with an electric model with a minimum of cost and effort. My boat is a '92 Legend 43 and I sail in the Great Lakes so flushing will be with fresh water whether I use house water or raw water. Peggy has strongly suggested to replace a toilet with a macerator toilet and not to meerly replace the hand pump with a motor. Raritan Sea Era seems to fit the bill. My questions: with a simple water pump and accumlator tank in my potable water system, is that sufficient "water pressure" for the potable water flush system or are they looking for a more exotic pressurized system? If I were to get the raw water system, do I read it correctly that I will need to hook up a dedicated pump to pump the raw water to the toilet? Is the difference between the remote and integrated raw water pump meerly the placement of the dedicated pump? Has anyone got any experience or advise on this toilet? My existing toilets are working, OEM, and I have had to "rebuild" them both over the last couple of years. The reason for the change is to make things more comfortable for the "Admiral".
Electric toilet
- Thread starter seathumper
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Existing fresh water pump is fine for SeaEra
As for your other questions... "If I were to get the raw water system, do I read it correctly that I will need to hook up a dedicated pump to pump the raw water to the toilet?" No...the integral sea water pump version of the toilet has an intake pump in the toilet that pulls the flush water to the toilet. "Is the difference between the remote and integrated raw water pump meerly the placement of the dedicated pump?" No...it replaces the integral intake pump with one that's essentially the same as a washdown pump...it both pulls water in and pushes it to the toilet. Unless there's a special reason why you'd need a remote flushwater intake pump instead of the integral intake pump, I would not go with that option...it adds quite a bit to the cost the toilet unnecessarily and also nearly doubles the power consumption. If you have the fresh water to spare, the pressurized flush water version is your best choice--MUCH quieter, consumes about 40% less power, and 1/3 less flush water.
As for your other questions... "If I were to get the raw water system, do I read it correctly that I will need to hook up a dedicated pump to pump the raw water to the toilet?" No...the integral sea water pump version of the toilet has an intake pump in the toilet that pulls the flush water to the toilet. "Is the difference between the remote and integrated raw water pump meerly the placement of the dedicated pump?" No...it replaces the integral intake pump with one that's essentially the same as a washdown pump...it both pulls water in and pushes it to the toilet. Unless there's a special reason why you'd need a remote flushwater intake pump instead of the integral intake pump, I would not go with that option...it adds quite a bit to the cost the toilet unnecessarily and also nearly doubles the power consumption. If you have the fresh water to spare, the pressurized flush water version is your best choice--MUCH quieter, consumes about 40% less power, and 1/3 less flush water.
Unintended consequence
I did just what you are planning on our 40.5 - replace the aft manual with a Raritan SeaEra. No need for a dedicated pump as one comes with the fresh water model. There is however one unintended consequence I didn't consider before going this route. Hopefully you are smarter than me but just in case - I used my aft tank (approx 40 gallon capacity) as the flush water source. What I found is that if/when we run that tank dry, the head is useless as we have no (present) way to run water from the other tanks into it. Of course by this time the holding tank is full so that could be considered a plus if you have no way to monitor the holding tank level Don
I did just what you are planning on our 40.5 - replace the aft manual with a Raritan SeaEra. No need for a dedicated pump as one comes with the fresh water model. There is however one unintended consequence I didn't consider before going this route. Hopefully you are smarter than me but just in case - I used my aft tank (approx 40 gallon capacity) as the flush water source. What I found is that if/when we run that tank dry, the head is useless as we have no (present) way to run water from the other tanks into it. Of course by this time the holding tank is full so that could be considered a plus if you have no way to monitor the holding tank level Don
pressure system
Thanks Don, but I thought that the fresh water toilet used the pressure water from your potable system. I had intended to run a line from the sink? Have I missed something? I thought that the raw water model with the intregal pump is the one that needed a dedicated source of water. So far I have spent only time. Art
Thanks Don, but I thought that the fresh water toilet used the pressure water from your potable system. I had intended to run a line from the sink? Have I missed something? I thought that the raw water model with the intregal pump is the one that needed a dedicated source of water. So far I have spent only time. Art
My bad
I am guilty of narrow thinking. You're okay - my thought process doesn't include taking fresh water from outside the boat like you can in Lake Mich...
I am guilty of narrow thinking. You're okay - my thought process doesn't include taking fresh water from outside the boat like you can in Lake Mich...
Now y'all have me confused!
A toilet designed to use pressurized flush water draws it from the onboard fresh water supply. A toilet designed to flush with "raw" (lake, river, sea) water does not need a dedicated flush water source. Apparently Don's boat has two water tanks...two separate onboard fresh water systems. He connected his toilet--one designed to use pressurized flush water--to the system that pulls from the smaller tank, which holds only 40 gallons...and the extra demand sometimes causes him to run out of water in that tank. If I've got that part right, he was advising you to take note of that if you also have two separate fresh water systems. However, limitations on the max length of the flush water hose may not give you any choice but to tap into the smaller system...or go with the raw water version instead of the pressurized flush water version of the toilet.
A toilet designed to use pressurized flush water draws it from the onboard fresh water supply. A toilet designed to flush with "raw" (lake, river, sea) water does not need a dedicated flush water source. Apparently Don's boat has two water tanks...two separate onboard fresh water systems. He connected his toilet--one designed to use pressurized flush water--to the system that pulls from the smaller tank, which holds only 40 gallons...and the extra demand sometimes causes him to run out of water in that tank. If I've got that part right, he was advising you to take note of that if you also have two separate fresh water systems. However, limitations on the max length of the flush water hose may not give you any choice but to tap into the smaller system...or go with the raw water version instead of the pressurized flush water version of the toilet.
As I understand it
As I understand it...my boat, like Don's, has two fresh water tanks; a small one and a large one. Don has isolated his small tank to provide flush water, only, and has a toilet that behaves like a raw water flush toilet with an auxiliary pump, either internal or remote, that provides the flush water. Only, rather than pulling water from the sea/lake/river he draws it from the small fresh water tank. My system has both tanks feeding into a single fresh water pressure pump and I select the tank by opening or closing valves located in the lines just before the pump: I can draw off either tank or both. I usually draw off of the smaller and if it runs out, I switch over to the larger. The water then goes through an accumulator and out to the hot water tank and the various faucets. My intention is to splice into the cold water line in the aft head, either at the sink or the shower, whichever is more accessible, and use the pressure system toilet rather than the raw water flush model. Does this make sense? Art
As I understand it...my boat, like Don's, has two fresh water tanks; a small one and a large one. Don has isolated his small tank to provide flush water, only, and has a toilet that behaves like a raw water flush toilet with an auxiliary pump, either internal or remote, that provides the flush water. Only, rather than pulling water from the sea/lake/river he draws it from the small fresh water tank. My system has both tanks feeding into a single fresh water pressure pump and I select the tank by opening or closing valves located in the lines just before the pump: I can draw off either tank or both. I usually draw off of the smaller and if it runs out, I switch over to the larger. The water then goes through an accumulator and out to the hot water tank and the various faucets. My intention is to splice into the cold water line in the aft head, either at the sink or the shower, whichever is more accessible, and use the pressure system toilet rather than the raw water flush model. Does this make sense? Art
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