Going electric. Jabsco or Raritan?

[Mike B]

Re: Unfortunately no...you can't.

Thanks Peggy, I'll check with the dealer. While we have possession we haven't taken the official delivery on the boat yet so I'll add the toilets to my list of questions.

 

[Mike B]

Steve thanks for the feedback. Apparently Jabsco's opinion of "quiet" and mine are a bit different

 

[LADYLOVE]

Head With Dual Water Inlet (raw & Fresh)??

Thanks Peggy, I'll check with the dealer. While we have possession we haven't taken the official delivery on the boat yet so I'll add the toilets to my list of questions.

Hey Mike. What was the response regarding the use of (both) raw and fresh water inlet on a single head? Note your message on 3/3/2009 #768

William Love (currently a motorboat owner) You can email me at
LOVEBOX2007@GMAIL.COM

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

You'll find my answer near the end of the first page of posts to this thread

 

[C'est La Vie]

Love the SeaEra, but.....

I installed my SeaEra last year and love it. It is plumbed to sea water, thus a bit noisy. The downside is that there is no dry flush mode, thus I notice that the holding tank tends to fill a bit quicker than the PHII manual that we have in the other head.

Toilets designed to use onboard fresh water need pressurized water...they don't work unless the fresh water pump is on to pressurize the system.

Yes, you can assume that the necessary siphon breaks and backflow preventers are installed in toilets designed to use pressurized flush water.

But as for whether toilets designed to use pressurized flush water can also be plumbed to use sea water, the answer is yes AND no. Some can, with the addition of a remote sea water intake pump, but not all. It requires a bit of rewiring and replumbing to make a toilet an "either or." Check with the mfr to find out if that's an option for your toilet. However, it might be less expensive to replace the toilets with ones designed to use pressurized flush water. If the boat is new, talk to your dealer to see if he'll swap 'em out for a lot less than just tossing and replacing.

Toilets that use pressurized flush water actually use about 20% less flush water than raw water toilets. So if you do swap 'em out, you'll use more of your fresh water, but your holding tank won't fill up quite as fast. And if you need to conserve your fresh water, a bucketful of sea water works.

It's definitely NOT possible to connect a toilet designed to use sea water to the onboard fresh water system...that cannot be done without damage to the toilet, contamination of the fresh water supply or both.

 

[Head Master18695]

SeaEra

SeaEra models are available that permit dry flushing, but you can't do it if you have the model with the integral sea water pump. You need the model with the remotely mounted sea water pump. That way each pump can be controlled independently of the other one, and you can run the discharge pump only. It won't however, pump the bowl contents six feet down the line, like can be done with a manual toilet.

 

[Guest]

Electric toilets

As I have stated a number of times on this site, our 1991 model boat came equipped with two Jabsco PAR raw water electric toilets. Since we purchased the boat in 2002 and cruised her several thousand miles, and at times two month extended cruises each season, these original toilets have always worked, never clogged and have been very reliable.

We did have one instance when our visiting granddaughter, against our warnings, tried to flush a wet wipe. The macerator did not like it, but did eventually chew up and send the contents to the holding tank.

Granted, these are older model toilets, and perhaps newer models are not as reliable. BUT, I high highly attest to the quality and reliability of our Jabsco PAR toilets. If some day I need to replace these units, I'll likely go with Jabsco.

Terry Cox

 

[Oldhokie64]

New to sailing but I changed out 4 older units in our 52 Defever for Vacuflush units. Four through hulls were eliminated from the sea chest and I never had a leak or any problem. I used 1.25" pvc schedle 40 conduit with the long sweeps, streights and flex pipe rather than normal NSF plumbing where ever possible, did all the work myself. With a Vacuflush, you use so little fresh flush water that you holding tank can hold perhaps ten times as many flushes. Urine only requires enough water to cleanse the bowl, you don't even need to turn on the pump. If you go with a single toilet, they make a modular unit that cuts down on the plumbing. Put an on-of switch by the unit so that you do not need to run the pump 24/7. It will pump up in just a few seconds and you only need it for major jobs as long as gravity is with you.

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

What you need to know about VacuFlush

New to sailing but I changed out 4 older units in our 52 Defever for Vacuflush units. With a Vacuflush, you use so little fresh flush water that you holding tank can hold perhaps ten times as many flushes. Urine only requires enough water to cleanse the bowl, you don't even need to turn on the pump. If you go with a single toilet, they make a modular unit that cuts down on the plumbing. Put an on-of switch by the unit so that you do not need to run the pump 24/7. It will pump up in just a few seconds and you only need it for major jobs as long as gravity is with you.

The accumulated suction only pulls bowl contents as far as the vacuum pump...the pump pushes it the rest of way while it simultaneously re-establishes vacuum in the system. So if you don't run the pump after urine only, it's not gonna get past the pump until you do run it. As for how long to run the pump...the vacuum switch has a built in gauge that automatically turns the pump off when the correct level of vacuum has been achieved...which, if the system is installed correctly, should also be about the same amount of time needed to push the flush from the pump to its destination (tank, thru-hull or treatment device).

And as for water...SeaLand's claim that the V/Flush can use "as little as" 1 pint of flush water is VERY carefully worded. If only urine is flushed...no water added to the bowl first, no TP either...then yes, you CAN get away with that little, at least for a few flushes. But if you do much of that, unless you want odor, at least once a day you need to run at least half a bowl of clean water through it to rinse out the system. It's also advisable to add at least half a bowl of water ahead of solids or any TP (iow, every time a female uses the toilet)...that's a quart or more. It's also essential to leave the pedal down for at least 7-10 seconds after the bowl is empty to rinse out the pump and duckbills--to prevent a buildup in the pump or bits of waste or TP from becoming stuck in a duckbill, creating one of those pesky air leaks that causes the pump to cycle for no reason...at least another quart. And if you don't want permeated hoses, it's a very good idea--last thing before the boat will sit (or at least once a week if you're living aboard)--to fill the bowl to the rim with clean water and flush it through to thoroughly rinse out the vacuum tank, hoses and pump...'cuz suction splatters waste all over 'em and the flush water flow isn't sufficient to completely fill the hoses. So, averaged out over a week, the VacuFlush actually NEEDS about the same amount of flush water that most other pressurized flush water toilets need: about .5 gal. If you already have a VacuFlush and you're using much less than that, you're asking for problems.

Btw...I had V/Flush toilets on my last two boats and was also a dealer for nearly 10 years...so I'm INTIMATELY acquainted with 'em...what keeps 'em working trouble-free and what doesn't.