Going electric. Jabsco or Raritan?

Steve Dion · Mar 2, 2009

Check out the Raritan SeaEra. They also have a new one and I have no idea on how well it work, so I cannot give you an opinion.

Our SeaEra works great. If you move the pump handle on the opposite side, your wife may not find the sanitary issue a problem.

nonlinear · Mar 2, 2009

I use the Jabsco

I have used the Jabsco Electric replacement.. also know as the Jackhammer.. Yes, it is loud.. and works great as long as you have 12 or more volts.. I killed one by using it when the house battery's were below 12 volts.. It uses 20 plus amps.. But the Admiral likes it so we have one.

Auspicious · Mar 2, 2009

I have a Jabsco electric - very happy with it.

The easy answer - sit down when you go.

sailingdog · Mar 2, 2009

I wouldn't recommend using an electric head on a boat that only has one head. If you have a problem with it on a longer cruise, you're likely to end up with out a usable head for the duration. Manual heads, like the Lavac or Raritan PHII/PHC are a far better idea...If you only daysail and weekend, go for it.

Steve Dion · Mar 2, 2009

We have been using our Raritan SeaEra for almost 3 years now. It has been very reliable. Much better than any Jabsco manual toilet that I have had. My main concern would be the macerator actually failing. This issue can be corrected by having a spare macerator on board.

I will tell you that the raw water flush units are noisey. Peggie indicates that the fresh water unit are much quieter. We have had some guests (females) that have put certain item down the units that would have been a disaster in a manual unit. If the macerator does not grind it, it will not flush (that is good and bad). A pair of LONG needle nose pliers is a good assistant in removing these items.

In most manual toilets these type of items may mean that you need to disassemble everything from the toilet to the tank to un-block the stopage.

PS: You may ask your wife to put a sign up to wipe the handle with a saniwipe after washing their hands. This would apply to the button or the handle. <g>

Jerry Clark H356 SV Persi · Mar 2, 2009

Raritan Sea Era

I've used the Sea Era for 4 seasons and have not had one minute of maintenance with it. It

Jerry Clark H356 SV Persi · Mar 2, 2009

I've used the Sea Era for 4 seasons (average 75 days per season) and have not had one minute of maintenance with it. It only makes noise for the few seconds you flush it and outside the head, it is not very noticeable on our 356. It is a tough unit and I would highly recommend it.

Don S/V ILLusion · Mar 2, 2009

From what I understand, the Jabsco is more noisy than the equivalent Raritan and believe it draws more current as well. Also, on our boat, one head is manual; the other is electric - I've replaced the Jabsco manual three times (I'm done) within the lifetime of my Raritan which has proven totally reliable which I think wouldl flush dry wall.

Peggie Hall HeadMistress · Mar 2, 2009

Welll...if you want my opinion...

Go with the Raritan SeaEra...it's the most durable reliable electric toilet in its class...the only one I've never been asked to trouble shoot since the day it came on the market. And it's available as a complete toilet OR a "conversion" (everything but the bowl, seat and lid) in both sea water and pressurized flush versions.

Sailingdog, there's really no reason to avoid an electric toilet on a boat with only one head...it'll chew up most things that would clog a manual toilet...easier to unclog if it doesnt'..most only draw 10-16 amps (except for the Jabsco "conversion" that draws 24, makes enough noise to wake the dead and has the shortest trouble free lifespan of any toilet except other Jabsco toilets)...and in the event of a power failure that leaves you unable to flush it, you'd have other problems that would make that the least of your worries--no nav lights, nav equipment, communications equipment...but you WOULD still have a bucket!

sailingdog · Mar 3, 2009

Thanks for posting this... and I do get the strange feeling you don't like the Jabsco heads for some reason.

Peggie Hall-HeadMistress said:
Go with the Raritan SeaEra...it's the most durable reliable electric toilet in its class...the only one I've never been asked to trouble shoot since the day it came on the market. And it's available as a complete toilet OR a "conversion" (everything but the bowl, seat and lid) in both sea water and pressurized flush versions.

Sailingdog, there's really no reason to avoid an electric toilet on a boat with only one head...it'll chew up most things that would clog a manual toilet...easier to unclog if it doesnt'..most only draw 10-16 amps (except for the Jabsco "conversion" that draws 24, makes enough noise to wake the dead and has the shortest trouble free lifespan of any toilet except other Jabsco toilets)...and in the event of a power failure that leaves you unable to flush it, you'd have other problems that would make that the least of your worries--no nav lights, nav equipment, communications equipment...but you WOULD still have a bucket!

Maine Sail · Mar 3, 2009

Had a

We had a Jabsco electric head on our single screw power boat. It basically sucked, actually, didn't suck, and would clog up on a Sheryl Crow sized piece of toilet paper (one square).

This Jabsco head was perhaps the single worst piece of boating gear I have ever owned or at the least very, very near the top of the junk pile.

Please for your own sanity DO NOT buy the Jabsco! I do tend to agree with dog about the Raritan PHII manual head as the pump handle is removable so it's not in the "line of sight". Of course Peggy is correct about the Raritan Sea Era and it is one of the good electric heads un-like the Jabsco..

Peggie Hall HeadMistress · Mar 3, 2009

It's not a matter of like or don't like...

It's what 20+ years of experience with just about every toilet ever made that's shown me which are durable, reliable and trouble-free and which ones aren't. Fwiw, I wouldn't recommend the Raritan PHE II (electric version of the PH II) either.

Auspicious · Mar 3, 2009

My Jabsco Quiet-Flush II 37245-1092 has been incredibly reliable and eaten just about everything fed to it. The one clog--which might well have clogged a home toilet--was very easily and quickly cleared. As Peggie noted, if you don't have power to run the toilet you have a whole lot of other problems. I don't doubt that there are other, better electric toilets but in the manual vs. electric balance I'll be using electric toilets.

Mike B · Mar 3, 2009

Why is there a difference in sound levels when you plumb a Jabsco electric to fresh vs raw water flush? The pump has to run either way, so what difference does where the H2O comes from?

Peggie Hall HeadMistress · Mar 3, 2009

All toilets designed to use pressurized water are quieter because...

Contrary to what most people think, it's not the discharge pump or macerator that makes 90% of the noise in a sea water electric toilet, it's the raw water INTAKE pump...discharge pumps and macerators--and btw, a macerator is just a "blender" blade ahead of the discharge impeller, nothing more--are actually very quiet, 'cuz the discharge pump doesn't have to work nearly as hard to push the flush out as the intake pump has to work to pull flush water in.

Electric toilets designed to use pressurized flush water don't have an intake pump...they have a solenoid valve instead that only has to open to allow flush water to flow into the head instead of pulling it in with an impeller pump or diaphragm pump. No intake pump, no noise from it.

sailingdog · Mar 3, 2009

Good to know...

Peggie Hall-HeadMistress said:
Contrary to what most people think, it's not the discharge pump or macerator that makes 90% of the noise in a sea water electric toilet, it's the raw water INTAKE pump...discharge pumps and macerators--and btw, a macerator is just a "blender" blade ahead of the discharge impeller, nothing more--are actually very quiet, 'cuz the discharge pump doesn't have to work nearly as hard to push the flush out as the intake pump has to work to pull flush water in.

Electric toilets designed to use pressurized flush water don't have an intake pump...they have a solenoid valve instead that only has to open to allow flush water to flow into the head instead of pulling it in with an impeller pump or diaphragm pump. No intake pump, no noise from it.

Mike B · Mar 3, 2009

Re: All toilets designed to use pressurized water are quieter because...

Peggy, thanks for the answer, I didn't realize they used pressurized water. Can I safely assume that the solenoid valve is designed to prevent any backflow into the fresh water supply? I'll also assume it's possible to plumb them so that once connected to pressurized water is it possible to draw in raw water as on option. We have a new boat equipped with two Jabsco Quiet Flush toilets but they're plumbed for sea water not fresh. Quiet they're not. If possible and not too much of a hassle I'll convert them to fresh water supply. On the plus side would be the quieter operation and less odor from sea water in the lines. Negatives would be greater water consumption.

Steve Dion · Mar 3, 2009

Mike: It is doubtful that you could use raw water to flush one of these toilets. The thing that makes these electric toilets noisy is the raw water pump. It works in conjunction with the macerator.

If you run out of fresh water you would need to get a bucket to flush the toi-toi!

Peggie Hall HeadMistress · Mar 3, 2009

Unfortunately no...you can't.

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.