Head Re-visited

capta · Oct 1, 2018

It's my understanding that with a porta potty you must hand carry the excrement container somewhere and dump it. I don't think a couple of gallons container of excrement will anything you will want to be traipsing up the dock with almost daily, looking for a place to dump it.
Of course, I could be wrong and you would prefer to do that than go to a pump out station or have a pump out boat come by your boat now and then.

Tally Ho · Oct 1, 2018

I have a Raritan manual on my 32-foot O’Day 322 with a ~20 gal holding tank. The head pump is very powerful (and mine is 20 years old), way better than the Jabsco I had on my previous boat.

I don’t mind pumping out as needed, but I would not want to carry a urine jug and other solid waste down the length of my dock, past all my neighbors, to the on-shore bath house.

No way.

Greg

Peggie Hall HeadMistress · Oct 1, 2018

Although they've been discussed here many times, both capta and greg are apparently unfamiliar with MSD portapotties...The "MSD" designation in the model name/number means it has fittings for a pumpout line and vent line, and is designed to be permanently installed (actually just sturdier brackets than portables, so you could still take it off the boat if you absolutely have to), which means that although it's still called a PORTApotty, you don't have to carry anything off the boat to empty it. A 5-6 gallon model holds 50-60 flushes...you'd need at least a 30 gal tank to hold that many from a manual marine toilet. No plumbing needed except a vent line and pumpout hose--so no new holes in the boat...and -0- maintenance needed except for rinsing out the tank--which you can do with a bucket while it's being pumped out. Total cost including the pumpout hose and vent line is about $200--a fraction of what you'd spend for toilet, tank and all the related plumbing needed.

Dan , an MSD portapotty can make sense on any size boat as long as the owner and crew are ok with a toilet that lacks the elegance of a marine toilet.

As for removing the holding tank, you might want to consider leaving it in place for at least one more season 'cuz it can come in very handy if it turns out you need more capacity than the MSD potty offers. In that case, it would be a simple matter to put a y-valve and macerator pump in the pumpout line.

--Peggie

Ron20324 · Oct 1, 2018

My Oday 222 had a Thetford 405 IIRC. A sign on the marina bathroom said to not dump porta-potties in the toilet. I guess too many people spilled it. It was no big deal to carry a weekend's use home to dump in my own toiilet. A plumbing shop had a 6" extender for the bath tub spigot. I could put the dumped container in the tub and flush/rinse it out. Yeah, the holding tank on the B323 is easier to deal with when the town pump-out boat comes around, but not when it spits back on you

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Ron20324 · Oct 1, 2018

danm1 said:
Guys, the MSD porta potties are plumbed for pump out. The issue is real capacity for the 5-6 gallon bottom tanks. Anyone with experience?

Read post #4.

Close Call · Oct 2, 2018

I would compare the experience of using a porta potty to that of using a very small portajohn. There is a swirling mess beneath you.

Consider a composter.

capta · Oct 2, 2018

Close Call said:
Consider a composter.

Apparently, Annapolis Harbor Disallows Composting Head Use for Long Term Stays. If this is so, then I'm sure many other places will follow suit.

RoyS · Oct 2, 2018

If you replace your marine manual pumper with a new model consider the "full size" version. Most boats come with the "compact" version which is very uncomfortable. The full size version, at least in Jabsco, is only slightly larger in all directions but provides a great improvement in comfort. In my case it fit in the same spot with no adjustments whatsoever. In the end you will at least have something to show for the efforts involved.

Charlie Jones s/v Tehani · Oct 2, 2018

I have a Thetford MSD, plumbed for pump out. Installed it at anchor in Marathon. I've been quite pleased with it. If single hand, I go 14-16 days between pump out. If double hand, make that 7-8 . A note though- it is NOT used for urine except incidentally .

I've done the entire ICW before with a regular portapotti- many places forbid emptying them in marina restrooms, likely because so, many idiots make a mess. II can only recall two places that had someplace setup to dump them.

markwbird · Oct 2, 2018

Where are you gonna put it? The space that the head occupies in an H34 is very small. I can easily imagine that a porta potty with a tank might not fit in that space. Also, at some point you may want to sell the boat. I would not buy an H34 with a porta potty.

Peggie Hall HeadMistress · Oct 2, 2018

capta said:
Apparently, Annapolis Harbor Disallows Composting Head Use for Long Term Stays. If this is so, then I'm sure many other places will follow suit.

They can't ban using 'em onboard a boat, but they can make it illegal to dispose of the "compost" in dumpsters and other trash/containers within their city limits. I read on another site that's already happened in one city/town somewhere (can't remember where and too lazy to search for it...I think it's in RI), so I'm not surprised that Annapolis has done so, or is about to. And it prob'ly isn't limited to long term stays 'cuz a boat that comes in for just a weekend would also want to get of it before they leave. Banning their ability to do that in coastal towns that offer immediate access to open sea would only be an inconvenience... but Annapolis would definitely be a bit problematic for composter users 'cuz they can't toss it overboard in the Bay either.

edit: I decided I'm not that lazy after all, so I found the post: the town that's not only banned composter waste from their dumpsters, but from their landfills too, is Seward AK.

--Peggie

Claude L.-Auger · Oct 2, 2018

Gents, FYI according to the specs, the holding tank under the dinesse settee is listed at 20 gals. Sailing singlehanded most of the time and not using it for urine extends the time between pump-outs considerably.

Peggie Hall HeadMistress · Oct 2, 2018

50-60 flushes is an accurate estimate 'cuz it needs only about a cupful of water to rinse the bowl, vs at least a quart that any marine toilet needs. How many days depends on the number of people. The average adult uses the toilet 5/24 hrs. That would average 3 gal/day/person from a marine toilet...which means 2 people using a marine toilet with your 20 gal tank would fill up in 3 days.

As for comfort...the 5-6 gal models are standard household height with household shape/size seats.

As for odor, because MSD tanks are vented, any holding tank product that eliminates odor in a holding tank will also work in an MSD tank.

Mark, I think if you check the dimension of any compact manual toilet you'll see that most of 'em actually need MORE space than than portapotty needs. And I'm sure any seller would be glad to replace an MSD portapotty with a Jabsco manual toilet as a condition of sale.
And all of you really should take a look at the spec sheets for the MSD portapotties 'cuz you're jumping to false conclusions about 'em. You can read all about the DometicSeaLand 975 here (it's a retailer's site 'cuz it provides a much better description than the Dometic site): Dometic - SeaLand 975MSD The Thetford 550P MSD is here: Thetford 550P MSD
--Peggie

On any boat that has a head big enough for it to fit, this is the ultimate self-contained toilet/tank: (again on a retailer's site because it's impossible to find on the Dometic site any more) SeaLand Traveler at Defender It's essentially a glorified MSD portapotty, but very glorified--Uses pressurized fresh water, has a gravity drop RV toilet (just step on the pedal to flush) atop a 9.5 gallon tank...just has one major drawback (other than the price)..the tank has 20-20 footprint--way too big for most sailboats.

Head Re-visited

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