Greetings, I'm thinking of purchasing a Lavac head for my Catalina 30. I've seen a few on larger boats and really liked their simplicity. The reviews I've read in various sailing/cruising books have been favorable. Does anyone have any experience, positive or negative, using a Lavac that you'd care to share? Thanks, Barry
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Lavac is an excellent toilet...
Liveaboard cruising sailors love it. But they tend to be adults who seldom if ever have landlubber guests aboard...they're the only ones who use it. It may not be the best choice for coastal "weekend warriors" who often have landlubber guests and their children aboard, though...'cuz they have a enough trouble just pumping a pump sitting next to the bowl...to them, "close the lid, pump a pump that's nowhere near the bowl x times, release the vacuum" seems like the toilets on submarines they've seen in movies. They're very intimated by it. So, while the Lavac is a highly reliable durable toilet...in selecting the right toilet for YOUR boat, quality and reliability aren't the only considerations...you also have to consider who'll be using it. If you rarely if ever have guests aboard and your children (if any) are old enough to easily learn how to use it, it's an excellent choice...but if you often do have guests or have small children, it may not be the best choice for you.
Liveaboard cruising sailors love it. But they tend to be adults who seldom if ever have landlubber guests aboard...they're the only ones who use it. It may not be the best choice for coastal "weekend warriors" who often have landlubber guests and their children aboard, though...'cuz they have a enough trouble just pumping a pump sitting next to the bowl...to them, "close the lid, pump a pump that's nowhere near the bowl x times, release the vacuum" seems like the toilets on submarines they've seen in movies. They're very intimated by it. So, while the Lavac is a highly reliable durable toilet...in selecting the right toilet for YOUR boat, quality and reliability aren't the only considerations...you also have to consider who'll be using it. If you rarely if ever have guests aboard and your children (if any) are old enough to easily learn how to use it, it's an excellent choice...but if you often do have guests or have small children, it may not be the best choice for you.
Lavac and Kids
Peggie, Thanks for the quick reply. I do have young children and will perhaps have guests aboard every once in awhile.... Good points--I'll have to think more about it, I guess. I do like the idea of not having to have a macerator pump, though. I like to keep things simple and rely on electricity as little as possible.... Barry
Peggie, Thanks for the quick reply. I do have young children and will perhaps have guests aboard every once in awhile.... Good points--I'll have to think more about it, I guess. I do like the idea of not having to have a macerator pump, though. I like to keep things simple and rely on electricity as little as possible.... Barry
No reason you can't use a manual diaphragm pump
to dump your tank...that has nothing to do with which toilet you have. Whale is your best choice. As for the toilet, the Raritan PH II has been rated the best toilet under $500 for more than two decades...and it's about $100 less than the Lavac. Keep lubricated, rebuild it every 5-6 years, and it'll easily last 20 years. Also easily "swallows" flushes that choke cheaper toilets.
to dump your tank...that has nothing to do with which toilet you have. Whale is your best choice. As for the toilet, the Raritan PH II has been rated the best toilet under $500 for more than two decades...and it's about $100 less than the Lavac. Keep lubricated, rebuild it every 5-6 years, and it'll easily last 20 years. Also easily "swallows" flushes that choke cheaper toilets.
True about the manual pump
Peggy, With a conventional head (which I have right now in the boat). However, price-wise, I can get an entire new Lavac system (everything but the hoses and any Y-valves) for $369 from the U.S. distributor. That includes the manual pump and head and a few other components.... Barry
Peggy, With a conventional head (which I have right now in the boat). However, price-wise, I can get an entire new Lavac system (everything but the hoses and any Y-valves) for $369 from the U.S. distributor. That includes the manual pump and head and a few other components.... Barry
That's about the same total cost as...
A PH II and a Whale or Henderson manual pump if you know where to shop (NOT West Marine/B-US!) Boatfix.com has the PH II for $279 (household bowl, less for the standard bowl...even less for the PHC, which is the PH II pump on a compact base)...and Defender has Whale and Henderson pumps (same pump the Lavac uses) for $100 or less. I'm not trying to talk you out of the Lavac...it's an excellent toilet, just not necessarily the best choice for every boat and those who'll use it. If you think it's the right one for you, go for it.
A PH II and a Whale or Henderson manual pump if you know where to shop (NOT West Marine/B-US!) Boatfix.com has the PH II for $279 (household bowl, less for the standard bowl...even less for the PHC, which is the PH II pump on a compact base)...and Defender has Whale and Henderson pumps (same pump the Lavac uses) for $100 or less. I'm not trying to talk you out of the Lavac...it's an excellent toilet, just not necessarily the best choice for every boat and those who'll use it. If you think it's the right one for you, go for it.
One of the reasons I'm leaning toward Lavac
is that a Lavac toilet doesn't have any valves, etc., which on a normal head (at least from what I've been reading--I have no experience) seems to lead to maintenance problems. As much as I think I'd love tinkering around with my boat head all the time ;-), simplicity and ease of maintenance are big advantages for me. And, to be honest, normal marine heads (the few times I've used them on friends' boats) have always confused me. It seems that the Lavac's simple "close the lid and pump 15 times" is rather simple in comparison..... However, all that being said, you have piqued my interested in just keeping the head I have (I don't even know the brand--been too busy trying to deal with the fresh water and electrical systems, re-rigging the boat, etc.) in conjunction with another brand of manual pump. I'm sure that could save me money. Right now, the head is plumbed directly overboard (no holding tank), and, it doesn't even have a syphon loop or vent on it (and the discharge throughhull is located just forward of the intake throughhull--yuch!) So, other than keeping the head where it is, I will pretty much be starting from scratch on the whole plumbing system. Using a Henderson or Whale manual pump without the associated Lavac "vacuum" system raises another question in my mind: Lavac claims that the force the vacuum pressure in their systems produces disintegrates the solid waste as it goes through the pump, eliminating the need for a macerator pump. Would the same hold true with a conventional head and a manual pump? Thanks, Barry
is that a Lavac toilet doesn't have any valves, etc., which on a normal head (at least from what I've been reading--I have no experience) seems to lead to maintenance problems. As much as I think I'd love tinkering around with my boat head all the time ;-), simplicity and ease of maintenance are big advantages for me. And, to be honest, normal marine heads (the few times I've used them on friends' boats) have always confused me. It seems that the Lavac's simple "close the lid and pump 15 times" is rather simple in comparison..... However, all that being said, you have piqued my interested in just keeping the head I have (I don't even know the brand--been too busy trying to deal with the fresh water and electrical systems, re-rigging the boat, etc.) in conjunction with another brand of manual pump. I'm sure that could save me money. Right now, the head is plumbed directly overboard (no holding tank), and, it doesn't even have a syphon loop or vent on it (and the discharge throughhull is located just forward of the intake throughhull--yuch!) So, other than keeping the head where it is, I will pretty much be starting from scratch on the whole plumbing system. Using a Henderson or Whale manual pump without the associated Lavac "vacuum" system raises another question in my mind: Lavac claims that the force the vacuum pressure in their systems produces disintegrates the solid waste as it goes through the pump, eliminating the need for a macerator pump. Would the same hold true with a conventional head and a manual pump? Thanks, Barry
Barry, with all you have going on
why not order Peggies' book, do your other work and then read it first, ask some questions, and then apply what you've learned? One step at a time...
why not order Peggies' book, do your other work and then read it first, ask some questions, and then apply what you've learned? One step at a time...
Are you crazy?!!?!
One step at a time!? Me?! No Way! You sound like my wife! ;-) I've got to do EVERYTHING, right away! I want the perfect cruising boat NOW! ;-) Seriously, it IS rather stressing me out--my compulsiveness coming out again. The driving force is a week-long cruise we're going to be taking down to Naples in two weeks. The boat is on the hard now getting a bottom job/new cutlass bearing. That will leave about a week to get it as squared-away as possible before the trip. It's hard to know whether to work on the electrical system so my batteries don't go dead (I just learned that the PO bypassed the battery isolation switch and connected the cranking battery to the house battery bank!), or square-away the fresh water system so that we have some water, or get a holding tank so that when one of us five feels the call of nature, we can do it without getting busted by the Coast Guard (and without polluting the intracoastal waterway). Truth is, regarding the head/plumbing, I know what to do. I've been reading all kinds of stuff about heads and sanitation systems (mostly Nigel Calder's stuff) for a few months now. I've even come up with a crude system diagram. It's just that trying to make the diagram work in the actual boat is a bit intimidating to me; the hands-on stuff is not my forte. Barry
One step at a time!? Me?! No Way! You sound like my wife! ;-) I've got to do EVERYTHING, right away! I want the perfect cruising boat NOW! ;-) Seriously, it IS rather stressing me out--my compulsiveness coming out again. The driving force is a week-long cruise we're going to be taking down to Naples in two weeks. The boat is on the hard now getting a bottom job/new cutlass bearing. That will leave about a week to get it as squared-away as possible before the trip. It's hard to know whether to work on the electrical system so my batteries don't go dead (I just learned that the PO bypassed the battery isolation switch and connected the cranking battery to the house battery bank!), or square-away the fresh water system so that we have some water, or get a holding tank so that when one of us five feels the call of nature, we can do it without getting busted by the Coast Guard (and without polluting the intracoastal waterway). Truth is, regarding the head/plumbing, I know what to do. I've been reading all kinds of stuff about heads and sanitation systems (mostly Nigel Calder's stuff) for a few months now. I've even come up with a crude system diagram. It's just that trying to make the diagram work in the actual boat is a bit intimidating to me; the hands-on stuff is not my forte. Barry
If the head works...
Do the electrical now and wait till after the cruise to tackle the sanitation system. Ok...it may not smell all that good...but living with a little odor trumps no power every time. Fwiw, Nigel is the ultimate guru on just about everything...except sanitation systems. We've had a conversation or two about it.
Do the electrical now and wait till after the cruise to tackle the sanitation system. Ok...it may not smell all that good...but living with a little odor trumps no power every time. Fwiw, Nigel is the ultimate guru on just about everything...except sanitation systems. We've had a conversation or two about it.
I May Have to Wait
whether I like it or not since we've had so much rain, which is delaying my boat's bottom job. And, it's not the smell, really. It's not being able to use it when inshore (where we'll be for about a week straight). Even in the harbor, having to wake up three times during the night to walk the boys to the harbor bathrooms gets old very quickly... And we're not going to flush overboard in the harbor. I think, however, that I will order your book. There's just been to many good things said about it here to ignore it. BTW, I notice the write-up for it states: "'Get rid of Boat Odors' is the penultimate achievement of Peggie's career." "Penultimate" means second to last. Should I wait a bit until for book that sums up the 'culmination' of your career? ;-) Barry
whether I like it or not since we've had so much rain, which is delaying my boat's bottom job. And, it's not the smell, really. It's not being able to use it when inshore (where we'll be for about a week straight). Even in the harbor, having to wake up three times during the night to walk the boys to the harbor bathrooms gets old very quickly... And we're not going to flush overboard in the harbor. I think, however, that I will order your book. There's just been to many good things said about it here to ignore it.
BTW, I notice the write-up for it states: "'Get rid of Boat Odors' is the penultimate achievement of Peggie's career." "Penultimate" means second to last. Should I wait a bit until for book that sums up the 'culmination' of your career? ;-) BarryLAVAC Head
LAVAC Heads are simple and work great - when they work..! That's not to say that they aren't reliable; they are very reliable, but when they do eventually break down, bring your checkbook (and your heart pills) when you go to order parts!
LAVAC Heads are simple and work great - when they work..! That's not to say that they aren't reliable; they are very reliable, but when they do eventually break down, bring your checkbook (and your heart pills) when you go to order parts!
You might have a LONG wait.
And I have no idea whether the "ultimate" will be a book or not. So you'd better get this one.
And I have no idea whether the "ultimate" will be a book or not. So you'd better get this one.
Ordered It Today!
Should be here for my trip to Naples, so I know what my reading material will be during the trip! Looking forward to it. Barry
Should be here for my trip to Naples, so I know what my reading material will be during the trip!
Looking forward to it. Barry- Status