My OEM W-C Headmate bit the dust recently. I'd planned on replacing it with an electric model at some point, to simplify things for guests and for my wife. I decided on the Raritan Marine Elegance pressurized fresh water head that was recently top-rated by Practical Sailor. It's pricey,but only uses 3 pints of tank water for a full flush (far less in water-saver mode), eliminates sea water stink problems, and frees up a seacock that I'm now using for a washdown system. It also has a household-size bowl, but is compact enough to fit in the small head compartment on the 309 quite comfortably.
The install was pretty straightforward, and took the better part of a day. After removal of the old head (which revealed 2 sets of mounting holes from the factory - someone screwed up!), the new head was dry fit and its mounting base drilled and screwed down. The old discharge hose was still in good shape, so I reused it after shortening it by about 6 inches and adding a 1.5" elbow. I tee'd the fresh water line off the head sink's cold water line, along with a pressure-rated strainer and a PVC shutoff ball valve. I removed the old vented loop from the manual head's pump-to-bowl line (behind the access plate on the right side of the medicine cabinet), along with its hoses that ran behind the corner of the head compartment. I mounted the flush control panel above and behind the sink faucet in that corner, which allows easily routing the ethernet control cable from the flush control to the head's main control module that I mounted in the fresh water pump compartment in the main cabin under the dinette settee (this minimizes the length of the 12 V supply wiring from the main panel). The head's wiring harness runs through a hole drilled in the bulkhead, to the control module in the pump compartment. The 12 volt feed wiring (10 AWG) follows the fresh water pump wiring conduits under the floor, and then up to the main electrical panel. I used the macerator switch on the panel, which already had the proper 25 amp fuse, since my boat doesn't have a macerator.
The system looks and works great, is relatively quiet, uses little water, won't stink, and keeps the crew happy while eliminating the need for me to continually teach a head training course. Definately worth the price to me.
The install was pretty straightforward, and took the better part of a day. After removal of the old head (which revealed 2 sets of mounting holes from the factory - someone screwed up!), the new head was dry fit and its mounting base drilled and screwed down. The old discharge hose was still in good shape, so I reused it after shortening it by about 6 inches and adding a 1.5" elbow. I tee'd the fresh water line off the head sink's cold water line, along with a pressure-rated strainer and a PVC shutoff ball valve. I removed the old vented loop from the manual head's pump-to-bowl line (behind the access plate on the right side of the medicine cabinet), along with its hoses that ran behind the corner of the head compartment. I mounted the flush control panel above and behind the sink faucet in that corner, which allows easily routing the ethernet control cable from the flush control to the head's main control module that I mounted in the fresh water pump compartment in the main cabin under the dinette settee (this minimizes the length of the 12 V supply wiring from the main panel). The head's wiring harness runs through a hole drilled in the bulkhead, to the control module in the pump compartment. The 12 volt feed wiring (10 AWG) follows the fresh water pump wiring conduits under the floor, and then up to the main electrical panel. I used the macerator switch on the panel, which already had the proper 25 amp fuse, since my boat doesn't have a macerator.
The system looks and works great, is relatively quiet, uses little water, won't stink, and keeps the crew happy while eliminating the need for me to continually teach a head training course. Definately worth the price to me.
