New head recommendation

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

There's a simple solution to at least one of your problems

You said, "And while the Lavac is extraordinarily difficult to clog (I never have), it does a relatively bad job of cleaning it's bowl -- requiring multiple flushes...poking with the toilet brush...etc..."

The simple solution applies to ALL toilets, not just the Lavac: add about 1/3 bowl--a couple pints (here we go again! :dance of water to the bowl ahead of solids. Some toilets (mostly only the pricy "thrones") have separate flush water/discharge funtions that allow the user to add flush water to the bowl ahead use--the Raritan Elegance has an optional flush button pad that does....but most manual and electric toilets don't, which requries using a cup and water from the sink. Or you can keep a gallon milk jug in the head...pour in a couple of quarts.

It's such a simple solution and so obvious (at least to me) that I've never understood why doesn't ever seem to occur to anyone.

As for the rest of your comments, you only confirm my experience: the Lavac is a great choice for crusing liveaboard adults who seldom have landlubber guests, but not the best choice for most "weekend warriors."

 

[Denpaq]

Raritan SeaEra?

If you want to "upgrade" to electric, the Raritan SeaEra would be your best choice.

I've been reading your book and have decided that I need to upgrade my existing manual Jabsco toilet. Based on what I am understanding, the fresh-water, macerating toilets use the least amount of water to flush, therefore I'm researching upgrading to an electric, macerating, pressurized system. I'm a liveaboard with 150-gal water tank capacity and a 35-gal holding tank.

I've been looking at the Raritan site and I don't see a SeaEra head available. There is however an Atlantes head available that looks pretty nice. I particularly like the A6 model.

Can you give me your opinion of that system? And do you think it will be difficult to retrofit?

Thanks,
Denise

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

You couldn't find the SeaEra on the Raritan site???

I dunno how you could miss it! That is...unless you somehow managed to stumble onto the page that lists all the discontinued obsolete toilets instead of the current toilets...which took some real effort! That's the only way you could have found the A6 version of the Atlantes 'cuz all the A series Atlantes were discontinued several years ago.

All the Raritan toilets currently in production are here: http://www.raritaneng.com/products/toilets/index.html I don't think the Atlantes is the best choice for your boat...it weighs more than 75 lbs and is 19" front to back. The SeaEra is an excellent choice...the next step up is the Elegance, but even it may be a bit of a stretch to fit in the head on a 27' boat.

 

[Denpaq]

I dunno how you could miss it! That is...unless you somehow managed to stumble onto the page that lists all the discontinued obsolete toilets instead of the current toilets...which took some real effort!

Yes, that's where I ended up, don't know why. Just my luck. I see all the current Raritan models now, but found some other posts here about the Elegance and have been reading those.

Although I do have a 27' sailboat, I'm actually living on a 33' trawler. There's plenty of room in the head for either the SeaEra or the Elegance. I'm now leaning toward the Elegance.

Let me add that the server for this site is very unreliable, and I more often than not can't get back in to read and research all the great stuff you have here!

Thanks,
Denise

 

[ktm500mx]

baby blake bar none.
later mike

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Baby Blake is indeed the best...

Worth every penny of its approx. $3000 price. However, it's a manual toilet and she wants electric.

 

[PKFK]

Finally Narrowed Down - One more question -

Hi again - I *think* I have the head replacement narrowed down - 1 last question before I order.

I am looking at this:
http://shop.sailboatowners.com/detail.htm?fno=400&group=1357&cat=1002

and will be replacing a 5 year old Jabsco Compact Manual Head (the one with the grey pump handle).

Since I am keeping the Jabsco Compact bowl, I understand from the SBO description that either if the LBA's will work.

What I cannot determine is is one or the other of these LBA's will best fit the existing bolt pattern (to the floor - I know the bowl bolts are identical !) from my Jabsco compact. Has anyone actually replaced a Jabsco Compact with the LBA and can recommend the PH II or PHC ??

Based on price I would go PHC LBA - but is there anything I am missing here that would make the PH II LBA better ? (I would rather keep the 70 bucks difference, but not if it introduces installation migraines).

Can Peggy (or other experts !) please comment ?

Thank-you !

Paul

 

[Stu Jackson]

Those bolt holes in the deck

shouldn't be your make-or-break, because they're just lag bolts. In most cases the new head will cover most of the holes, then just drill new holes. Your choice to fill the old ones. Doesn't answer your other question, I know...

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

If you're happy with the smaller compact bowl...

There's no reason to spend the additional $70 for the full size PH II...'cuz ..both toilets use the same pump...the ONLY difference between the PHC and PHII is the base--which doesn't have enough room for the larger "household" bowl--and the length of the pump handle.

The PHC uses the Compact II base...so you can see exactly where the mounting bolts are located if you look at the Compact II base in the exploded drawing on the Raritan site: http://www.raritaneng.com/pdf_files/compact_II/L223compactIIv0502.pdf and compare it to the mounting bolt locations on your Jabsco.

It's unlikely that more than two of the existing holes will be a match for the Raritan...but it's no big deal to fill 'em and drill new ones.

A couple of things:

Before you place the order, note whether you need a straight discharge fitting or a 90...you can specify either.

Unless there's a lot of slack in your head intake line, you'll prob'ly need a longer one...'cuz the inlet fitting is on the FRONT on the PH pump.

 

[PKFK]

I was planning on replacing the intake home with Trident 148 based on your previous recommendation, and was going to order longer than required "just in case" - but thanks for the heads-up on the front location of the intake hose.

In all the diagrams I saw, the outlet looks like 90 degrees, so I didn't even consider that a straight was available.....I think my existing one is a 90 degree (down) on the Jabsco, so I will stay with that - the output hose to the tank runs down so keeping with a 90 degree down outlet avoids me having to deal with double bend in my output hose hose (ie: it can come straight out of the head floor and onto the fitting which will be pointed down.

Thanks again for your info and advise - I'd rather be asking questions *before* starting the job, rather than asking how to fix it after I start !.

Paul

 

[Alan]

Just my thoughts here.......the other day I discovered the flange fitting on the pump of the 16 year old "Par" now Jabsco toilet had broken. A quick check and found that West was selling a Jabsco replacement unit for $119.99. On top of that there is a $20.00 rebate from Jabsco leaving a net cost of about $100.
My thinking here is 'I've used this old unit for 16 years with never any problem'...why then do I need to spend 3 to 10 times as much money to "do my business??"

Am I missing something here???????

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Alan, what you're missing is...

Jabsco ain't makin 'em like they used to.

The toilets they made 15-20 years ago were good value for the money...some are still in service, though pretty much worn out by now.

But it's rare for any Jabsco toilet made in the last 10 years to give even two years of trouble-free service...in fact, not unusual for a failure to occur while it's still under warranty. It's not about best value for lowest price any more, it's just about making the cheapest piece of equipment. It's become a "disposable" toilet--cheaper to replace than it is to fix--because there's a lot more profit in complete toilets than there is in parts. And for many people, "preventive maintenance" is a new pump every year.

There are excptions...so I'm sure we can count on seeing at least one response to this from someone saying their Jabsco is 5-6 years old and hasn't given 'em any problems. But they ARE exceptions.

If you want a reliable toilet, you can spend $100 or so every year or two for the next 20 years--or you might get lucky beat the odds...or you can spend about $300 (you don't have to spend any more than that) just once for a toilet you can count on to give you another 20 years of trouble-free reliable service.

 

[Alan]

Thanks Peggie

I appreciate the heads up. I'm gonna return the Jabsco in favor of the Raritan on your say so. Amazon carries it for $251.00 and West will price match.
I've done a great deal of sailing but have limited knowledge in this area because I've never had any issues with the head before this.

Thanks again

 

[PKFK]

Alan - watch the model numbers !!

The $251 head on Amazon is a Compact II - this unit does not have the same pump mechanisim as the PH-II or the PHC.

Most of the recommendations I have seen for Raritan Manual heads are for the PH-II or PHC models (which share the same pump). The Compact II has a different pump mechanisim.

Peggie may be able to give an expert opinion, but I thought I would share that clarification with you since I am in the midst of this myself. (I just ordered a tank, hoses, and PHC LBA conversion from the SBO store myself so this is all fairly fresh in my head).

Paul