converting fresh water flush to lake?

[TitanTn]

Originally Posted by rwidman

I sort of asked that in post #9. I assumed the head was a proper fresh water head because he said his head used fresh water.

Sorry if I confused you, or myself. I may be using slightly different verbiage because I was trying to make a distinction that my "fresh" water is actually fresh, and not salt water. Anyway - thanks for your help.

[peghall]

Your toilet isn't original...SeaRay used VacuFlush exclusively in the '80s and may still do so. It's a Wilcox-Crittenden Newport, the only electric toilet W-C ever made. Yours has Thetford's name on it because Thetford bought W-C...then discontinued the entire W-C product line. The Newport was never available in anything but a sea water model. So it never should have been connected to the fresh water system and can easily be turned back into a sea water toilet.

That said, it has to be at least 15 years old...never was a very good toilet. Rebuild kits and some parts are available...just google Wilcox-Crittenden Newport to find sources for 'em. You'll also come across a number of posts detailing owner problems with it.

So IMO, the smartest thing you can do is replace it with current model sea water toilet. Going with a "conversion" will allow you to reuse your existing bowl seat and lid. The pick of the litter is a Raritan SeaEra Raritan SeaEra Conversion Promo Sheet Practical Sailor rated it "best budget buy" in a macerating toilet comparison a few years ago. Raritan is also the only electric macerating toilet mfr who still mfrs the US.

Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein
http://www.amazon.com/New-Get-Rid-Bo...dp/1892399784/

[TitanTn]

Wow Peggie! Thanks so much for that information and recommendation. It's nice to know now exactly what I have and what it's "supposed" to be.

I will likely take your advice at some point, but since my current head is working fine and doesn't need a rebuild, I'm going to run it a little while longer. Too many other things I'm currently updating. But when it does need a rebuild, I'm not going to waste any time or money on finding parts - I'll just get something new.

Thanks again.

[peghall]

Fwiw, I have what passes for an owners manual for the Newport...just a couple of pages, actually...which you're likely to need if you're gonna hang onto it for a while. If you'd like to send me a PM that includes your email address (can't attach anything to a PM), I'll send 'em to you.

Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein
http://www.amazon.com/New-Get-Rid-Bo...dp/1892399784/

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by thinwater

Quite common, actually, though more for day sailors than cruisers. I go back and forth, depending on whether freshwater is available.

1. Less odor. The sulfate in the seawater is a big odor source, both on the intake side and in the holding tank.
2. Less scaling. Hoses and jokers last longer because there is little calcium (seawater is nearly saturated). Much less scaling.

Indeed. Seawater and pee react in a nasty way, causing heavy scaling. This can be kept down with copious flushing -- what we do on our boat -- but if you're using a holding tank, this may not be practical.

You can add a third disadvantage: You need another hull penetration for every toilet, with the attendant watertight integrity-critical parts to maintain.

I use seawater for flushing, but it has serious disadvantages compared to fresh water.

On a lake, two of these go away, so I think the OP's idea is reasonable.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by peghall

. . . So IMO, the smartest thing you can do is replace it with current model sea water toilet. Going with a "conversion" will allow you to reuse your existing bowl seat and lid. The pick of the litter is a Raritan SeaEra Raritan SeaEra Conversion Promo Sheet Practical Sailor rated it "best budget buy" in a macerating toilet comparison a few years ago. Raritan is also the only electric macerating toilet mfr who still mfrs the US.

Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein
http://www.amazon.com/New-Get-Rid-Bo...dp/1892399784/

That's good advice, but there may be too much "budget" in "budget buy", in the case of the Sea Era. It's a good value, for sure, but for more than occasional use, if you spring for one of the better ones, like the Raritan Sea Elegance, you won't be sorry.

I have the Sea Era and, like others, I have had some problems with it. Problems are one thing you don't want to have, where boat toilets are concerned. YMMV.

[peghall]

The SeaEra is a basic macerating electric toilet designed to replace the Jabsco 37010. It's been on the market since the mid-'90s. Problems with it are very rare and can almost always be traced to an installation issue, wiring or plumbing run.

The "Sea Elegance" doesn't exist...the Elegance is designed to use pressurized flush water. Flushing with sea water requires adding a remote intake pump, which would run the price up to about $800...a bit more than I suspect he wants to spend.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by peghall

The SeaEra is a basic macerating electric toilet designed to replace the Jabsco 37010. It's been on the market since the mid-'90s. Problems with it are very rare and can almost always be traced to an installation issue, wiring or plumbing run. . .

A known fault of the Sea Era which has nothing to do with installation -- the impellers work loose and jam in the housing. The impellers themselves are very lightly built lightweight plastic (polystyrene?) and are retained on the motor shaft with very small and very light plastic parts. My experience is one data point, and several other identical cases can be found in this forum. I suppose it's possible that this problem is still "very rare", since these are only 3 or 4 data points, but I doubt it.

Another problem with this toilet is that it has a very fine balance between the discharge pump volume and intake pump volume, and unlike the Jabsco and others, you cannot operate the pumps separately. It only takes a tiny strand of seaweed in the macerator blade to upset this balance so you can't empty the bowl. This is less of a problem now that I've figured it out (and now keep gloves nearby for fingering the macerator blade), but it would be a very useful improvement to this toilet if the discharge pump capacity could be increased to give a wider margin of error.


On the plus side, the toilet is easy to install, easy to take apart, and all parts are well accessible. I would just prefer not to have to take it apart at all, is all.

It's a very light duty toilet which I guess is fine for occasional use. I am not the right user for this toilet as I live on board most of the year.