Lectrasan

[Jon D]

I have always pumped mine out before opening or servicing. Just realize that there will be a little pressure when you open that center post depending on your hose leads. I wrap a bunch of paper towels around the center post before opening to catch any little bits of overflow. Keep a plastic garbage bag nearby to dispose of said towels. Also it's a big help to flush the unit 3-4 times before any service.

[Geoff S.]

Is the average salinity of Caribbean waters high enough to just use seawater in one of these units? I'm considering Electrosan, but I'm not sure I want to get into something that requires a pound of salt per day. Gosstyla, how do you like your VacuFlush heads?

Geoff

[ronbo1]

Any ocean will provide the necessary saline content.
Bodies of water, like the northern part of the Chesapeake Bay, which is brackish due to the many rivers that empty into it require additional salt.
A few ounces added by hand to the flush or the saline tank makes up the deficit.

[sv_makai]

The water in the caribe is salty enough. It doesn't require any additional salt. Though you will find the most boats dump straight overboard, even in marinas.

We used our Lectrasan in the Cheasapeake Bay which is brackish and the amount of salt required in addition to the the raw water was very little and not pounds!

[gosstyla]

Geoff, like the VacuFlush so far. Had a small vacuum leak that took some time to track down otherwise no problems.

The Electoscans will probably be okay but certainly much more complicated than composte heads would be.

[Esconditas]

Yea we biught a Lectrasan in the late 90's and installed it on esconditas... Thank god we have two heads one with a holding tank and the other with just the Lectrasan... Because the lactrasan is a chunk of junk. As full time liveaboards we use the head two or three times a day (if it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down).. Some are saying that the plated last 3000 cycles.... No.. more like 500 cycles, or less, then you need to replace the plates. And if the plates are not working the unit will shut down without treating the poop.. you can see the problem when it comes time to replace the plates. I have been MOST DISSATIFIED WITH THIS PRODUCT. I would warn any one thinking about getting a lectrasan, or what ever they are calling them now... Don't Do It... It is a total waste of money and space on a boat. Get a holding tank or any thing else... maybe the purasan that chemicaly treats the waste would work but not the lectrasan.

I have goen through four plates and now the company wants me to remove the unit and send it back for a rebuild and up grade, I assume new electronics and a new style plate... Oh yea... $400 plus shipping..

It's just junk! Don't buy it!

[gchester]

lectrasan tells me my electrode pack is bad and needs to be replaced $284. A dealer on line quotes $260. Anyone know where I can get one cheaper? Tks

[Alan Wheeler]

That most likely is the cheapest. Good thing you don't have to buy one here in NZ. You can almost triple that price. Hence why these units are a dime a dozen second hand on the market. Not worth the expense of running them.
Can someone tell me just what the plating actually is???I have often wondered if they can be re-plated.

[roverhi]

We had one of the early LectraSans. Installed it in 1974. Lived aboard and cruised for 4 years, without a problem despite constant daily use. The unit was still working fine when we sold the boat 10 years later. I'm sold on the units and have bought one for installation on my current boat.

The LectraSan uses very little electricity. Even though it is a high amp drain, it is such short duration that it's very low on your current worries on a cruising boat.

In the LectraSan, the electricity breaks salt water down into a chlorine compound that kills the harmful bugs in human waste. Once it's done its thing, the cholrine compound degrades back into salt and water that it started with. No additional pollutants are introduced by the LectraSan operation. A macerator/chlorinator uses house hold bleach to destroy the bugs. In doing so, it adds the chlorine compound to the effluent actually increasing pollution.

Composting toilets break down the waste into compounds that are not harmful to humans. Those compounds are very much like fertilizer which contains nitrogen. Without nitrogen, plants don't do well. If you dump the crud from a composting toilet overboard, you are doing the same thing as an LectraSan, just converting the crud into a less offensive form. Even if you use the crud for your garden at home, that additional Nitrogen will probably finds it's way into the water system from runoff. So wouldn't feel smug and smarmy because you have a composting toilet.

Last, there is absolutely no reason for no discharge rules in other than marinas. Type 1 MSD's solve all the REAL problems even in fresh water. The wastes added by all the boats in the world developing a case of Montezumas revenge don't equal one small municipal sewage treatment plants hiccup when equipment breaks. Pathogens in human waste that effect humans are destroyed almost instantly by salt water. The only real issue is added nutrients but, hey, whales **** in the bay and their dumps have got to more than equal a whole flotilla of yachts. So I guess if you are truly serious about stopping fecal pollution, we better resume whaling, killing seals and sea lions cause they aren't wearing diapers.

I grew up with 2-3 holers and the sears catalogue for TP. I'll be damned if I'll turn my boat into a floating outhouse.

Aloha
Peter O.

Aloha
Peter O.

[Fishspearit]

Since the plates seem to go bad in these frequently, I'll throw this out there. Who's got a Lectra-San MC sitting around their garage with bad plates? I know, disgusting thought, but I seem to have a bad circuit board on mine and I'm looking for a replacement board. I'm shutting down on low voltage fault even though I just ran new wiring to the unit and have 13.5V at the posts with the unit running before it shuts down. So, any one ever need to replace the board or have a used circuit board they'll sell me?

[gchester]

Here I am again. Bought the new electrode kit and installed it. I then reconnected the unit, red to positive, black to negative, and control pad cable to lower socket per the manual. But when I pushed to button to activate the unit, all three lights flashed in unison with a large clicking noise as long as I held the button in, and all went silent and dark when I released the button. So cut the breaker. Help! Anyone have any ideas. Tks

[Lancerbye]

Does anyone using a chlorine based sewage treatment system such as the above mentioned worry about the introduction of Dioxins into our oceans? I often wonder if the treated sewage is not really worst than the untreated type. Just a thought.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Lancerbye

Does anyone using a chlorine based sewage treatment system such as the above mentioned worry about the introduction of Dioxins into our oceans? I often wonder if the treated sewage is not really worst than the untreated type. Just a thought.

What makes you wonder?

[svHyLyte]

Our boat came with an older LectraSan in the forward head that proved to be in horrible condition when we took ownership. Unfortunately, that was in the winter when air-temps in Annapolis were in the hight 20's (F) so we didn't discover the matter until we had the yacht back in Florida and it began to smell.

I removed the unit and cleaned it thoroughly before shipping it off to Raritan for a complete rebuild--plates, motors etc. Since then (2002) we have had no difficulty with our unit--and no odors--as we have rigerously followed the maintenance procedures in the Owner's Manual and emphasised as absolutely necessary by the Raritan technicians that rebuilt our unit. When not being used routinely, it is wise to flush water through the head and activate the unit periodically. It is also wise to use only the head cleaning materials recommended by Raritan to avoid damage to the seals in the unit. In our case we use Raritan's own "C.P." which works well. In a departure from the usual regime, after using the head and running a flush cycle, we also pump a little clean water with a shot of a solution of "Salt-Away" added from a squeeze bottle through the head which seems to have no ill effect on the Lectrasan and does prevent the build-up of salt deposits and calcium carbonate in the discharge lines.

FWIW!

s/v HyLyte

[Pblais]

Does anyone using a chlorine based sewage treatment system such as the above mentioned worry about the introduction of Dioxins into our oceans?

If there are Dioxins introduced they sure don't come from the head. There are also no radioactive waste or PCB's either. The treatment system only kills bacteria and does nothing else to the waste. This is all most municipal sewage treatment plants do on a good day.