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**KDH** · 10-05-2011, 10:43

The cheaper Sea Era can also be ordered with a household size bowl. That's what we are going with. Surprised though that no one has mentioned the pretty comprehensive survey of electric marine toilets conducted by Practical Sailor this past fall/winter. I think you do have to subscribe though to read the article.

peghall · 10-05-2011, 14:46

It was just this past Feb that PS ran their electric toilets review...they rated the Raritan SeaEra "best budget buy" and the Raritan Elegance "best in show."

You can save quite a bit if you order the SeaEra "conversion" (everything but the bowl available for both sea water and pressurized fresh water versions) and recycle your existing bowl, seat and lid. Any bowl that mounts using a 4-bolt pattern--which includes 99% of bowls--will fit.

And, there's a way to upgrade to the larger household bowl for free. Ask your local yard to let you know when they're replacing a manual toilet or a basic macerating electric that has the larger bowl...'cuz yards just toss the toilets they remove. Years ago, when I still owned my company, I'd pick up a couple of both sizes each fall to have on hand in the spring for the inevitable calls from customers looking for a cheap replacement for a bowl that their inability to learn how to winterize correctly had resulted in a cracked bowl. If you have qualms about recycling a used bowl, sanitize it by pressure washing it with plenty of detergent and bleach.

Dreaming Yachtsman · 10-05-2011, 16:15

I'm surprised no one on this thread has mentioned a Vacu-Flush. When we bought our boat, the Princess insisted on replacing the manual sea water flush toilet in the starboard head so she didn't have to put up with the "natural" smell of stagnant sea water. We found that our holding tank went much longer before filling up so the next year we had the port toilet replaced. After six years, the only problems we have had was a vacuum leak on a threaded fitting and replacing the duckbill valves and bowl seal, which are part of routine maintenance.

peghall · 10-05-2011, 19:44

VacuFlush is an excellent toilet, but it relies on 40 yr old technology and is WAY overpriced in today's market. When it was first introduced in the 70s, it was the only game in town if you wanted a toilet that didn't use sea water and needed less than a couple of gallons of water/flush. But that all changed in the 90s...today EVERY mfr offers at least one toilet that offers everything the V/flush does--and MORE!--for a fraction of the price, without scattering components all over the boat.

Fwiw, I was a V/Flush dealer for nearly 10 years and it was the toilet on my last two boats...so I'm intimately acquainted with 'em.