The Best Marine Toilet

[sharkbait2035]

a note on the Natures Head composting toilet.... took out an electric raritan crown, and sold it so cheap I basically gave it away. now 6 months later, I find myself pricing out a new raritan to reinstall. the composting head is fine if you use your boat once a month, but if you're there full time, and there's more than one of you, well, lets just say I'm not sold on the process....
Unless you spend another 200 bucks on a second base unit, that you can swap out every week or so and leave sitting somewhere to do its composting thing, you're gonna be dealing with some mess whenever it gets too hard to turn the handle, which seems to happen really quickly with the 2 of us onboard. Originally thought I'd save the power consumption, get rid of the faint holding tank aroma and do the environmentally friendly thing, plus avoid having to unblock clogged lines, but trust me, it ain't worth it! its like cleaning out your holding tank and clogged lines almost weekly....
another expensive lesson learned!

[Mule]

My experience exactly..Nature Head is the answer if you live aboard and are alone most of the time, male and generally pee overboard. That is the max I would deal with. A weekender with more than one is OK for a NH but beyond that I will pass. I sold mine a few weeks back, bit the bullet and bought a raritan for over a thousand bucks and still have that much to go + for the electro scan, holding tank and hose, so obviously I feel rather strongly about it, but I do live aboard.
Now that the NH is gone I have for sale all 4 portlights for a MK1, a 107 gpm 11amp 120volt electric submersible pump. More stuff keeps popping up, stay tuned as the refit continues.

[foggysail]

Originally Posted by sharkbait2035

a note on the Natures Head composting toilet.... took out an electric raritan crown, and sold it so cheap I basically gave it away. now 6 months later, I find myself pricing out a new raritan to reinstall. the composting head is fine if you use your boat once a month, but if you're there full time, and there's more than one of you, well, lets just say I'm not sold on the process....
Unless you spend another 200 bucks on a second base unit, that you can swap out every week or so and leave sitting somewhere to do its composting thing, you're gonna be dealing with some mess whenever it gets too hard to turn the handle, which seems to happen really quickly with the 2 of us onboard. Originally thought I'd save the power consumption, get rid of the faint holding tank aroma and do the environmentally friendly thing, plus avoid having to unblock clogged lines, but trust me, it ain't worth it! its like cleaning out your holding tank and clogged lines almost weekly....
another expensive lesson learned!

7 years ago I purchased and installed a fresh water Crown. I thought it was the cat's meow! I still like the toilet, but I don't love it by any means.

This year Wifey insisted that I replace an older Crown along with all the other things I was doing rebuilding our forward head. I searched and searched finally narrowed my choices to that of Raritan's Sea Era and their Marine Elegance. We went with the fresh water ME, the taller unit because the toilet mounts onto the floor, not a platform. Further, we purchased the unit with a straight back to mount it directly against a wall.

I could not in any way justify a microprocessor controlled "flush!" I went with the simple push button.

Performance! STAGGERING!!! FAST, QUITE, USES MINIMAL AMOUNT OF WATER! I am over joyed with this new toilet. OH and the cost.... I found it on line for $400, West Marine matched that price so I was able to pick the toilet up at one of the branches without a shipping charge.

If you have not locked yourself into a choice, you should at least look at the ME. It IMHO is the best designed marine toilet I have ever seen.

Foggy

[motion30]

I bought one of jabsco new computer flush heads at west marine Looked great in the store It is plastic on the outside porclein on the inside Very quiet Problem is when flushin I spits back at the end of cycle kinda gross when flushing solids Anybody else have experience with this?

[bloodhunter]

When we bought Enchantress seven years ago, my wife gave me a list of things that had to be done before she would go cruising. Top of the list was an electric fresh water head. After some research we bought a vacuflush, one of the better product choices we made.It was relatively easy to install, it uses very little water and not much electricity and has never given us a problem.

[rebel heart]

On the advice of Peggy Hall I installed a Raritan SeaEra electric. It's pretty great. Low cost, macerates, easy and flexible install.

The only addition we're putting in is a timer switch. Right now you press the button for as long as you want it to cycle, but I want another button that will flush for something adjustable, like maybe ten seconds. So my wife and kids who aren't really down for holding the button down in the middle of the night, they can just press and walk away.

[HopCar]

Rebel Heart, Raritan makes just what you're looking for. They call it the Raritime. It's an adjustable timer module mounted to a solenoid. You can set it to flush an electric toilet from one to fifteen seconds. It shows on page 11 of their catalog: http://www.raritaneng.com/catalog/2012Catalog.pdf

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by HopCar

Rebel Heart, Raritan makes just what you're looking for. They call it the Raritime. It's an adjustable timer module mounted to a solenoid. You can set it to flush an electric toilet from one to fifteen seconds. It shows on page 11 of their catalog: http://www.raritaneng.com/catalog/2012Catalog.pdf

Yup, made a thread looking for one a couple of weeks ago. Definitely going to special order with Defender and get it.

[CarlF]

Let's see. I've owned Wilcox Crittenden, Raritan PHII, and Lavac heads.

Raritan Marine Elegance beats them all - easily.


- No valves. No visible hoses. China not plastic. Clean. Quiet. Wife loves it.

-Less water use means fewer pumpouts (This is the reason to consider the extra money for the fancy control box. People don't over-flush)

-Doesn't clog - TP no problem. No guest has been able to clog it. They were always confused by the Lavac.

-Zero maintenance (now at three years).

-Comfy seat for contemplation of boat repair list or the meaning of life.

Carl

[HopCar]

My feelings are hurt. You could give me a chance to quote you on it.

[islandplanet]

Originally Posted by sharkbait2035

a note on the Natures Head composting toilet.... took out an electric raritan crown, and sold it so cheap I basically gave it away. now 6 months later, I find myself pricing out a new raritan to reinstall. the composting head is fine if you use your boat once a month, but if you're there full time, and there's more than one of you, well, lets just say I'm not sold on the process....

How many people were using it?

[sharkbait2035]

2 of us onboard full time, would get maybe a week before it got to hard for my wife to turn the handle, then even with the space we have, it was difficult to find somewhere to put the seat/lid while I tried to tip the base unit upside down into a trash bag. almost bought the second base unit to swap them out so the composting could continue, but would then have had to find somewhere to store that for a week!
great for the weekend warrior on a boat where the holding tank takes up prime real estate, but not for us

[RunningRabbit]

The boat I am most likely getting currently has a manual Jabsco installed and a 13 gallon holding tank... I'm a little worried about how frequently I'd need pump out (even with using the marina facilities frequently) and with a manual system, since I will definitely have guests aboard. I like KISS, few-moving-parts-to-break concepts, but the disposal of compost is not realistic for me.

Any thoughts/tips on how often a 13 gallon tank would need pumped out for a single liveaboard? Any thoughts/tips on whether I'd get more bang for my buck upgrading to a larger holding tank or a new head first, insofar as I'm on a budget?

If I stuck with manual but upgraded, I'm thinking the Lavac seemed to be a simple, vacuum system and well-reviewed. However, I would likely prefer the convenience of electric. I have never used a manual system, so--like my guests--I worry about "user error."

I'm seeing some different model numbers on the Raritan SeaEra electric... Rebel Heart: do you happen to have the model number you would share? HopCar: PM a quote if you have a chance.

[Scott Berg]

Disclaimer: I used to sell and install heads, lots of them. After fixing and installing probably every model ever made we have standardized on three.

Manual: Lavac... period. If you can find one and repair parts the Skipper from W/C was amazing but with no rebuild parts it's Lavac. If you must have electric plumb a Sealand T pump in series with the Henderson pump and install a button

Electric:

Vacuflush: if you have the room; amazingly effective and use very little flushing water, perfect for holding tanks

Raritan Marine Elegance: As noted, this is a well designed, flexible installation with a powerful flush engine and can be either salt or fresh water flush. It is easy to maintain and the electric control panel saves a LOT of water.

We've found these three to be the best of breed and have many happy customers... Our boat has a Vacuflush and a Lavac; both see daily duty and do what a head should do <grin>

YMMV but the Marine Elegance, especially for the money, is very hard to beat

Scott

[HopCar]

Hi Rabbit, Here is a link to my website that shows the Sea Era conversion kit. No need to buy a complete toilet as the Jabsco bowl will fit the Sea Era. The one shown on my website is the basic 12v one with built in intake pump. You can get them in different voltages and with seperate intake pumps as well. Peggie Hall, the Head Mistress, thinks highly of the Sea Era.
Sea Era Conversion Kit - 16LI012

If you're concerned with your holding tank capacity, you might consider an Electro Scan treatment system from Raritan.

Peggie Hall's book might be helpful as well.
Get Rid of Boat Odors by Peggie Hall