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Bulletproof marine toilet— Marine Elegance or ???

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by luvtocruise, Jun 27, 2021.

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  1. luvtocruise, Jun 27, 2021
    #1
    luvtocruise

    luvtocruise Member

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    I have been researching here and other forums about marine toilets. I understand the vacuflush system I have on the boat is not “bullet prof” at all, in fact it seems like it might be the opposite— so one of my first orders of business will be to upgrade the 2 heads on the boat.
    I was going to measure, purchase and install the marine elegance heads based upon what I saw here. Then this morning yielded another possible contender — the headhunter. The poster was astonished that this system could clog, but a teen aged girl proved that any toilet is no match for them. So, being that we most likely wont have any teen aged girls on the boat for many years, this entered the fray.
    I want an elongated toilet and think I have room,(not at the boat right now) as close to a normal house size as I can get, and am considering adding a bidet seat at least the master head or a bum gun, to mostly eliminate the need for tp.

    I have mostly (from what it looks like) long runs of pvc pipe to the black water tanks — I’d guess its 1.5 or 2” from memory. I am assuming it the is connected via a short hose to the head, my thought is to replace the short hose run with new, inspect for calcium build up on the id of the hoses, and if it exists, flush the pvc pipe with something or possible replace them.
    I am happy to work on the engines, electrical, wash and wax and deal with other stuff, but I hate hate hate having to deal with toilets, and sewer/sewage issues. I mean it’s seriously my least favorite thing in the world.
    So, any ideas on what the most bullet proof toilet is? And the easiest/least gross to work on is?
  2. Pascal, Jun 27, 2021
    #2
    Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    Without a doubt the best system is headhunter. Problem, besides the price, is that from the head it has to go downhill to the tank. This means that long hose runs to a far away tank just do not work

    that said their are pretty bullet proof. In 5 years of heavy use of 7 heads, I had one failure of one check valve. Standard check valve available everywhere

    on my personal 53 Hatteras I replaced the VFs with Raritan Elegance. One standard size and one household elongated bowl. Easy install and they work very well. Fresh water of course. The larger bowl uses significantly more water than the standard bowl. No big deal unless you have a very small holding tank.

    got both from Defender.

    i ve heard many good things about the Raritans. Seem easy to repair if needed.

    VFs served me well but they can be more finicky

    in any case, after having dealt with diapers, I find marine sanitation to be a (less smelly) breeze :)
  3. luvtocruise, Jun 27, 2021
    #3
    luvtocruise

    luvtocruise Member

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    Thanks — our tank is 95 gallons from what I was told. That seems to be a decent size based upon shopping for other boats in the same size range. 58-65
  4. Pascal, Jun 27, 2021
    #4
    Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    One more thing. When I replaced the 11 year old check valve on that headhunter I was amazed to see how clean the valve and hose were. No deposit whatsoever.

    Because HH uses water pressure, and more water, you don’t get all the calcium deposit you get with low water consumption heads like VF.

    that has prompted me to use longer flushes on my Raritans.
  5. Capt J, Jun 27, 2021
    #5
    Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    The other problem with Head hunter and Raritan is you need good water pressure. Both both brands (HH and Raritan) are good toilets, reliable, with few moving parts........and installation of both is fairly straight forward.
  6. Capt Ralph, Jun 27, 2021
    #6
    Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    I think the HH's work best with a water pressure tank very close to the head. Recall this was in their installation instructions.
    I still have Raritan Crown heads on Da Bertie. When the time does come (if ever), HH is what I will install.
  7. luvtocruise, Jun 27, 2021
    #7
    luvtocruise

    luvtocruise Member

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    The forward head is a decent distance from the water tank (its in the Laz) so its looks like Marine Elegance Elongated is still the best choice in my case. It will be one of the first things I expect I will do. That and calling a mechanic to replace the aftercoolers and installing the fresh water flush for them.
    Thanks all
  8. captainwjm, Jun 27, 2021
    #8
    captainwjm

    captainwjm Senior member

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    Another vote for Headhunter. Great customer service, too.
  9. mapism, Jun 27, 2021
    #9
    mapism

    mapism Senior Member

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    You can do worse than checking out Planus toilets.
    Feadship, Amels, Benetti, Ferretti, Perini (just to name but a few builders using them as OEM installation) can't be all wrong.
    gr8trn likes this.
  10. Norseman, Jun 27, 2021
    #10
    Norseman

    Norseman Senior Member

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    Got a Marine Elegance: Works good but it is using a lot of fresh water for a “Normal” flush. Got a water saver option as well, using it one more these days.
    We also have en electric switch for changing over to salt water if we really need to save fresh water.
    (We tend to stay at anchor more than being docked at marinas)
    The Elegance was a nice upgrade from the old Jabsco manual pump head. :cool:
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2021
  11. Capt Ralph, Jun 27, 2021
    #11
    Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    That is why a water pressure tank installed closely to the HH system comes to great play.
    It charges at the ships 40+psi and when needed, gives up that great woosh wanted for great HH operation.
    https://www.lowes.com/pd/Water-Worker-2-Gallon-Vertical-Pressure-Tank/1000990872

    Unless your talking Black water tank. Then you just need all down hill from the head. BTW, there is a S trap also behind HH seats that raises the incline height if needed.. Contact HH for more install details.
  12. luvtocruise, Jun 27, 2021
    #12
    luvtocruise

    luvtocruise Member

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    The HH system maybe the better deal— but for me — I am almost positive its 25+ feet from that tank to my forward head— now the master head is right there by it— and I am not near the boat right now— but I will check into it
  13. Capt Ralph, Jun 27, 2021
    #13
    Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Working on a 72' Hatt, the master heads were below the black tank top.
    In the forward engine room, Behind the master heads, near in the bilge, is a black water lift pump (From HH) that transfers from the masters heads up to the ships black tank.
  14. Pascal, Jun 27, 2021
    #14
    Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    Same on the 84 lazzara. Master and crew go to a 5 gallon tank with a HH transfer pump activated whenever either head is flushed. Complicated but it works. The 110/116 has two 40 gal tanks in the lazarette for both crew heads. The master goes straight to the main tank
  15. DOCKMASTER, Jun 27, 2021
    #15
    DOCKMASTER

    DOCKMASTER Senior Member

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    I ditched my vacu-flush system this past off season and installed two of the Raritan Elegence units. So far, I am really happy with them. They are a huge improvement over the vacu-flush and fewer components installed under my floor. I went with the option of sea water or fresh water at the flip of a switch. When out multiple days I put them on sea water then flush them with fresh water several times when we are done with our trip. So far, seems to be really working well.
  16. gr8trn, Jun 27, 2021
    #16
    gr8trn

    gr8trn Senior Member

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    I just vistied the site: https://www.aquamaremarine.com/us/planus/ you are on to something, thanks for sharing. Althought not in the market right now, vacuflush will only last so long.
    Wow, up to 9 meter vertical clearance and 80 meter horizontal with their integrated pump.
  17. luvtocruise, Jun 27, 2021
    #17
    luvtocruise

    luvtocruise Member

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    Wow theseP have my attention — downside is they dont show a price— ill call — they may be crazy in price compared to their competition.
  18. Capt Ralph, Jun 27, 2021
    #18
    Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Only 9 blocks away from HH.
  19. mapism, Jun 27, 2021
    #19
    mapism

    mapism Senior Member

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    gr8trn, I see that you found their US distributor.
    I wasn't sure if they had one, so I didn't post their main website.

    Just for the records, Planus was established by the founder of Tecma, some time after selling the business to Thetford.
    And for many years, Tecma used to be the very best and more reliable/durable marine toilets money could buy, at least on the Eastern side of the Pond.
    Just to give an idea, I retrofitted their integrated toilet+macerator in my previous boat in 2000, and 21 years later they are still working as when brand new, with zero problems and no maintenance whatsoever. My current 2004 boat also has Tecma toilets (original installation), and the very same still stands: all working flawlessly, after 17 years.
    OTOH, since the takeover some years ago, the new owners of Tecma just milked the business without any further development, so the former owner established Planus, raising the product quality even further.
    You really can't go wrong with them, regardless of boat size and constraints - they just keep working, day in, day out.
    And also the design, which is crucial when talking of proper gin palaces, is outstanding.

    I'm not saying that the other brands mentioned aren't also good - I barely heard the names of some of them.
    But I struggle to think in which way they could be better than Planus, or the former Tecma.
  20. Pascal, Jun 27, 2021
    #20
    Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    Raritans are pretty inexpensive, about $1000 or so. A little less for the standard marine size, a little more for the household size. Probably a lot less than the Planus.

    what I really like about headhunter is that there is no pump, no motor, no impeller. Pretty much nothing to go wrong besides an electro valve and an adjustable timer to set the flush durations The only moving part is a 1 1/2” standard check valve. But as stated they need gravity to the tank and about 55/60PSI of water pressure.

    they ve used by Hatteras, Viking, Lazzara etc for years
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