Macerating Toilet Professionals Help Find the Best Toilet for You

Your Macerating Toilet Analysts Show You How to Maximize Your Dollars When Choosing a Toilet 

Raritan Engineering Company your macerating toilet experts would like to share with you these topics we thought would be of interest to you this month regarding how to find the best toilet for you. 

Just about every sailor has a head story, which is usually humorous and quite likely fairly gross. These stories typically include massive clogs, holding-tank issues, or pump malfunctions that occur at just the wrong time (really, is there a right time?), followed by a debate over marine and environmental issues and the merits of replacing the whole system with just a bucket.

Unlike household toilets, which are all pretty much the same, marine toilets come in different shapes and sizes and have different flush mechanisms and tank options, so you can design a system that works for your boat, budget, and cruising plans.

The Tried and True 

Keeping it simple certainly has its merits, and manual heads have done the job for years. From the venerable (but now hard to find) Wilcox-Crittenden Skipper head to the widely available, cruising sailors have relied on these due to ease of use, simple system designs, readily available rebuild kits, and, in the case of the  low replacement cost. 

A common head upgrade is to go electric, which can sometimes be as simple as installing an electric pump in an already compatible system. An electric head eliminates the need to manually pump, pump, pump to clear the bowl. Electric heads also typically include a macerator as well, which is similar to a garbage disposal and grinds up waste and paper before discharge into the holding tank (or overboard, if you're offshore). 

Electricity consumption, which is almost always a concern on cruising boats, is something to think about when switching to an electric head. Corbishley says that the draw on the electrical system is minimal on a typical modern cruising boat.

Go to http://raritaneng.com/raritan-product-line/marine-toilets/seaera-et/ and see how you can find more information as well as get assistance on macerating toilet and on finding the best toilet for you at Raritan Engineering.

An electric macerating toilet that Corbishley recommends to his customers who are looking to upgrade the head on their sailboats is Saniflo's SaniMarin (from $600). He notes that the parts are all located under the china bowl and that by undoing three screws, you can pivot the unit and gain access to those inner workings.

Vacuum Heads

Your macerating toilet analysts know that vacuum systems have been used on larger poweryachts for many years. They work well; however, since the systems are usually large and use fresh water to flush, many sailors have stayed away from them. A new product from Dometic Marine may change that.

The SailVac holding-tank system, when paired with one of its VacuFlush toilets , is specifically designed for the small spaces typically found on most sailboats. The SailVac combines a vacuum pump, vacuum reservoir, and holding tank into one unit. 

However, Cole finds that the Lavac uses more water for a full flush than does a manual head, and the normal installation requires a user to wait about 30 seconds before being able to open the lid, which can be a problem if there's an ill person on board. 

Composting Heads 

A relative newcomer to the marine-toilet marketplace, composting heads are starting to make their way onto more boats. Such composting heads as the Air Head ) or Nature's Head  offer a major benefit over other systems in that they require no through-hulls. Both toilets work in the same way: Moist, crumbled peat moss is put in the composting chamber at the bottom portion of the toilet.

Although sailors switching over to a composting head will definitely have to deal with a learning curve-not to mention the job of removing all parts of the previous system-the composting head, when set up and maintained properly, should be free of odor, and you'll never have to worry about clogged hoses or finding pumpout stations again.

Installing a new marine head is within the skill set of most do-it-yourselfers, but if you're completely redesigning your system or, say, upgrading from a manual head to a vacuum system, you may want to consult with someone who has experience with marine plumbing.

So don't forget these helpful tips when choosing the next marine toilet for you. 1) Marine toilets come in different shapes and sizes;  2) keeping it simple is never a wrong thing;  and 3) remember that installing a marine head can mostly be done by do-it-yourselfers.

Click here and see how Raritan Engineering has more information on macerating toilet and on how to find the best toilet for you.

via Turning Heads