Which 12v Macerator Toilet And Why?

[Biggles]

If you want to discuss Cassettes there is a thread for you here

 

Please : this is a serious discussion and the merits of cassettes have no place here.

 

So in the hope this will stay on topic long enough to be of value.

 

What 12v macerate toilet do you have. How do you rate it? Not getting to intimate about matters but this is toilet talk, how well does it cope with your "deposits"

Edited April 20, 2012 by Biggles

[fudd]

Wotcha. We have a Tecma bog on Hunter. It's quite old but works perfectly. Only trouble is it seems to have a smallish bowl. We had one wet wipe incident and it was very easy to sort out. I'd replace it with another one if it broke.

[Guest]

If you want to discuss Cassettes there is a thread for you here

 

Please : this is a serious discussion and the merits of cassettes have no place here.

 

So in the hope this will stay on topic long enough to be of value.  

 

What 12v macerate toilet do you have.  How do you rate it? Not getting to intimate about matters but this is toilet talk, how well does it cope with your "deposits" 

 

They cope fine with your deposits but flinch at wet wipes...

[cheshire~rose]

Posting in here is a bit like attending toilets anonymous! My Name is Rose and I have a Vacuflush!

 

Seriously though we have a Saniflow (with a macerator) and it suits us just fine. We have a mahoosive waste tank that we have never even come close to filling because the boat starts to list at an angle that causes the drawers to open in the galley way before the tank is full.

We have only ever experienced one problem when it - it stopped working and it was a relay or solenoid of some sort which was easily located and inexpensive to replace (but was fitted in a very inaccessible place)

 

I tell I lie - we did have another problem once which was wierd. The loo would flush itself periodically for no reason we could understand. When we investigated there was a tiny rubber O-ring on the switch which had dislodged allowing the circuit to complete and the loo to flush from time to time. Again a really simple fix (once we worked out what was causing it!)

[Grace and Favour]

I assume you're sitting behind the screen fondling your Rosary Beads as I tell you this . . . . . . .

 

We have a LeeSan Macerator - - and have had but only one occasion to dismantle it.**

 

I have to say that it is well made, definitely works with a degree of 'oomph' (is that an appropriate adjective?), and spares, should one need them, would appear to be readily available (if I believe the company blurb) I've certainly received prompt help and advice from their 'Customer Services' Department.

 

**I'm sure there's no need to develop too much detail - - but after my seriously extended weekend Asian Banquet, following the inability of the machinery to cope with my visit - a reference was made regarding a White Rhino - - - nuff said

Edited April 20, 2012 by Grace & Favour

[Wild Is The Wind]

We have a Jabsco with a mascerator, but only a 75 litre tank, which was a mistake.

 

I'm really happy with how it all works. We had to take things apart once (baby wipe - which won't happen again) and although this wasn't nice it was straightforward.

 

However, we are going to have to buy a bigger tank at some point as we are lucky if the current one lasts a week! Because of this I am more intimately involved than I originally planned - we do self pump outs and have acquired two electric pumps to do this. One isn't working but i'm hoping to get it going to act as a spare. I'm also hoping when we get the new tank we can use the existing pipes and fittings to save on cost.

 

Because i'm so intimately involved with the tank at the moment i'd especially like to know what kind of sanitary fluids are best to use to keep the tank clean/fresh - also i'm sure i've read that somebody uses yeast to reduce smelly bacteria - how does this work?

 

One thing that always makes me laugh is the noise the flush makes! I've got used to this now though as I guess you do get used to pumps and whirring noises on boats. However, when reading the manual I noticed that Jabsco describe it on the opening page as "Virtually silent operation for undisturbed sleep". If you were asleep on my boat and hadn't yet heard the toilet flush the noise would certainly be a shock that would make you jump through the roof

[mrsmelly]

If you want to discuss Cassettes there is a thread for you here

 

Please : this is a serious discussion and the merits of cassettes have no place here.

 

So in the hope this will stay on topic long enough to be of value.  

 

What 12v macerate toilet do you have.  How do you rate it? Not getting to intimate about matters but this is toilet talk, how well does it cope with your "deposits" 

 

Ha I wasnt going to post here and didnt even read the link but then later on I opened the " Cassette thread " So of course alls fair in love, war and Bogs.

Here are the basic facts. ALL macerator bogs WILL and DO fail at some point. People have already stated in many cases that they do so its a known an proven fact that they are not fit for purpose. I have had 2 boats with drop through pumpout bogs fitted both of these worked faultlessly so if I were to ever fit one it would only be of the dump through type.

To sum up.

 

ALL macerator bogs WILL fail at some point esapecialy if on a well used rather than weekender boat.

Dump through bogs are vastly superior to macerator.

Cassette/porta potti are the only real sensible option.

 

 

Thanks for the opportuinity

 

Tim

[Chris Pink]

All cassette toilets will fail at some point.

 

I know this to be true.

[Colin Smith]

I have a Johnson Pump ( ) AquaT Premium Standard link. Excellent value compared to the cost of others and easy to install. Ceramic bowl and quality seat. Only dismantled it once before I fitted it in case I ever had to do it after it had been installed!

 

It’s a very simple design and the impellor can be de-clogged without dismantling – not that I’ve had to do that in 12 months of operation. It’s piped to the 850L holding tank which is about 15ft away in 32mm plastic pipe. You can use 19mm pipe but I would always go with the largest dia pipe especially for a longer run.

I looked at Vetus, LeeSan, Tecma and a few others but couldn’t justify the extra £ that they would have cost. I also get a good discount on these which made the savings even more attractive. Very happy with my choice and would fit the same again.

 

Colin

[ditchcrawler]

Ha I wasnt going to post here and didnt even read the link but then later on I opened the " Cassette thread " So of course alls fair in love, war and Bogs.

Here are the basic facts. ALL macerator bogs WILL and DO fail at some point. People have already stated in many cases that they do so its a known an proven fact that they are not fit for purpose. I have had 2 boats with drop through pumpout bogs fitted both of these worked faultlessly so if I were to ever fit one it would only be of the dump through type.

To sum up.

 

ALL macerator bogs WILL fail at some point esapecialy if on a well used rather than weekender boat.

Dump through bogs are vastly superior to macerator.

Cassette/porta potti are the only real sensible option.

 

 

Thanks for the opportuinity

 

Tim

I I have had 2 water valves fail on dump throughs, 1 set of ball seals and a friend had the fixing bolts corrode through. If I was going to replace it I would sill use a dump through. If we are short on water we can use a bucket of canal water to flush it.

[RichardH]

We have moved all of the fleet to Jabscos

 

Reasons:

 

4 function flush selector saving tank capacity

 

Easy to take apart

 

Critically if something goes wrong all the components are sourcable separately. We had a saniflow and over 1 winter ice damaged the motor - it was as cheap to buy a replacement toilet

 

With the Jabsco, the motor, water pump and "brain" are all separate.

[steve hayes]

On Bluemoon we have a Saniflo which to be honest was getting a bad reputation for not flushing very well and smelling.

 

However following advice found on here I made a few changes, firstly I decided to change the flexible pipe to the 100 gallon tank with welded 32mm solid plastic to try to remove the smell. The smell was removed along with the obviously porous pipe, but it was the improvement in the flush that I wasn't expecting that got me, the new solid run was half the length of the old flexible and there were not reductions in diameter as it was attached to the tank. I thought that was a vast improvement until last autumn the motor started turning slowly and then stopped, so a strip down ensued. I stripped the motor out and then opened up the watertight housing to get to the brushes for investigation. I found that one of the brushes hadn't been touching the commutator at all (from new by the look of it) and the assembly was dirty. So a thorough clean up and reset the four brushes, after re-assembly I was amazed by the flush, it works like a dream.

So if it had been installed properly and worked properly from day one, I would have been a much happier man.

Oh and by the way the smell has not returned, welded pipe is defiantly the way to go.

 

I I have had 2 water valves fail on dump throughs, 1 set of ball seals and a friend had the fixing bolts corrode through. If I was going to replace it I would sill use a dump through. If we are short on water we can use a bucket of canal water to flush it.

 

Same here, when our water pump packed up a couple of years ago, canal water was used to flush the loo.

[Guest]

All cassette toilets will fail at some point.

 

I know this to be true.

 

They are not completely faultless for certain.

 

Our Thetford C250 played a blinder last year when the holding tank would not slide back in. I still don't know to this day what caused it but the alignment between the blade handle, the ratchet mechanism and the top valve was 'lost'.

 

After about an hour I realised I could only resort to brute force so I had to 'force' the components back into alignment to get the cassette to slide back in. I think it was testimony to the quality of the materials they are made of that nothing broke in the process.

[BruceinSanity]

 

Because i'm so intimately involved with the tank at the moment i'd especially like to know what kind of sanitary fluids are best to use to keep the tank clean/fresh - also i'm sure i've read that somebody uses yeast to reduce smelly bacteria - how does this work?

 

 

After trying everything else, blue, green, powders, sachets, I resorted to brewer's yeast. As an ex-health scientist, I had been very sceptical about the idea as I don't see how it can work, but it does.

 

10 tabs after a pump out and ten at half full keep the tank fresh and running an aerobic fermentation. We have a SaniFlo macerator into a big tank (630 litres) with twin breathers, fore and aft.

[windy miller]

We have a SaniFlo macerator into a huge tank which only gets pumped out once or twice a year and have had no problems in three and a half years. It's been frozen solid a few times with no ill effect and only smells occasionally when the wind's in the wrong direction as the breather is near to the sink outlet. Putting the plug in helps. Never needed to dismantle it yet, but it can't be too hard for a man trained on Meccano.

 

(Edited to remove a reference to the 'C' word.)

Edited April 21, 2012 by windy miller

[adam1uk]

We have a Vetus which was in the boat when we bought it, but is not the original loo. It works fine. The pre-purchase survey noted that it didn't seem to have much oomph, so we followed the recommendation and changed the wiring from thin and weedy to more chunky. That helped. But what really made the difference was putting descaler down the loo, making sure there's some in the macerator unit, and leaving it there overnight. In the morning you could hear the limescale coming off as the macerator ran, and it was much more powerful afterwards. We now use a bit of descaler occasionally to keep things clear. Be careful which one you use, though, especially if you're using yeast in the tank as we do: some will kill off the yeast and make the tank smell.

 

The yeast works well, as long as the cleaners you use don't kill it off. We use similar amounts to Bruce above, but if I've got time I put the tablets in warm water so they froth up. Big jars of tablets can be bought in health food shops very cheaply. The only smell you get is something yeasty, and maybe slightly beery!

[Wild Is The Wind]

We have a Vetus which was in the boat when we bought it, but is not the original loo. It works fine. The pre-purchase survey noted that it didn't seem to have much oomph, so we followed the recommendation and changed the wiring from thin and weedy to more chunky. That helped. But what really made the difference was putting descaler down the loo, making sure there's some in the macerator unit, and leaving it there overnight. In the morning you could hear the limescale coming off as the macerator ran, and it was much more powerful afterwards. We now use a bit of descaler occasionally to keep things clear. Be careful which one you use, though, especially if you're using yeast in the tank as we do: some will kill off the yeast and make the tank smell.

 

The yeast works well, as long as the cleaners you use don't kill it off. We use similar amounts to Bruce above, but if I've got time I put the tablets in warm water so they froth up. Big jars of tablets can be bought in health food shops very cheaply. The only smell you get is something yeasty, and maybe slightly beery!

 

Can I ask which descaler you use?

 

After trying everything else, blue, green, powders, sachets, I resorted to brewer's yeast. As an ex-health scientist, I had been very sceptical about the idea as I don't see how it can work, but it does.

 

10 tabs after a pump out and ten at half full keep the tank fresh and running an aerobic fermentation. We have a SaniFlo macerator into a big tank (630 litres) with twin breathers, fore and aft.

 

Thanks for this. I made a few mistakes when having my boat built but the biggest one is definitely ordering a 75 litre holding tank! Even this takes up a lot of space and i'm considering moving the loo and fitting the new bigger tank in the spare bedroom instead of mine (the other mistake) even if it does mean moving the pump out fittings on the gunwales.

 

Can anyone recommend where to get a bigger tank? I'm going to save up for this and the best i've found is £320 for a 390 litre.

[cereal tiller]

Ha I wasnt going to post here and didnt even read the link but then later on I opened the " Cassette thread " So of course alls fair in love, war and Bogs.

Here are the basic facts. ALL macerator bogs WILL and DO fail at some point. People have already stated in many cases that they do so its a known an proven fact that they are not fit for purpose. I have had 2 boats with drop through pumpout bogs fitted both of these worked faultlessly so if I were to ever fit one it would only be of the dump through type.

To sum up.

 

ALL macerator bogs WILL fail at some point esapecialy if on a well used rather than weekender boat.

Dump through bogs are vastly superior to macerator.

Cassette/porta potti are the only real sensible option.

 

 

Thanks for the opportuinity

 

Tim

Correct.

[ditchcrawler]

Can I ask which descaler you use?

 

 

 

Thanks for this. I made a few mistakes when having my boat built but the biggest one is definitely ordering a 75 litre holding tank! Even this takes up a lot of space and i'm considering moving the loo and fitting the new bigger tank in the spare bedroom instead of mine (the other mistake) even if it does mean moving the pump out fittings on the gunwales.

 

Can anyone recommend where to get a bigger tank? I'm going to save up for this and the best i've found is £320 for a 390 litre.

I had a local chap build mine and it was nowhere near that sort of money, its only a tank with some pipe connection's.

[adam1uk]

Can I ask which descaler you use?

 

The LeeSan one, LeeScale. I'm sure there are others that are more or less the same.

[Grace and Favour]

The LeeSan one, LeeScale. I'm sure there are others that are more or less the same.

 

I think the LeeSan LeeScale is weak phosphoric acid, is it not?

 

(If you've a moment - I'd be most grateful if you would check on the label just to see if the active ingredient is listed, please?)

 

Thanks

 

Dave

[Ange]

We've got a dump through - it does what it says on the tin. I do think that the more complicated you make it the more things can go wrong. I must admit I hate it when we visit friends boats with complicated loos - push that lever, twist that knob, jump a mile in the air when it goes off like an air plane loo! With ours you press a lever and your doings drop down into the holding tank. Chuck some blue in every now and then when it starts to smell. Works for us and nothing's ever gone wrong with it.

[smileypete]

I think the LeeSan LeeScale is weak phosphoric acid, is it not?

 

(If you've a moment - I'd be most grateful if you would check on the label just to see if the active ingredient is listed, please?)

Leescale MSDS sheet PDF

 

cheers,

Pete.

[adam1uk]

I think the LeeSan LeeScale is weak phosphoric acid, is it not?

 

(If you've a moment - I'd be most grateful if you would check on the label just to see if the active ingredient is listed, please?)

 

Thanks

 

Dave

 

Yes, phosphoric acid, which particularly as it's so diluted should leave the yeast intact. Some descalers contain formic acid, which isn't so kind.

[Ange]

oo and I forgot to mention - if you do a really big jobbie in a dump through the ker-thunk when it hits the holding tank is especially satisfying!!

 

Hmm am I sharing too much