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Sun-Mar Composting Toilets

Scu8a

By Scu8a
in Boat Equipment

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Scu8a Explorer

Scu8a

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http://www.toiletrevolution.com/products/composting-toilet/sun-mar-excel-ne-composting-toilet/

 

 

Has anyone had experience with the above composting toilet? At Crick I was very impressed with the 2 person unit. It seemed able to properly handle the task unlike some other brands I have seen. However at around £1500+ it would be a considerable investment.

 

It was also the size of a small car ;-)

 

Should I decide to begin CCing, would a composting toilet be worth considering? No grey water tank to take up space or to pay to have emptied. Any thoughts?

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Scu8a Explorer

Scu8a

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No experience of the Sun-Mar. We have an AirHead composting loo, and I'm a fan of the whole system. The AirHead costs half as much and looks a lot better -- so why were you drawn to the Sun-Mar?

 

I believe the Airhead requires a dismantle and unbolting from the floor each time to empty it, the Sun-Mar has a drawer that is removed from the unit itself.

Also the Airhead has a seperate urine bottle whereas the Sun-Mar is bigger and can cope with wet & dry going into the same composting area.

I therefore thought that the Sun-Mar would be the more robust unit. (Rightly or wrongly).

 

Do you find you get a saving on pump outs as well as a saving on the space saved with not having a grey water tank?

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adam1uk Experienced

adam1uk

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I believe the Airhead requires a dismantle and unbolting from the floor each time to empty it, the Sun-Mar has a drawer that is removed from the unit itself.

Also the Airhead has a seperate urine bottle whereas the Sun-Mar is bigger and can cope with wet & dry going into the same composting area.

I therefore thought that the Sun-Mar would be the more robust unit. (Rightly or wrongly).

 

Do you find you get a saving on pump outs as well as a saving on the space saved with not having a grey water tank?

 

'Dismantle and unbolting from the floor' makes it sound like a big deal. There are four wing nuts which need to be loosened to lift the top part off the base, and there are two wing nuts holding the base to the floor, via two small brackets. The dismantling takes less than a minute.

 

The one problem we've had was with urine getting into the solid waste (we now have a rule that everyone sits down for everything). That made the solids tank a wet smelly mess -- rather than the dry crumbly consistency we were aiming for, and now achieve. I'd be interested to hear how the Sun-Mar deals with both in the same tank, because in my experience it sounds like a disaster. The separate urine bottle is really the key to the whole thing working.

 

There is a saving on pump outs -- although our tank was so huge we never spent a lot on them. There is also the space saving, by getting rid of the tank. But the main plus for us is the lack of smell -- although I'd be amazed if a system which mixed liquids and solids would be smell-free.

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Rick-n-Jo Community Regular

Rick-n-Jo

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Concur with most of the above, having persevered with a SunMar for four years, we gave up and threw it away. The system can only work if there's enough heat to evaporate the liquid, not practical on a boat IMO. The mixed compost is always going to be smellier, and if the moisture balance does get away from optimal you're left with smelly mud that has to be removed by hand.

But the problem that finally defeated us is that anything that gets outside the drum - and it will - is impossible to clean out, and makes an unreachable reserve for fly infestations.

Build quality not the best either. Will be replacing with a Separett style home made one.

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peterboat Veteran II

peterboatDonate to Canal World

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I would not bother with the sun mar have a look on the tinternet plenty of good composting loos for £300 now. I have had mine for 5 years and it works pure and simple I pump the wee to a 25 litre container pour on grass its good for it. I could never go back to a pumpout or cassette total waste of time [see play on word lol] Enjoy your new loo but dont be ripped off

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valrene9600 Experienced

valrene9600

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http://www.toiletrevolution.com/products/composting-toilet/sun-mar-excel-ne-composting-toilet/

 

 

Has anyone had experience with the above composting toilet? At Crick I was very impressed with the 2 person unit. It seemed able to properly handle the task unlike some other brands I have seen. However at around £1500+ it would be a considerable investment.

 

It was also the size of a small car ;-)

 

Should I decide to begin CCing, would a composting toilet be worth considering? No grey water tank to take up space or to pay to have emptied. Any thoughts?

What are your thoughts now Scuba.
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Scu8a Explorer

Scu8a

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Thank you all for such quality input.

 

I agree Chewbaka £1500 is an astronomical amount for a crapper and given the feedback you have all given I'll not be buying one.

 

Thanks Adam1UK on clarifying how to empty the Airhead. You've eased my mind on the ease of emptying the unit. It's more than likely that I'll be going for that unit.

 

Thank you all for the input.

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