Tecma Toilets

[Andy G]

We have two installed on our IG. they came with the boat and are about 5 years old.We have already replaced one motor and the second unit now seems to be getting very noisy.

They are plumbed in via a raw water inlet,ie not fresh water, and I regularly flush them out with warm fresh water and use one of the marine toilet additives.

I don't want to wait till the pump fails, but am not sure how/what to do in the way of preventative maintenence on these units.

Any advice gratefully accepted.

Andy

 

[HeadMistress]

Dick Brunson is Thetford's Tecma guru here in the US...I suggest you email him to discuss maintenance and other issues and perhaps the name of a servicing dealer in OZ.** RBrunson@thetford.com

First question I'd ask him is why the motors are failing so soon. It's very unusual for any toilet motor to fail in less than 10-15 years, if that soon.


-- Edited by HeadMistress on Monday 11th of April 2011 06:45:26 AM

 

[Andy G]

Thanks Peggy, I will follow that up

 

[Arctic Traveller]

HeadMistress wrote:
Dick Brunson is Thetford's Tecma guru here in the US...I suggest you email him to discuss maintenance and other issues and perhaps the name of a servicing dealer in OZ.** RBrunson@thetford.com

First question I'd ask him is why the motors are failing so soon. It's very unusual for any toilet motor to fail in less than 10-15 years, if that soon.



-- Edited by HeadMistress on Monday 11th of April 2011 06:45:26 AM

*Actually, mine failed at eight months old.* I talked to Dick, who provided a replacement at no cost;, so it does happen. Again, your experience may vary..........Arctic Traveller

 

[Andy G]

It's gone!

I really meant to get to it before this happened.

*A boat is like* hospital* triage, the most pressing problems are delt with first. it was next on the list, damm.

 

[Arctic Traveller]

shrimp wrote:
It's gone!

I really meant to get to it before this happened.

*A boat is like* hospital* triage, the most pressing problems are delt with first. it was next on the list, damm.

*Sorry to hear that, but I'm not the least bit surprised.* As I remember, when my last motor failed there was no way to take it apart to fix it, so your probably stuck buying another.* With all the trouble I've had with my Tecma, the next time it quits I plan to replace the whole thing.* I'm tired of having to pull it up and work on it every six months....Arctic Traveller*

 

[Singleprop]

There are some updated "Tecma" toilets on the market now - they are called Planus. They are Italian made (as Tecma was earlier on) and they are made by the same guys who originally made Tecma toilets - same or higher quality, and very quiet compared to the original Tecma toilets.*

One of the reasons that these kinds of toilets are noisy is apparently because they suck air into the motor/pump/drain and Planus has reduced this air noise by inserting an additional pipe/hose in their drain - not sure how it works though...

 

[sunchaser]

Jeff

What brand do you favor over Tecma? For fear of inciting a riot, our DeFever's two 8 year old Vacuflush units have done well, with careful instuctions to guests on use. New duckbills only once with an irritating (non-issue though by killing power when we are not on boat)*slow vacuum drop on one.

Too often, *poor head performance and guests/kids are a bad mix. My SIL is a Southwest mechanic - his stories on head plugging due to passengers' actions*are interestingly sordid.

 

[HeadMistress]

I'm not Jeff, and I don't play him on TV... However, I suggest you take a hard look at the Raritan "Marine Elegance" http://www.raritaneng.com/products/toilets/electric/marine_elegance.htm Practical Sailor rated it "best in show" in their Feb issue. It's also EXCEPTIONALLY quiet...quieter in fact that any household toilet.

Macerating electric toilets that use pressurized flush water are always much quieter than those that use sea water...because, contrary to popular belief, it's not the macerator and discharge impeller that make all the noise, it's the INTAKE pump. Toilets designed to use pressurized flush water don't have an intake pump, eliminating about 75% of the noise in most of 'em...and almost all the noise in a few of 'em.

 

[Andy G]

For me noise levels are a minor issue, what's most important is reliability, I am sick to death of dismantling toilets and cleaning/replacing parts. About 50% of the issues I have had over the years are down to incorrect useage. I can't complain about that. Howeve the other 50% of issues are really annoying.

A marine toilet is a pretty simple mechanical devise, and when used properly should function for long periods of time as designed.


*

 

[HeadMistress]

Marine toilets, unlike household toilets, have moving parts that do require at least a little maintenance and occasional (every 5-6 years) replacement of some parts. However in recent years toilet mfrs that are divisions of large diversified companies have been steadily moving away from quality and durability and toward "disposable" equipment.

Someone at Jabso even admitted to me that their manual toilets are made to be "disposable"...that the service kits are overpriced because there's no profit in repair parts, but there is in complete pumps. They're so flimsy and failure prone that an amazing number of people just replace the pump every year as "PREVENTIVE" maintenance (There's a guy on a sailboat list who's done that every year for 10 years. I've kidded him about being the only person I know who's put $1000 into maintaining a $100 toilet!). Jabsco isn't alone...Shortly after Thetford bought Wilcox-Crittenden, they discontinued W-C the Skipper and the Imperial because there isn't enough market for a $1000 MANUAL bronze "throne" built to last for at least 100 years and not enough profit in repair parts to make it profitable even to continue making the HeadMate...so they discontinued the whole W-C product line at the end of '08 for that reason.
And we've seen the Tecma line deteriorate in quality since it was acquired by Thetford.

The only US toilet mfrs left except for Jabsco are Raritan and Groco, both of whom are still small family owned companies to quality and durability still matters.

 

[Singleprop]

Headhunter is also a US marine toilet manufacturer in addition to the other mentioned.

 

[HeadMistress]

Head Hunter has such limited distribution, I'd forgotten about 'em...also forgot about Galley Maid and Microphor...none of whom* really target boats under 50-60' and only sell their equipment directly, never through any of the marine retailers.


-- Edited by HeadMistress on Thursday 11th of August 2011 10:06:52 PM

 

[Singleprop]

Singleprop wrote:
There are some updated "Tecma" toilets on the market now - they are called Planus. They are Italian made (as Tecma was earlier on) and they are made by the same guys who originally made Tecma toilets - same or higher quality, and very quiet compared to the original Tecma toilets.*

One of the reasons that these kinds of toilets are noisy is apparently because they suck air into the motor/pump/drain and Planus has reduced this air noise by inserting an additional pipe/hose in their drain - not sure how it works though...

*I found this test of electric toilets where the Planus toilets are coming out ahead of any of the other "normal" toilets - so backing up their claim that they are less noisy.*

http://www.youblisher.com/p/181236-Practical-Sailor-2011-Editor-s-Choice/

 

[Codger2]

Two new entries in the MSD industry are "StarWars" & "ToiletPaper". Odd names to be sure but what they both have in common is that "they both go to Uranus looking for Klingons."

(heading for the shelter.)

 

[dwhatty]

SeaHorse II wrote:
Two new entries in the MSD industry are "StarWars" & "ToiletPaper". Odd names to be sure but what they both have in common is that "they both go to Uranus looking for Klingons."

(heading for the shelter.)

** * Good one Walt, even if a bit sophomoric.