Does a Raritan Marine Elegance use less water than a Vacuflush?

[DDW]

Been lots of threads on replacing marine heads, but I am interested in only this subject from people who have swapped from the Vacuflush. The head seems to use more water than showers on our boat (and yes, we do take showers!).

I know the Raritan can be had with switchable fresh/sea water flush, but the seawater requires a pump and thru hull, and will stink a little more after awhile.

 

[HeadMistress]

With the addition of the optional "Smart Flush" panel which provides 4 choices, the Marine Elegance can actually use less flush water than a VF actually needs to keep the hoses, pump and duckbills rinsed out enough to prevent problems with it (90% of problems are caused by using too little water).


In the 10 years since Raritan introduced the Elegance, I've yet to hear from--or about--anyone who's complained about a sea water odor problem from the remote intake pump.


--Peggie

 

[Comodave]

Per Peggie, you need to flush more with a Vacuflush than most people do. I don’t know which uses more water but I suspect that they are close if you actually use the proper amount if water in the Vacuflush. One advantage with the ME is that you have the option of using 1” discharge hose which will take less water to flush the crap to the holding tank than a 1 1/2” hose. I just got my new ME on Monday and will be installing it over the winter.

 

[FoxtrotCharlie]

Per Peggie, you need to flush more with a Vacuflush than most people do. I don’t know which uses more water but I suspect that they are close if you actually use the proper amount if water in the Vacuflush. One advantage with the ME is that you have the option of using 1” discharge hose which will take less water to flush the crap to the holding tank than a 1 1/2” hose. I just got my new ME on Monday and will be installing it over the winter.

Our ME just arrived last week also But I think I will go with the 1.5" lines - just can't imagine, or bring myself to put a 1" drain line on a toilet

 

[DDW]

Sounds like not a dramatic difference.

If I swap, I'm thinking of using the sea water anchor washdown pump circuit for the sea water flush source. The pump is already needed, the thru hull already there. Only difference would be I'd need to leave it powered.

Any problems with the ME head connected to a fairly powerful washdown pump? The one currently in place is a wimpy Whale thing, I plan to replace it with something that can actually wash an anchor.

 

[HeadMistress]

Any problems with the ME head connected to a fairly powerful washdown pump?


I'd install a pump that meets the water volume and pressure specs called for in the installation instructions Raritan Marine Elegance Owners Manual

And also keep in mind that you do need to install the SeaFresh system Raritan seafresh.pdf to be able to use both fresh and sea water, you can't just connect both water sources.


--Peggie

 

[Comodave]

Our ME just arrived last week also But I think I will go with the 1.5" lines - just can't imagine, or bring myself to put a 1" drain line on a toilet

Remember that the ME is a macerating head so there won’t be any large chunks going into the discharge hose.

 

[DDW]

Any problems with the ME head connected to a fairly powerful washdown pump?


I'd install a pump that meets the water volume and pressure specs called for in the installation instructions Raritan Marine Elegance Owners Manual

--Peggie

The specs only list minimum volume and pressure, which any washdown pump will do. The question is will it stand 60 psi or even more, that a good washdown pump will put out?

 

[FoxtrotCharlie]

Remember that the ME is a macerating head so there won’t be any large chunks going into the discharge hose.

I know, I know. But as a landlord who has seen his share of plugged-up plumbing ......

 

[ksanders]

Now I’m curious.

For those who have removed a VF head and replaced with a Marine Elegance...

Thinking of the physical side of the installation, and the deck fittings that the VF uses, how did the installation work out?

* Were you able to down discharge like the VF?
* 1.5” hose like the VF?
* Capable of pumping a bit upward like the VF?
* Was the original VF deck hole completely covered, or did you need to fabricate a deck plate to complete the installation?


I’m pretty happy right now with my VF heads, but one of them has the vacuum generator in a not so easy to access spot, making it a candidate for possible replacement.

Both of my heads go to a 1.5” wye fitting and then to the holding tank, no valves in the way.

 

[Comodave]

I know, I know. But as a landlord who has seen his share of plugged-up plumbing ......

Have you looked at what comes out of the macerator? It is basically a slurry that I don’t see as a problem plugging up the hose. With the smaller hose you will be able to completely clear the poop to the holding tank with less water and therefore I think it will keep the hose cleaner since you won’t be as leery about using a bit more water to completely flush the hose.

 

[Comodave]

Now I’m curious.

For those who have removed a VF head and replaced with a Marine Elegance...

Thinking of the physical side of the installation, and the deck fittings that the VF uses, how did the installation work out?

* Were you able to down discharge like the VF?
* 1.5” hose like the VF?
* Capable of pumping a bit upward like the VF?
* Was the original VF deck hole completely covered, or did you need to fabricate a deck plate to complete the installation?


I’m pretty happy right now with my VF heads, but one of them has the vacuum generator in a not so easy to access spot, making it a candidate for possible replacement.

Both of my heads go to a 1.5” wye fitting and then to the holding tank, no valves in the way.

Yes it has a down discharge. I got an adapter so I can back discharge.
Yes it can use either 1” or 1 1/2” discharge hose.
Yes it can pump uphill.
Don’t know about the hole coverage since I have not replaced a Vacuflush.

I did make a 3/4” plywood base for mine since there are multiple holes in the fiberglass from who knows what over its 32 years.

 

[Pau Hana]

I know, I know. But as a landlord who has seen his share of plugged-up plumbing ......

My son drops torpedoes the size of human forearm (he's 6'5", around 275).

Our ME chews his remnants with no problem...

 

[HeadMistress]

The specs only list minimum volume and pressure, which any washdown pump will do. The question is will it stand 60 psi or even more, that a good washdown pump will put out?

That's a question for Raritan. Give 'em a call at 800-352-5630. A real live person actually answers the phone in tech support.


--Peggie

 

[Wayfarer]

My son drops torpedoes the size of human forearm (he's 6'5", around 275).

Our ME chews his remnants with no problem...

Please stop! I can only get SO aroused!

 

[Comodave]

As long as he doesn’t post photos even though we usually want photos of everything...

 

[Ken E.]

That's a question for Raritan. Give 'em a call at 800-352-5630. A real live person actually answers the phone in tech support.

A good person to contact at Raritan tech support is Greg Morales. Very knowledgeable about their toilets and pleasant to deal with. I spoke and emailed with Greg on my original Crown toilet installations and am doing so presently on converting them to freshwater SeaEra's.

 

[stevemitchell]

Been lots of threads on replacing marine heads, but I am interested in only this subject from people who have swapped from the Vacuflush. The head seems to use more water than showers on our boat (and yes, we do take showers!).

I know the Raritan can be had with switchable fresh/sea water flush, but the seawater requires a pump and thru hull, and will stink a little more after awhile.

I had a VacuFlush system on boat for the last year (the boat was new to me a year ago) and switched to Raritan Marine Elegance about 2 months ago. I had two heads, and switched both heads at the same time.

With the VacuFlush system, I had smells almost constantly, mainly due to the tiny size of my tank, and filling it up more often than I'd like. It used a lot of water, IF the crew used it right. That is part of the problem - you have to train them that for solids, they need to give it 7-10 seconds of water to ensure things get where they are supposed to go, and not gum up the works. After a year of use, things were starting to show issues which would have required more maintenance than I would have wanted.

With the Raritan system, I am 100% using less water, as I can go almost 3x as long without pumping out. Not only that, it is dead simple for my crew to use - I even put little colored stickers on the smart toilet control panel buttons that they should use the most often, and matched the colors to... well the input if you know what I mean.

Peggie was instrumental in providing data to help me make this decision.

I also installed a similar system on my previous boat (a sailboat) although I think it was the SeaEra model, but it still used the same control panel. Had it for 4 years with little or no maintenance, and a perfect track record.

 

[DDW]

^^^ Thanks for that info, just what I was looking for.

 

[Moonfish]

My son drops torpedoes the size of human forearm (he's 6'5", around 275).

Our ME chews his remnants with no problem...

LOL! Now THAT is a great example of the depth of actual experience (dispensed with a dose of good humor) that makes reading some threads so worthwhile.

 

[Moon]

I switched to Marine Elegance heads in late 2013 or early 2014. I have never had a problem with these heads. The ability to switch from fresh water to seawater with the touch of a button is fantastic. I rarely use raw water due to odor concerns and where I operate but it is a nice feature to have if needed. I have two heads and a 60 gallon holding tank. It takes a long time to fill the tank. I have lived aboard for many years.

 

[clyde]

when we bought our our 40ft single engine power boat with 2 heads 28 yrs ago, it had the original raritan manual heads. the pump part was 2 pieces, glued together, and they had a small leaking problem. so i replaced them with the latest greatest new raritan models, no glue, etc! they are very easy to overhaul. i do a complete overhaul every 4th year, replace the duck bills, use a hardware plumbers grease on eveything! i listen to others that have the vacume terlits, and they`re "o" ring problems, etc! i do have their holding tank pump out system, and it works great! i always keep a supply of the small duck bills those pumps use! they are easy to fix! the pumpout pumps use a lefthand thread to take of and replace the duckbills, so they should be in a place easy to get to! any questions, let me know...clyde

 

[DennisB1]

I replaced two Head Hunter water jet heads which worked great, but filled the holding tanks in 3 to 5 days with 2 people (70 gallon tank). I researched and talked with a number of people, general consensus was that the vacuflush used the least amount of water. That said, the are complicated and require a separate vacuum generator. I went with two Dometic Masterflush heads which require a 20 amp 12vdc power source and a 1/2 inch water supply from 20 to 60 pig. They will also flush if you fill the bowl from a bucket if you had a water supply failure which was another reason I changed from the jet flush system. The Masterflush (my experience) use little water per flush and have been very reliable. They only require a 1 inch discharge hose so the plumbing run is easier that with the larger 1.5 inch hose. Also the latest master flush units have a new bowl design which works much better than the older units with more solid discharge materials.

 

[jimdavi]

Seems everyone loves the marine elegance. What about Tecma silence plus?

 

[Comodave]

Don’t know anything about it.

 

[rslifkin]

I haven't used the Marine Elegance, but I have the cheaper SeaEra in one of my heads. It's the basic integral pump (raw water) version, so no fancy controls, just a push button. It's loud (as in hear it from outside the boat with everything closed up kind of loud). Definitely warn guests about the noise before they use it kind of loud.

But it works very, very well. It'll chew up anything a human can put out provided it fits through the opening at the bottom of the bowl. Based on my rate of tank fill, water use is fairly low (it's the more used head and has a short, downhill run to the tank, so line clearing isn't an issue).

 

[ben2go]

My son drops torpedoes the size of human forearm (he's 6'5", around 275).

Our ME chews his remnants with no problem...

Please stop! I can only get SO aroused!

You two have me rolling.

 

[HeadMistress]

Some of you are only confirming that we can take the boys out of the junior high locker room, but can never take the junior high locker room out of some boys!


--Peggie

 

[ben2go]

Some of you are only confirming that we can take the boys out of the junior high locker room, but can never take the junior high locker room out of some boys!


--Peggie

 

[PaulGel]

We replaced one of our Vacuflushes with a Marine Elegance and it is a great improvement. When the second VF causes issues it is gone. The plumbing is simpler and the runs are shorter and as others have said you can use a smaller diameter waste pipe without issues. On a longer run the smaller pipe might even have advantages keeping things moving (said at the risk of getting the jokes going again) faster with less water. I had to put a wooden plinth down to align the fixing points for the ME versus the VF that was removed but I took the opportunity to raise the height of the bowl because even the tall ME is a bit low. Terrific product.