Peggie Hall... Freshwater head recommendations?

[JohnEasley]

Morning all,

We are looking at a boat with old, electric, marine water heads. We would want to change them out pretty much right away and replace them with freshwater, electric flush heads that are reliable, don't have a reputation for being easily stopped up, and won't break the bank.

The floor is open. Recommendations?

Interesting side note, the sanitation hoses have already been changed. We'll still want to flush them out and descale/sanitize them after installing the new heads but it's a plus the hoses are recent.

Thanks.

John

 

[High Wire]

We changed over one troublesome Jabsco electric head to a Raritan Marine Elegance with the Smart Flush control. That one change rid the boat of odor-after-flush problems. What a difference! Plus its about 50% quieter. The aft head is on the to-do list.

 

[JohnEasley]

We changed over one troublesome Jabsco electric head to a Raritan Marine Elegance with the Smart Flush control. That one change rid the boat of odor-after-flush problems. What a difference! Plus its about 50% quieter. The aft head is on the to-do list.

Thanks, Archie. Those look pretty nice.

 

[angus99]

We changed over one troublesome Jabsco electric head to a Raritan Marine Elegance with the Smart Flush control. That one change rid the boat of odor-after-flush problems. What a difference! Plus its about 50% quieter. The aft head is on the to-do list.

+1. We changed both heads to Marine Elegances — after a consult with Peggie — and are very happy with them. We also replaced all the hoses and installed a Purasan unit, which works beautifully (if such a word can be applied to this topic) with the ME.

 

[av8r]

We replaced a Jabsco Quiet Flush with a Marine Elegance freshwater head and have been very happy with the change. Quieter and flushes better.

 

[HeadMistress]

The Raritan Marine Elegance Raritan Marine_Elegance Promo.pdf is the top rated macerating electric toilet...exceptionally quiet with a powerful pump and a macerator that can even chew up a tampon (but NOT a wet wipe), though they don't recommend it. I know of two retailers who have it for < $700 including the 4 option "Smart Flush" panel: an online merchant Boatersland Boatersland Marine Elegance and Hopkins Carter Marine in Miami Hopkins Carter Marine Raritan Marine Elegance I'm partial to Hopkins Carter 'cuz a mainstay of this forum--HopCar--has recently retired as its owner.

As for hoses... Rarely if ever does anyone selling a boat replace hoses unless they REALLY need it, and they always buy the least expensive hose--hoses with little or no odor permeation resistance. If you're lucky it'll be at least a year before you start to wonder where the leak in your sanitation system is, 'cuz you're sure it has be a leak, the hoses are brand new. (It took less than 90 days on my own boat and I spent another month hunting the leak before I finally gave up and tested the hoses for permeation). So prolong the inevitable for as long as possible by making sure there are no sags in the plumbing, that the run to the tank is as short and straight as possible, and always flushing at least quart of clean water through the the system before the boat will sit.

You're welcome to contact me directly if you need some help in spec'ing out the system.

--Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein

 

[Tom.B]

+1. We changed both heads to Marine Elegances — after a consult with Peggie — and are very happy with them. We also replaced all the hoses and installed a Purasan unit, which works beautifully (if such a word can be applied to this topic) with the ME.

Same here.

 

[tiltrider1]

Morning all,

We are looking at a boat with old, electric, marine water heads. We would want to change them out pretty much right away and replace them with freshwater, electric flush heads that are reliable, don't have a reputation for being easily stopped up, and won't break the bank.

The floor is open. Recommendations?

Interesting side note, the sanitation hoses have already been changed. We'll still want to flush them out and descale/sanitize them after installing the new heads but it's a plus the hoses are recent.

Thanks.

John

Considering the boat you are looking at. You have plenty of room to install vacuflush should you feel the need to go that way. Regardless you will need one toilet that plumbs out the back and one that plumbs out the bottom. While I have done well at sourcing nearly new vacuflush systems the Raritain Elegance is certainly priced right for new.

 

[JohnEasley]

The Raritan Marine Elegance Raritan Marine_Elegance Promo.pdf is the top rated macerating electric toilet...exceptionally quiet with a powerful pump and a macerator that can even chew up a tampon (but NOT a wet wipe), though they don't recommend it. I know of two retailers who have it for < $700 including the 4 option "Smart Flush" panel: an online merchant Boatersland Boatersland Marine Elegance and Hopkins Carter Marine in Miami Hopkins Carter Marine Raritan Marine Elegance I'm partial to Hopkins Carter 'cuz a mainstay of this forum--HopCar--has recently retired as its owner.

As for hoses... Rarely if ever does anyone selling a boat replace hoses unless they REALLY need it, and they always buy the least expensive hose--hoses with little or no odor permeation resistance. If you're lucky it'll be at least a year before you start to wonder where the leak in your sanitation system is, 'cuz you're sure it has be a leak, the hoses are brand new. (It took less than 90 days on my own boat and I spent another month hunting the leak before I finally gave up and tested the hoses for permeation). So prolong the inevitable for as long as possible by making sure there are no sags in the plumbing, that the run to the tank is as short and straight as possible, and always flushing at least quart of clean water through the the system before the boat will sit.

You're welcome to contact me directly if you need some help in spec'ing out the system.

--Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein

As always, outstanding information, Peggy! Thanks.

 

[HopCar]

Five votes for the Raritan Marine Elegance, one vote for the Vacu Flush.
I never actually used either but I sold a lot of Marine Elegance toilets and a lot of Vacuflush repair parts and replacement pumps.

Want to guess which one i’d buy?

 

[Todd R]

Replaced ours two weeks ago with the Marine Elegance Sea Fresh option (fresh or raw water). Highly recommend as all the others have stated.

 

[JohnEasley]

Five votes for the Raritan Marine Elegance, one vote for the Vacu Flush.
I never actually used either but I sold a lot of Marine Elegance toilets and a lot of Vacuflush repair parts and replacement pumps.

Want to guess which one i’d buy?

Yeah, that's kind of telling, isn't it?

 

[Comodave]

Yes, the Marine Elegance is the way to go.

 

[Conrad]

Vote #2 for Vacuflush. We installed two complete systems on Blue Sky four years ago and they have been very reliable. Minimal water (fresh) useage and relatively quiet. At the time the pricing was similar to the Raritan Elegance although I have no idea if that is still the case.

 

[bglad]

Not much to add to this except that Vacuflush consumes more space. IMO best if vacuum generators are not installed in or under accommodations. Elegance using freshwater rinse with discharge direct to holding tank provides far fewer opportunities for odor creation than a Vacuflush system. Elegance discharge line clamps in two places. At the toilet and the tank. Big difference between that and Vacuflush.

 

[DDW]

Can someone go through the plusses and minuses of the three high end macerating toilets? Raritan, Dometic, and Tecma. Is one clearly better than the others? Intending to replace a Vacuflush.

 

[Cruzer]

One more vote for Marine Elegance. Last spring we replaced all three fully functioning Vacuflush heads on OLOH with the Raritan heads and it's one of the best upgrades we've made. Less water being used and truly more elegant (which seems funny to say about a head). Goodbye Duckbills and whooshing pump sounds!

For the first head we installed we got the hardwired, four function Smart Toilet Control which we highly recommend if your budget allows. For the next two, which were ordered together, we decided to try Raritan's new Bluetooth Toilet Control Unit. The pluses are - there is no wire needed between the control box and the control panel which can be helpful in certain installations and, more importantly, you can easily look at diagnostics and change the default flush settings using the Raritan app which was necessary with one of our heads. On the minus side, the graphics on the non-bluetooth control panel are more intuitive, at some point the battery in the control panel will have to be replaced and you have to pair your device each time you want to change from the control panel to the app. So if you thought you could flush the head from your phone while someone was on it you'd have to plan in advance (seemed like a fun idea, though not why we bought it or anything we've done... yet :lol. Long way of saying, if we were to do it again we would probably not bother with the bluetooth version. But the heads themselves have worked flawlessly since installation.

 

[MiltonP]

I put in a Raritan SeaEra Whisper Flush electric f/w. Same smart panel as the Elegance and very happy so far. I chose it due to space and floor configuration made the Elegance a bad fit. Spinning the SeaEra base 90 degrees solved my problems.

 

[Commander Nomad]

Another vote for Raritan Elegance with Smart Control. They are near impossible to clog, non-boating guests are comfortable with them, and they last forever.

They are a requirement for any boat we own.

 

[Bigsfish]

Reading this thread I’m reminded how luck we are to have people like Peggy and Parks (Hopcar) to give us advice. Thanks to all the experts who willingly give their opinions.

 

[HopCar]

Reading this thread I’m reminded how luck we are to have people like Peggy and Parks (Hopcar) to give us advice. Thanks to all the experts who willingly give their opinions.

Aw shucks.

 

[Bigsfish]

Most here don’t realize how far we go back, generations, but in all that time I have gotten nothing but great advice from you and your marine store.

Many thanks.

 

[Stabi]

Can someone go through the plusses and minuses of the three high end macerating toilets? Raritan, Dometic, and Tecma. Is one clearly better than the others? Intending to replace a Vacuflush.

+1

 

[FoxtrotCharlie]

About to order two Marine Elegance toilets, plus Raritan hose. To replace two 30 yr old Galley Maid systems - incredible amount of hoses, y valves and pumps/motors in that old system. The new system will be much simpler and cleaner. Will post pics when I gen started in a month or two.

 

[HeadMistress]

Aw shucks.

Ditto. Thank y'all so much for the kind words!


--Peggie

 

[Delfin]

Can someone go through the plusses and minuses of the three high end macerating toilets? Raritan, Dometic, and Tecma. Is one clearly better than the others? Intending to replace a Vacuflush.

I can't comment on Raritan and Dometic, but have had a Tecma for 11 years. It has performed flawlessly, failing only once when my 4 year old granddaughter attempted to flush her panties. The macerator is good, but not that good. I have read some people had problems with earlier models where the vacuum break orifice was too small and plugged (at least I think that was the problem). In any case, mine has never missed a beat and based on that I would buy another if I ever had too.

 

[FF]

"To replace two 30 yr old Galley Maid systems -"


Some folks love and swear by Galley Maid , post your removed goodies to help then out.

 

[Oldersalt]

About 2 years ago I replaced the old Groco head with a Raritan SeaEra electric freshwater toilet with SmartSwitch, following Peggie's advice and after reading her book. Can't remember now why I chose the SeaEra over the Elegance---it might have been a bit lower price or a better fit. It was a great change. Absolutely no problems and the Admiral and me are happy.
Goof luck,
Oldersalt

 

[foggysail]

One of ours is a fresh water flush Elegance. It earned that name! I did not op for the exotic, expensive flush feature. I just cannot justify using a microprocessor or a micro controller to flush a toilet

 

[Boatcrazy]

following. Currently using a Jabsco and a manual, but looking to upgrade. Is the Elegance a "compact" or a "full size"?