Electric head on 86 GB42c

We’re looking to upgrade a manual flush Par small bowl toilet in the aft head with one of largest bowl electric toilets which will fit… does anyone have one of these in that separate head compartment on their boat (circa 1986 GB42C).. and if so, which make/model?

If you are looking for the best electric head, look at a Raritan Marine Elegance. They come in different bowl sizes and heights. They are great heads. You can get a variety of flush options but absolutely get the smart flush panel. It will allow you to select the flush type and size of flush. Best head on the market IMO.

I went through this exercise 2-years ago. After considerable research, I concluded there were but two suitable options for a traditional marine head. The Raritan Elegance, and the Tecma, the head that revolutionized marine heads 20+ years ago. Tecma has had some ups/downs over the years as the brand has moved around some. I would therefore go with the Elegance.

I will add that for me, problem I was trying to solve had less to do with the head and more to do with the head system - all the plumbing, pumps, tanks, switches, and valves behind the scenes. The only way to 100% deal with those is a composting head. On a two head boat, something to think about for one of the heads if you don't find the concept too offensive ....

Peter

On our '91 GB, we installed Vacuflush heads in both fore and aft heads (redundant?). No issue with space. The vacuum was installed in the ER on starboard outside of the engine; again no space issues, could access engine and pump.
I didn't know anything about Rarity at that time but would consider them now.

I've got a Raritan Sea Era on my boat (and planning to install a second one in the other head). It's basically the cheaper version of the Marine Elegance. Not quite as good, but it still works very, very well. Pretty much if it came out of a human or off a toilet paper roll and fits through the opening at the bottom of the bowl, it'll flush. Only downside is that it's kinda loud. And it's not as nice looking as the Elegance, but no worse than any manual head.

If your SeaEra is noisy, I'm guessing it's not the SeaEra QC, which is the fresh water version...fresh water toilets are pretty quiet. It's sea water toilets that are noisy. If it's not the QC version, I hope you haven't connected it to your fresh water plumbing because it has none of the built-in protections necessary to protect your potable water supply from sea water contamination.



--Peggie

HeadMistress said:

If your SeaEra is noisy, I'm guessing it's not the SeaEra QC, which is the fresh water version...fresh water toilets are pretty quiet. It's sea water toilets that are noisy. If it's not the QC version, I hope you haven't connected it to your fresh water plumbing because it has none of the built-in protections necessary to protect your potable water supply from sea water contamination.



--Peggie

Click to expand...

Correct, mine is the basic integral pump seawater version. The intake pump is definitely a large part of the noise, as I've seen other SeaEras with a remote intake pump that aren't nearly as loud. I've been skimming through the parts diagrams casually with the thought of converting mine to a remote pump at some point (also to get rid of the quick connects on the intake pump, as I've had them leak a few times).

Another vote for the Raritan Marine Elegance. I installed a freshwater flush version on our cutter back in 2012 and it was a game changer for us. No more sulphur smells, no clogs (has a built-in macerator) and with being able to control the water use via the smart panel, we didn't need to pump out as often. Our new (under contract) boat has raw water electric heads and I'll likely change them out to Raritans for the above reasons.

...(also to get rid of the quick connects on the intake pump, as I've had them leak a few times).



Take a look at the drawing of the intake pump assembly in the owners manual...I may be wrong but it looks like there's an o-ring on each of those connections. O-rings don't last forever...they dry out and crack. Replacing 'em might fix the leaks.


--Peggie

HeadMistress said:

...(also to get rid of the quick connects on the intake pump, as I've had them leak a few times).



Take a look at the drawing of the intake pump assembly in the owners manual...I may be wrong but it looks like there's an o-ring on each of those connections. O-rings don't last forever...they dry out and crack. Replacing 'em might fix the leaks.


--Peggie

Click to expand...

There are o-rings. They've never been overly tight fitting from the start, so I might just try putting in some thicker ones (although mine look fine).

Another vote for Marine Elegance. On the advice of Peggy, I replaced the aft Groco K Series 3 years ago. Worked so well I just replaced the other Groco in the forward head. Push "1" or "2" depending. Simple. Also, no faint funky head smells like the Groco.

Thanks for the great info here folks and I am delighted Headmistress has weighed in on the fresh water backflow issue. We’re lucky to have your contributions in these forums. We have had boats with either fresh or salt water. Now we want to have it switchable…so we can use salt daily while on board and then a final flush with fresh when leaving the boat for a period of time. I know the Tecma has a switchable panel, would the Elegance be able to be configured like this?.. I.e. out of the box switch made by Raritan?

That is an available option on the Marine Elegance.

Excellent, thanks for the info!

It is an available option on the Elegance, but it's not just a switch...it requires adding their SeaFresh system and a remote intake pump to bring in sea water. You can read all about it here:Raritan seafresh system Contact Raritan tech support for installation instructions and answers to your questions: 800-352-5630


--Peggie

Peggie. Can I install a valve system to shut off fresh, turn on salt water which in turn is pumped with the wash down pump. I have the elegance fresh water head now.

You could prob'ly jury rig that, but I wouldn't because sea and fresh use two separate inlet fittings on the toilet. Reason: using the same fitting for both risks contaminating the fresh water supply with sea water if the fresh water pump isn't on to pressurize the system while you're using sea water.

Read the Elegance owners manual to know if there's any min/max PSI requirement for the remote intake pump.



--Peggie

View attachment L471vv0915seafresh.pdf

It appears that the seawater kit inserts a 'T' connection after the fresh water intake solenoid. Must be a one way valve. The raw water is straight into the T.
A minimum pressure of 10psi, but no maximum discussed.
The remote pump psi is not mentioned. My wash down pump is 70 psi. Maybe too much, but I do have a fresh water pump which does not shut off, so switched it would work fine.

When I find a round TUIT I will give it a go