Is the Jabsco loo better than the RM69?

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Shearwater

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I made the mistake of ordering a new set of seals for my 11 yr old RM69 loo before taking it all apart. Having spent £40 -odd I find the discharge elbow and the pump housing have been repaired earlier with superglue, both of which have failed, thus the leak and lack of suck !

I can buy replacements but I like the look of the Jabsco Twist n Lock compact which some stores have at £90-odd which is probably near the total price I would have spent on the RM but I'd have a shiny ceramic bowl and all new seals.

Which way would you jump? Is the Jabsco as good as their marketing makes it sound? I could offer for sale the new rubbers; not in original packaging but unused, and any other parts of the RM if that would help anyone. Thoughts welcomed.
 
I had an RM69 with the Sealock pump and valve arrangement at a very early stage after its introduction. The early ones were very poor, held together with self-tapping screws and with extremely thin plastic mouldings. Over a long period, and with superb assistance from my chandler in Holland, I seemed to be acting as a guinea-pig for their development programme! Finally we arrived at a design that has performed very well for a number of years of liveaboard use.

I recently bought a Jabsco Twist-lock, not dissimilar from the RM69, for another boat. It has yet to be used but I was disappointed to see the valve housing held together with self-tappers. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Older Jabscos I have used seemed very reliable.
 
The Jabsco toilet is fine. Yes, the plastic mouldings are held together with self-tapping screws, but unless you're a gorilla you shouldn't easily damage them. My 20 year old Jabsco is still working well, and the screws are removed annually to service it.
 
Shearwater said:
Which way would you jump? Is the Jabsco as good as their marketing makes it sound?
Click to expand...

I've compared the both in detail but to be these two models are very, very comparable in build quality. I've seen spare stuff for both models in many (even non-Dutch) boat-shops.

Personally I would buy the same model it replaces because of potential discrepancy in mounting holes (if any). The R&M sea-lock model was a bit better until Jabsco came with their twist and lock thingy.

So either vote with your wallet and buy the cheapest or stick with the same model. Alternatively switch to a 'better' brand. But for the price of a new Jabsco, personally I wouldn't bother even if you have to replace the whole thing every 4 years or so.

Cheers,

Arno
 
Would I be right in thinking that the RM69 in my Vega is probably original equipment? Wonder how much longer it will last...
 
RM69 v Jabsco

The Rm69 was a direct copy of the Jabsco Brydon Boy, to the extent that the service kits are interchangeable! The Brydon Boy was designed over 20 years ago, the twist and lock within the last few. I would rather have the newer technology myself. It may look to be held together with ordinary self tappers, but these are specially sourced high/low thread screws, designed exactly for the plastics used in the Jabsco toilets. No RM I ever saw had these, normal self tappers will cause the plastic to fail earlier.

Hope that helps.

Jon

PM me for more info
 
Thanks all for your input. I'll think over the next couple of weeks but I feel the Jabsco will win mainly because it is a recent design and presumably uses good-for-the-job materials, e.g. the screws mentioned earlier.

On the RM the outlet elbow is secured to the bottom of the pump cylinder by a flange or collar around the elbow. On the corresponding part of the cylinder are two lugs for the bolts to pass through, having their nuts the other side of the flange. The duck valve acts as a soft gasket and there has been some over-tightening in the past resulting in one of the lugs breaking under the strain. If instead of two bolts they'd used a 'D' ring then the stresses would have been spread right around the cylinder giving an even seal without too much force. Simples ! The elbow, I guess, broke because the stainless steel jubilee clips (my son called them coronation clips when he was about three, and the word has stuck) were over-tightened and crushed the wall of the tube; there must be an easier way of securing plastic pipe to a plastic fitting surely!

So Jabsco it is then......anyone want parts for an RM to pm me (hope that isn't advertising - it's meant to help!)
 
Pardon the hijack but is anyone aware of a toilet that is a similar no hassle replacement for an electric RM69 ?

Madam refuses to go back to a manual :rolleyes:
 
MY RM69 was new just before I got the boat so it's about 5 years old. I did have a problem with a slight leak. I discovered that the 2 screws nearest the bowl that hold the pump body onto the square discharge tube actually went right through the upper section of the tube so if the water was not pumped out of the bowl it was managing to seep up the threads of the screws. I managed to take it apart and refit the screws with ptfe tape around the threads. After relaunch in the spring I should find out if the repair has been successful.
Bit of a bad design if you ask me.
 
Shearwater said:
..... ?? due to a design fault you think, or mis-use? Obviously a concern if there hasn't been excessive usage.
Click to expand...

What's excessive use? We live aboard for 9-10 months/year and have 2 heads and only 2 of us on board most of the time to use them. It's weird that they both failed at the same time and no chemicals have been used which could cause this.

The old PAR & Jabsco seals lasted much longer and certainly the "twist & lock" feature doesn't stop one of the outlets from backfeeding slightly. Wish I hadn't binned the old pump units!
 
I bought a Lalizas toilet about 4 years ago, within a few months went wrong, leaks everywhere and the pump will seize up easily if the toilet is not used for a few weeks.

So far the tread is not positive for either the Jabsco or the RM69; other alternatives?
 
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC said:
I bought a Lalizas toilet about 4 years ago, within a few months went wrong, leaks everywhere and the pump will seize up easily if the toilet is not used for a few weeks.

So far the tread is not positive for either the Jabsco or the RM69; other alternatives?
Click to expand...

Maybe there's a clue there - our toilets hadn't been used for a few weeks while we were back in the UK. They had both been pumped dry and seacocks closed when we left and, on return, they both started leaking almost immediately so, maybe the seals had dried out? I've also fitted these to heads in other boats so just awaiting complaints.
 
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC said:
I bought a Lalizas toilet about 4 years ago, within a few months went wrong, leaks everywhere and the pump will seize up easily if the toilet is not used for a few weeks.

So far the tread is not positive for either the Jabsco or the RM69; other alternatives?
Click to expand...

Lavac!

Not unfortunately perhaps a simple swap for a Jabsco or RM etc.

Uses just a beefy bilge pump not the troublesome double chamber plunger pump of the others. No little pump /flush valve that causes a lot of trouble. No plunger seal to fail and send a jet cold seawater up your sleeve.
Correct installation is however key to success but correctly installed is next to bullet proof with only minimal maintenance.
 
getting ahead...

the only problem i had with the 1st jabsco manual head in 25 years of boating is when i myself, the fool at the other end of the wrench, overtightened bolts during routine maintenance and broke the bowl.....thus causing me to purchase my 2nd jabsco manual head, which was still going strong when we sold the boat in 06

i did then get a boat that came with the fancy jabsco electric head with built in macerator.( the previous owner's wife had found it distasteful to actually have to pump a manual head.. her spouse gave her the electric one.. then she decided she didnt like the boat very much at all and he eventually sold it..) but in use, that head sounded like an oncoming freight train and woke every one on the boat. thus causing me to purchase my 3rd jabsco manual head...

jabsco has manuals available on line and also excellent telephone support. the jabsco people were very nice when i called about having broken their toilet apart, and sent me a free new raw water filter...

on another matter, while standing in line at a boat show, i overheard a family man say to his 3 daughters, , well our next boat will have a head, no more porta johns,, whereupon his daughter said, o dad, let's name the new boat 'getting ahead..'
 
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