Lavac popular sea toilet?

RogerMayne said:
Hi,
After unblocking my Jabsco for the umpteenth time on bank holiday Monday I have come to the conclusion that it needs going overboard.
Has anyone got experience, good or bad, of the Lavac popular and what are they like to fit?
TIA
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we have the brilliant Lavac, there is no other toilet imho
I replaced my original Lavac with the popular a year ago ( Force 4 best price) as the original had a slight crack in the lid.Have you seen the price of a Zenith lid :rolleyes:.
i sold the Zenith on ebay for around £120 bought the Popular for about £210 (i think).
 
RogerMayne said:
Hi,
After unblocking my Jabsco for the umpteenth time on bank holiday Monday I have come to the conclusion that it needs going overboard.
Has anyone got experience, good or bad, of the Lavac popular and what are they like to fit?
TIA
Click to expand...

The correct plumbing layout is essential for the operation of a Lavac. That is the loops in the inlet and outlet and the little pin hole vent in the inlet hose

Look at the instructions if you are not familiar with the Lavac installation. http://www.blakes-lavac-taylors.co.uk/pdf/lavac.pdf

Correctly installed a Lavac will give trouble free operation with the minimum amount of maintenace
 
RogerMayne said:
Hi,
After unblocking my Jabsco for the umpteenth time on bank holiday Monday I have come to the conclusion that it needs going overboard.
Has anyone got experience, good or bad, of the Lavac popular and what are they like to fit?
TIA
Click to expand...

Lavac's are OK - and I know that people will always extoll the virtues of the item that they have spent money on and with Lavac's it can be a LOT of money. I have never found that following the actual instructions on a Lavac works as well as it should. I have invariably waited (and waited and waited) for the vacuum to be low enough to lift the toilet seat and then pump out once more to empty the thing was the best way.

What on earth are you doing to block your Jabsco? We have two on our current boat and the biggest problem I have ever had is bits of twig getting sucked up and getting caught in a valve in the pump. We have NEVER blocked one in the six or seven years we have owned the boat. (And I can't remember having to sort out too many blocked ones on other boats but it does happen...) We even put toilet paper down ours, but makes sure that its MODERATE amounts and pump out regularly. A big wedge of paper is asking for trouble. I have unblocked Lavac's a couple of times (pump blocked with unmentionables) Although the Lavac is easy to unblock, its ALWAYS messy in my experience, whereas the few times I've unblocked a Jabsco I seem to have got away with much less mess.

Is it the same person who always blocks your Jabsco? Are the pipe runs reasonably clear?

The above is only my experience, and I know that Lavac owners can be fanatical about their choice of heads so prepare for some choice comments perhaps?
 
As a liveaboard Lavac are brilliant . There are no working parts except a bliddy great bilge pump type discharge. Never found anything big enough to block it !!
 
john_morris_uk said:
Lavac's are OK - and I know that people will always extoll the virtues of the item that they have spent money on and with Lavac's it can be a LOT of money. I have never found that following the actual instructions on a Lavac works as well as it should. I have invariably waited (and waited and waited) for the vacuum to be low enough to lift the toilet seat and then pump out once more to empty the thing was the best way.

What on earth are you doing to block your Jabsco? We have two on our current boat and the biggest problem I have ever had is bits of twig getting sucked up and getting caught in a valve in the pump. We have NEVER blocked one in the six or seven years we have owned the boat. (And I can't remember having to sort out too many blocked ones on other boats but it does happen...) We even put toilet paper down ours, but makes sure that its MODERATE amounts and pump out regularly. A big wedge of paper is asking for trouble. I have unblocked Lavac's a couple of times (pump blocked with unmentionables) Although the Lavac is easy to unblock, its ALWAYS messy in my experience, whereas the few times I've unblocked a Jabsco I seem to have got away with much less mess.

Is it the same person who always blocks your Jabsco? Are the pipe runs reasonably clear?

The above is only my experience, and I know that Lavac owners can be fanatical about their choice of heads so prepare for some choice comments perhaps?
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A replacement pump kit for the Jabsco is 1/2 the price of a new loo :rolleyes:
 
clyst said:
As a liveaboard Lavac are brilliant . There are no working parts except a bliddy great bilge pump type discharge. Never found anything big enough to block it !!
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I'll lend you a young lady(?) crew member called Deborah from a few years ago. What compounded the problem was that I tried the 'really lean on the pump handle' trick first to see if I could move the obstruction. The cover wasn't quite on perfectly and it sprayed me (including my face) with stuff I would rather not be sprayed with. (Despite specific instructions she though it would cope with ladies sanitary... ok I'll stop there...)
 
sailorman said:
Try £125 & £60 for a pump
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I was in a chandlers yesterday and a Jabsco on display was marked up at £99. I've checked the website and they are listed as £115 new from that particular shop so perhaps it was an ex display model. I hadn't bought one for a while so I was interested to see the card pinned to the one that I walked by and we can split the difference... The point I was making was that they are rather cheeper than a Lavac at £200+

Lavac's are great marine toilets, but I was trying to explain that they also have their faults. If the OP is continually blocking his Jabsco then something is wrong.
 
john_morris_uk said:
I was in a chandlers yesterday and a Jabsco on display was marked up at £99. I've checked the website and they are listed as £115 new from that particular shop so perhaps it was an ex display model. I hadn't bought one for a while so I was interested to see the card pinned to the one that I walked by and we can split the difference... The point I was making was that they are rather cheeper than a Lavac at £200+

Lavac's are great marine toilets, but I was trying to explain that they also have their faults. If the OP is continually blocking his Jabsco then something is wrong.
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I would agree that blocking a Jabsco constantly could be operator or installation error. Although think that you may have been unlucky with your experiences with Lavac.

But having had one new Lazarus Toilet followed be a new Jabsco Toilet on the last boat... On this boat we acquired a Lavac then had to pay parts to service etc), would I or SWMBO go back NO NO and NO.

Lavac's are Clean and easy to use, I had some one on-board who had not used one... "Just pump 5 or 10 times wait a few seconds and pump the same again" is that it? he ask's my only reply was seems to work have never found any residues in the bowl...

Yes parts are expensive, no question asked there but it seems you get what you pay for....

£100 for a toilet for a boat does seem to cheap IMHO, the last Jabsco I had was defiantly built to a budget not to a standard...
 
I know we're going against popular wisdom, but I'm strongly with John Morris on this important issue!

I've owned an embarrassing number of boats over the years, fitted with just about every marine toilet made since the 1950's.

My personal experience has been that Lavacs block more easily than Jabscos and, as John so vividly describes, the Lavacs are horribly messy to clear.

When in London, we stay on our old motor boat, sometimes for weeks at a time, sometimes with 4 adults on board (occasionally with 6). The boat has 2 Jabscos. We've had that boat for 6 years now, and we have a huge range of different people visiting. Both loos discharge to holding tanks. We have never had a blockage in either loo (I hope I'm not tempting fate!).

On our proper boat (a catamaran), we used to have a Lavac. During a 3 week cruise to Scilly a few years ago, it blocked twice. On getting home, I replaced it with a nice new, cheap, Jabsco, which has worked perfectly since.

Some years ago, we lived on a Moody 33 for two years, fitted with a Lavac. We had two memorable blockages in that time.

Close friends lived on their Invicta for the same period. I think it was in Calvi in Corsica that their Lavac blocked. Paul disappeared below, with a look of resigned determination. There followed a stream of mumbled profanities. After about half an hour, there was a very loud, very liquid sort of explosion. Paul emerged into the cockpit, smothered in brown stuff, with a big grin on his face (yes, even his teeth were smeared with the brown). He looked across, and proclaimed, "now that's what I call a fart!".

So..... I know Lavacs are highly regarded, have no moving parts, have a big pump, etc, etc......but I much prefer my collection of Jabscos, thanks!
 
NealB said:
So..... I know Lavacs are highly regarded, have no moving parts, have a big pump, etc, etc......but I much prefer my collection of Jabscos, thanks!
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It's not true that Lavacs have no moving parts - it's just that the moving parts are in the pump (which is not made by Lavac). The rubber seal is also prone to hardening and loss of efficiency after a time. I've had no problem with the Jabsco type and flush soft toilet paper down with impunity. Always give a generous number of pump strokes and they're fine.
One drawback with the lavac is that it's not possible to pump out midway through a session if necessary.
 
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Probably better to find out why the Jabsco is blocking. Much as a I like the Lavac in my old boat, the Jabsco in the other works fine and is half the price of a Lavac. If the Jabsco bowl is in good condition buy a new pump for £60 and carry on using it.
 
Installed a Lavac popular 8 or 9 years ago to replace a leaky RM(?). One point to note is that the Lavac seems taller than the one it replaced. SWMBO is almost dangling her legs when sitting. Apart from that it has performed faultlessly. We always pump about 25 strokes as we've got a very long outlet pipe. I also clean the pump every winter during layup, usually just a light coating of limescale to remove.
If the pipes can be routed satisfactorily, the Lavac lends itself to a very clean installation.
lavac.jpg
 
Scaled up discharge pipes probably not helping either. Remove and whack against the quay till clear, then refit. No need to buy new. De scaling is just about the only maintainence a lavac needs.
 
michael_w said:
Scaled up discharge pipes probably not helping either. Remove and whack against the quay till clear, then refit. No need to buy new. De scaling is just about the only maintainence a lavac needs.
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After 30 years I had to replace the diaphragm in mine as it had split. The pump was so old I couldn't get the right one & I made one out of a huge (tractor?) innertube. 10 years on & it still works fine. The flap valves have hardened, but a slight change of pumping style solves that issue.
 
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