New Heads

R

robwithers

New Member
Joined
10 Jun 2009
Messages
3
Visit site
The heads in our boat are now 20 years old and showing signs that the end is nigh (do other people have lumps of rust and perished rubber in their loos all the time?).

I really dislike having small bags of pooey loo paper next to the heads, so want a new loo that will accept loo roll - and NOT get blocked. Electric ones are expensive, need electricity (obviously) and if they go wrong you're in the s**t, literally - but can the modern manual ones cope?

Any advice on what good loos that can take everything they are given!
 
Lavac, and err, Lavac.

The new Popular seems to be as well engineered as the Zenith I had for years.

http://www.lavac.com/popular-model.htm

Various manual / electric pumps are available, but the cost is pretty high, and will have to include all new piping, and sea/ black tank valves (It's not worth doing a major replacement without putting in a black tank. Future proofs the boat against legislation)
 
[ QUOTE ]
The heads in our boat are now 20 years old and showing signs that the end is nigh (do other people have lumps of rust and perished rubber in their loos all the time?).


[/ QUOTE ]

What loo do you currently have? There is a lot to be said for just "popping" one in that will fit the existing bolt holes and pipes arrangement.

Having had blockages, (mainly due to narrowing of discharge pipes, 1.5in down to 0.5in!!), and renewing the discharge pipes on both loos, we now do the pooey bags thing.

Having said that - prior to the blockages, our Jabscos both accepted loo paper without problem, so perhaps it wouldnt be a problem now that we have 1.5in to play with again /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Welcome to the forum

Popular subject here.

Answer is Lavac.

However, it is unreasonable to expect any marine toilet to cope with large amounts of paper as they all rely on some kind of pump and valves. The advantage of the Lavac is that it uses a large diameter diaphragm pump rather than a piston and a "Joker" valve. So less likely to block and arguably easier to clear if it does.
 
[ QUOTE ]
but can the modern manual ones cope?

[/ QUOTE ]
Of course they can, the whole world apart from this Dodo nation uses the Jabsco Par marine toilet.

Lavacs are as bizarre as the British 240v mains plug and should only be mounted on a plinth in a museum together with a smelly bag alongside to illustrate its design problems.
 
And what do you base that conclusion on? What are the "design problems" of the Lavac?

Whilst the Jabsco is perfectly adequate, it gets its dominant position by being cheap and aggressively marketed by a US company.

This does not mean it is the best product witness the many complaints about the weaker aspects of its design and construction.
 
[ QUOTE ]
What are the "design problems" of the Lavac?

[/ QUOTE ]
The whole concept of trying to flush a toilet with a human hand powered vacuum.
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
What are the "design problems" of the Lavac?

[/ QUOTE ]
The whole concept of trying to flush a toilet with a human hand powered vacuum.

[/ QUOTE ]

and trying to "flush" whilst sittting on it (a good strategy to get rid of those logs 6p mentioned the other day): not sure I'd like to do it with a Lavac
 
Do any manual pumps have mascerators? I'd feel the system would be less likely to block up if everything was pulped into tiny pieces.

perhaps it would be possible to marinise a log chipper...
 
the henderson Mk5 pump fitted to the manual Lavac acts like a mascerator, rarely gets blocked,easy to maintain, mine last serviced 7 seasons ago the kit cost around £20 then from memory. a drop of washing-up liquid to lube the seals & now & then some hydrocloric acid diluted to remove lime scale & Bobs yer Uncle
 
[ QUOTE ]
or sink boats like the PAR / Jabsco does

[/ QUOTE ]
Quick, you better inform marine insurance companies around the world they are about to become bankrupt.

[ QUOTE ]
no "little" levers to worry about

[/ QUOTE ]
How on earth do you cope with hoisting a sail if the operation of a lever troubles you so much?
 
Its not the loo, its the users. Well in my experience it has been. Little girls use inordinate quantities of loo roll and then expect the poor old thing to swallow it all in one go wiht limited use of flush. Bigger girls are not much better and no more amenable to reason or guilt trips over forcing the ship's plumber to materialise as the dominant personality of the composite entity skipper/engineer/hill antifouler/electrician etc
 
[ QUOTE ]
Any advice on what good loos

[/ QUOTE ] I'll side with the pro Lavac brigade, based on my own experiences of a Lavac and reading about the problems people on here have with Jabscos and similar.

If you are persuaded by the arguments in favour of a Lavac check first that you can install the pipework as described in the Lavac Instruction manual It is pretty fundamental to the proper operation of the thing.

BTW not sure if both models are still available. In the USA one version (Zenith IIRC) has been discontinued and the other "improved".
 
So, please explain why that is a problem? The design has been around for years and I have never heard anybody question the boringly simple method. On the other hand, a penny for everybody who has stripped the Micky Mouse fittings of a Jabsco or suffered from a prolapsed joker valve, or stuck flap valves making it impossible to suck in seawater - just a sample from posts on these fora in the last couple of weeks!

The only real advantage of a Jabsco is that a new one is only marginally more expensive than a full repair kit so you don't feel so bad about chucking the old one away and buying a new one.
 
Lavac indeed, especially with henderson. Never had to use poo bags except for the dog. Reliable and if you use proper rubbermarine sanitation hose (expensive) it's a doddle to swap-out every 4-5 years. Works a treat. Just fitting new hoses and seacock for mine and I notice the Lavac Manual suggests possible to pop a manual pump in line with an electric one in case of electrical probs. Anyhow, the option of sticking in a diverter valve so you can have a roving bilge pump is attractive too.
 
Lavacs are not without some hazards. We have a crew member who earned the nick name speckle after attempting to shift a blockage with enthusiastic pumping. Apparently it was not a pretty sight. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top