Raritan heads

bumblefish

bumblefish

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As I have a number of jobs to undertake before I get my new friend back in the water I decided to have a good look around the heads. A Raritan PH, circa 1972, according to the website this has been discontinued for some time and spare parts are limited. I thought I would be better off installing a complete new system that is currently in production. Any suggestions as to a good compact installation?
 
Just installed the Jabsco unit - available with larger or smaller bowl - nice unit £150 from local chandlery. It replaced one of the cheaper makes which had access to the pump only by taking the whole pump off & then almost impossible to get back on & it kept going wrong!!
 
Don't be in too much of a hurry to throw out your Raritan toilet - they are a good quality product. Raritan are an American firm and still support all their older products. We have just serviced our 1970s Raritan PH using the appropriate service kit, which we got from Lee Sanitation of Fenny Crompton, Warwickshire, Tel 01295 770022, cost £29.75 plus postage.
 
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As I have a number of jobs to undertake before I get my new friend back in the water I decided to have a good look around the heads. A Raritan PH, circa 1972, according to the website this has been discontinued for some time and spare parts are limited. I thought I would be better off installing a complete new system that is currently in production. Any suggestions as to a good compact installation?

[/ QUOTE ]

The PH was replaced by the PH II in 1981. Raritan continues to offer the service kit for the PH and any hardware parts that are interchangeable with the PH II.

Both the PH and PH II have been rated the best manual toilet toilet under $500 (price in the US is about $250) for decades...providing at least 20 years of reliable trouble-free service with minimal maintenance. There's no other toilet made today that's in the same price range--and certainly none that cost less--that are likely to work reliably for even 5 years, if even that long.

However, IMO it's time to replace the 1972 pump with the current PH II version instead of putting a service kit in it...'cuz everything has a lifespan...and after 30+ years of use, salt and grit will have scored and scratched the inside of the pump cylinder wall to the point where it can no longer be nearly as efficient as it once was, even after replacing all the rubber bits.
 
i have a raritan compact, it is the one with the black round pump handle, you can still get spares for them, i have just stripped it down and replaced all the washers and valves, if you look at the lee sanitation site, you will find the spares list, your raritan ph should be listed, if they have the parts, you will have them next day delivery...

i was dreading having to take the heads apart, but it was really simple, just get some vinegar first, large bottle or two, and pour that into the bowl and pump a little into the pump and leave it for a couple of hours, before taking it apart, it will help to break down the calcium deposits in the pump and pipe.

The service kit and postage was around £55, and was really easy to replace...


just noticed headmistresses comment on replacing the pump for new one, if you can get one i would go with the replacement, would be a lot easier to replace...
 
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Is the PHII pump directly exchangeable with the PH kit?

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Yes..the PH II pump assembly will fit the PH base.

The original Raritan Compact is also obsolete, replaced 7-8 years ago by the Compact II (CP II) However, as with the PH, spares for the Compact are still available.
 
I'm sure that's only the bowl and possibly the seat too. 'Cuz Doulton is a UK china and pottery maker...Raritan uses a US pottery maker who also puts their own name on the bowl (which often confuses new boat owners who assume that the name on the bowl is the brand of the toilet). After 30+ it's not surprising that the bowl would have required replacing. HOwever, I wasn't aware that Doulton makes marine toilet bowls. Hopefully a P.O. of your boat hasn't jury rigged a domestic toilet to flush using a marine toilet pump...or worse, yet connected it to the onboard fresh water system.
 
Two items,
one; now you have me worried, as the surveyor commented on the size of the fresh water tanks!
Two; can I replace the now tired looking bowl and service/replace the Raritan pump independently?
 
1. As long as the toilet intake line goes to a thru-hull, and is not connected to any of the fresh water plumbing, it's fine. I suspect it is ok, 'cuz if it were connected to the fresh water supply, any competent surveyor would have discovered it and noted it as a mandatory correction...it would be very hard to miss.

2. You could, but that's the most expensive way to do it by far. A new bowl plus the service kit is about 2/3 the price of whole new PH II. A new bowl plus a new pump assembly is at least 75% of the complete toilet.

If your cash is really tight right now, put the service kit in it and live with the tired bowl for a season or two. Even just about worn out, it'll be a FAR more efficient and reliable toilet than any other manual toilet made today that doesn't cost considerably more than a new PH II.
 
If you replace the pump assembly, you won't need to service.

Peter, that's very interesting. Bowls are at least 80% of the ship weight for any toilet...so I wonder if Raritan ships to the UK without bowls to keep ship cost down and uses a UK supplier for the ones sold there.

I'll ask 'em on Monday.
 
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