Timer in Power line.

My sister rented a cat in the Caribbean. The holding talk was full. Her friend flushed the toilet as they were coming in and waste shot out of the vent over the pristine wooden sailing boat they were coming along side - complete with the family on the deck holding fenders ! Don't believe they had vacu flush !
 
Portofino I don't have the energy for long argument based on stuff you've dragged from the net. Many builders have switched from Vacu to tecma on the same model boat, due to customers disliking vacu. There is no useful uphill feature of vacu. I have tecma deliberately pumping uphill in my boat with no issues ( I completely redesigned my black system- none of it is Fairline standard, including all pipe runs, materials, tank number and location, etc). The vacu system only has vac in the short pump between the WC and the vac generator. Down stream of that it pumps/ pushes the waste to the tank just like a tecma style so you still have to worry about up/down hill. You can increase the vac length and reduce the pushed length, but then you increase the length of time of the horrible noise on every flush. Your theory just isn't correct but I'm happy to agree to disagree.
 
Portofino I don't have the energy for long argument based on stuff you've dragged from the net. Many builders have switched from Vacu to tecma on the same model boat, due to customers disliking vacu. There is no useful uphill feature of vacu. I have tecma deliberately pumping uphill in my boat with no issues ( I completely redesigned my black system- none of it is Fairline standard, including all pipe runs, materials, tank number and location, etc). The vacu system only has vac in the short pump between the WC and the vac generator. Down stream of that it pumps/ pushes the waste to the tank just like a tecma style so you still have to worry about up/down hill. You can increase the vac length and reduce the pushed length, but then you increase the length of time of the horrible noise on every flush. Your theory just isn't correct but I'm happy to agree to disagree.

So why do you think the Vac is / was so popular amongst boat builders , especially small boats ?
After all everybody on this post much to the surprise of the OP agreed they are carp ( no pun intended ) further more the cost effective fix is to replace ( where possible ) with macerator/ pumps .Tecma being an example .

I still contend they are an easier fit cum cop out in terms of pipe runs and relative tank height - reducing potential for regurgitation when the boats attitude changes .

So you are saying in terms of engineering the fit / instal between Vac and macerator pump is more / less equal i.e. littke if any to differentiate - if I read and others read you post after referring to the manufacture instal links I posted ?

I'd so why on earth did they or still do ? Builders fit a Sealand Vac bog (s) in the first place ?
 
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It was vilebrequins. I'm unable to erase the memory of that classic Porto-Post :D:D

Yes well spotted ,swimwear .Worn dawn til dusk in the season in the med @ anchor
Surprised @ the time , other hairy aresd blokes - on the forum can,t identify with the issue :):):)

My bogs arn,t Tecma,s as I originally thought. They are macorater / pumps ,ceramic bowls with a bidet function .
Just saying how useful that extra function can be at times , there a seperate control to the flush for it .
Saw the makers name - Italian - in the back of the boat manual can,t remember - sorry
 
I still contend they are an easier fit cum cop out in terms of pipe runs and relative tank height - reducing potential for regurgitation when the boats attitude changes .

I'd so why on earth did they or still do ? Builders fit a Sealand Vac bog (s) in the first place ?

These two statements are simply wrong.

Take my forward cabin toilet - the existing pipe runs about 4m to and from (thats at 8m of pipe) the space where Princess fitted the vac generator.
The new pipe run will be less than 1m.
And this ratio will be the same for the others that I'm replacing - the bilge spaces under our accommodation deck are literally littered with pipes - most of which can be removed if the vac system is thrown out.

And to "why are the builders still fit them.
It seems to me that they don't anymore.
 
These two statements are simply wrong.

Take my forward cabin toilet - the existing pipe runs about 4m to and from (thats at 8m of pipe) the space where Princess fitted the vac generator.
The new pipe run will be less than 1m.
And this ratio will be the same for the others that I'm replacing - the bilge spaces under our accommodation deck are literally littered with pipes - most of which can be removed if the vac system is thrown out.

And to "why are the builders still fit them.
It seems to me that they don't anymore.

Yours is a big boat ----- reflect a moment ------ so the pipe runs will be --- let's think ... er longer than a Priny 30 ty something .Agree in your case should never had them ,that detail ,but then listening to other big Priny owners the bogs arn,t the only bo bo , --- anchor chain ,passerelle Lenght etc etc .

Sorry I asked why the fitted them , your answer " they don,t do it now " -- has not imho addressed that ?

It's the height difference the ability of the Vac to keep sucking them clean as the boats attitude changes and the relivive height of the Vac pump and bowl changes regarding regurgitation.
Sure it had Vac,s when in reality it ought to have had macorator. / pumps as with a hull that size I imagine it would be dead easy to follow the instal link I posted re tecma and position the tank deep ,to allow for
" gravity drain " when the pumps stopped .
And deep enough so,s changes in attitude keep the tank below the bowls .
It's seepage when the motors are not running and boat attitude .

I bet the relative tank to bowl height s are different in the Priny Vac bogged 67 and equivalent newer none Vac,ed modal .

Newer builds will as I said in s post above ,if you know it needs to be essentially gravity fed then that's more difficult in a flat widebeamed little cruiser --- hence the o.9 M positive head Vac pump location of the Sealand is a get out of jail card for the builder in tight installations ----- yours I don,t think is a tight instal by any stretch of the imagination.

What do Priny fit in smaller boats ? Volumed out so to speak .?
May be @ the time your 67 was built they were just mindful of inventory,stock parts and used Sealand Vac bogs across the range ? -- it's all the buyers put in the parts shed so the same guy working on a P 38 one day could rotate shift wise ( sickness / leave etc ) and drop into a P 67 the next.
Production manager is happy with this !

Now or course we here the word " bespoke " and " semi custom " even on SS Porto 40 ( when they made them )
So cos of that filtering down ,from the really big stuff -- egged on by those marketing boys ( don,t you just love em ?) they -builders all now have massive inventories to pick n mix so for Priny unlike anchors and passerelle s seems like the the ave joe east EU fitter who started last week - slopes into the parts warehouse ,low and behold he's confronted with a choice of bog(s ) to grab .
Consumer lead I would like to think , but the tiny std anchor and 1 ft of passerelle reach has not got back to them ?? Yet
The words bean counter come to mind regarding spec decision s too .
 
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Porto, whenever you come across two alternative boating equipment, say X and Y, and X is superior to Y, most often than not the reason why some builders decide to install Y is quite simply that they can purchase it at a lower cost.

Not that I'm sure it's the real reason in this case, but I struggle to understand your focus on this point anyway, as if the following equation would be valid:
Y is (was?) widely used = there must be a good reason = Y is better than X
I'm sure you will agree that the last part of this transitive relation isn't necessarily true, regardless of how good the reason is/was.

As I understand the debate so far, everybody agree that X is superior to Y in all respects, so I think it's fair to answer your question about the Sealand USP with another question: does it matter? :)
 
Porto, whenever you come across two alternative boating equipment, say X and Y, and X is superior to Y, most often than not the reason why some builders decide to install Y is quite simply that they can purchase it at a lower cost.

Not that I'm sure it's the real reason in this case, but I struggle to understand your focus on this point anyway, as if the following equation would be valid:
Y is (was?) widely used = there must be a good reason = Y is better than X
I'm sure you will agree that the last part of this transitive relation isn't necessarily true, regardless of how good the reason is/was.

As I understand the debate so far, everybody agree that X is superior to Y in all respects, so I think it's fair to answer your question about the Sealand USP with another question: does it matter? :)

No it does not matter one bit --- :cool: to me buts that's a bit selfish .
It's a forum we all have a view .
But having had a Y for far too long and suffered the woes ^^^^ , like every Y owner , in a small boat
Then ended up with an X , actually X +1 ( bidet function :) ---in a bigger boat .
Just intrigued how Y is / was so popular with builders particularly I have to add the distinction of in "smaller boats ."

Unselfish point is those thinking of swopping Y for X , need to study the instal guides of both and be mindful of relative tank height / bowl positions , think when the pump stops ,the if impeller vanes slightly miss align , the boat changes attitude , gravity takes effect .
Additionally without the Vac effect , stagnant product sitting in the pipes = odour problems ,that the same pipework did not have before .

:):):)
 
In terms of pricing and cost, they are not necessarily related. In any case, 10 years ago, we were getting $2 to the £1, making about 35-40 difference to today. In addition, things in the States are generally priced $ for £, so many things are much cheaper before you factor in the Ex rate. By the way, Rafiki has Vacuflush. Therefore I am following with thread with trepidation. We have to date had a couple of instances where I have had to unblock the heads, due to "own goals". The vac pump runs on when the bowl is not sealing properly, but a quick rub round with the brush sorts it.
In any case, I prefer to SoS to SoB, but where we boat this is generally not an issue. Visitors less inclined to do so, but then they don't get the pleasure of sorting out the consequences!
 
Thank you one and all for the lively and very informative debate, although it has strengthened my feeling to not try to change the system. The devil you know, etc. I have ordered the timer suggested by Grobble ( little lost if it does not work) and will quietly creep out of the back door while some of you guys hammer away at each other!
 
Hello again,

Just to update you all. The timer suggested by Grubble on Oct 10, has been fitted and works perfectly, the timer is not especially accurate but its good enough. If the pump runs too long, the timer cuts the power to it, but resets when the main switch is turned off and back on.
 
Hello again,

Just to update you all. The timer suggested by Grubble on Oct 10, has been fitted and works perfectly, the timer is not especially accurate but its good enough. If the pump runs too long, the timer cuts the power to it, but resets when the main switch is turned off and back on.

I'm glad it worked out as we thought it would. A nice easy cheap fix compared to taking the whole thing out and replacing it with a different system. If you wanted a bit more sophistication you could add a normally closed momentary push switch in the supply to the timer to reset it, rather than having to turn the main switch off and back on again.
 
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