Electric flush toilet

[Club 56]

Looking at going electric for toilet flushing.
Two options
Jabsco conversion unit from manual to electric, easy swapping.
Jabsco light flush toilet, same foot print as current manual and hoses.

Has anyone comments or experience on either?

Cheers
Club 56

[catlotion]

I've been thinking the same.  There are fair number of posts on the YBW forum - particularly for the Lite.   Some good, some bad...   Mainly about the durability of the pump innards and fitting issues...

https://forums.ybw.com/index.php?search/172968/&q=jabsco+lite&o=date

I'm still undecided!

[symphony2]

You can see more about fitting a Lite in a Bav 36 posted by Sitesurfer in the youtube thread on Scuttlebutt

[Noelio Abrunhosa]

Hi

i Replaced the toilet for the jabsco lite. it was a bit tricky to get the pipes on the correct angle. the switch ( i Got the panel switch instead of the foot switch) failed within a week of use. Jabsco replaced the switch. also there was a lot of scale build up. fitted a air break tank and now that it is on fresh water no more isssues. ps screw sizes are not the same size.

kind regards

Abby

[Markus]

Not really the question you asked, but I just installed a Johnson pump AquaT comfort. Seemed like a good value for money, but obviously no experience of it yet. I have not yet found spares at reasonable prices, so perhaps I will purchase another one for spares a bit later... 

https://www.svb24.com/en/johnson-pump-electric-on-board-toilet-aquat-silent-12-v-comfort.html

[landes_h]

When I got my 2003 Bav. 38 in 2013, the first thing was to replace the leaking (original) manual mini toilet which you find on every factory boat. I put a comfort size bowl toilet and replaced the manual Jabsco pumpt with the Jabsco conversion kit. The system worked fine, I always had the original hand pump in storage for emergency (never needed) and also a service kit (actually 2, 1 upper kit, 1 lower kit) onboard, never needed. in 2020 I fitted the service kit, just to see how the conversion set looks inside and what needs to be replaced. All was still good!
Here comes the deal: The Jabsco conversion kit is so damned loud that any neighbor in the marina knows what you were just doing. Meanwhile we had a deal on our boat not to flush before 09.30 in the morning just not to wake up people on our boat and near by. The problem seems to be the rather small macerator(s) with two impeller type pumps.
Now I did a lot of measuring and reading. The Jabsco toilets preferably come with a separate water pump for intake, which takes more space under the sink. I found an interesting Model:
Sanimarin Maxlite 12V --->  https://www.sanimarin.com/en/our-products/sanimarin-maxlite-2/
It can be installed in almost any position one can imagine, has an integrated macerator/pump with larger diameter impeller. The bowl is made of moulded plastic, though rather light. It shall fit on the footprint of a conventional handpump toilet. Price around 500 EUR.
That's what I will put in. Of course all hoses will be replased, to start with a fresh smell  .

[symphony2]

Similar to the Jabsco Lite
https://www.marinesuperstore.com/marine-toilets/toilets/jabsco-lite-flush-toilet

You still need the same saltwater inlet that you have for the manual toilet. for both this and the Sanmarin. Although the footprint of the toilet is the same, the hose attachments are not in exactly the same position so may require some re-routing, particularly the outlet.

[Trundletruc]

I have not got an electric toilet in our boat but I heard they use a lot of water and that this fills up the holding tank very quickly. I believe they pump through the same amount of water irrespective whether you have done no1s or 2s?
My comment is based on the fact that a 50ft charter boat anchored near us was pumping effluent out of the breather hole. When I politely told the occupants, they deduced that because there were 8 people onboard they had filled the holding tank to over-flowing.
 Unless anyone can tell me different I think I will stick to hand pumping.

[Markus]

I have not got an electric toilet in our boat but I heard they use a lot of water and that this fills up the holding tank very quickly. I believe they pump through the same amount of water irrespective whether you have done no1s or 2s?
My comment is based on the fact that a 50ft charter boat anchored near us was pumping effluent out of the breather hole. When I politely told the occupants, they deduced that because there were 8 people onboard they had filled the holding tank to over-flowing.
 Unless anyone can tell me different I think I will stick to hand pumping.

There are some toilets that have only one button to flush but most of them have 2-3 buttons to control the amount of water flow. An electric toilet with kids on board is absolutely fantastic compared to being woken up at 5 am to hand pump... 

[Trundletruc]

Thanks Markus, when I have fixed a few more jobs I will perhaps have a look into it.

[symphony2]

I have not got an electric toilet in our boat but I heard they use a lot of water and that this fills up the holding tank very quickly. I believe they pump through the same amount of water irrespective whether you have done no1s or 2s?
My comment is based on the fact that a 50ft charter boat anchored near us was pumping effluent out of the breather hole. When I politely told the occupants, they deduced that because there were 8 people onboard they had filled the holding tank to over-flowing.
 Unless anyone can tell me different I think I will stick to hand pumping.

The Jabsco Lite uses 1.2l per flush, much the same as you normally need with a manual pump to clear the pipe to the tank of waste. Typical urine volume is 0.5 - 1l (male bladder capacity up to 1.5l). Solid waste obviously adds volume. So typically 2l+ per visit and tank capacities are 60-80l allows around 4-6 uses per person for 8 persons. Given the typical high fluid consumption on charter boats easy to see how tanks would be full in as little as a day! Much easier to control with only a couple on board of course and 4-5 days quite reasonable. Don't think electric or manual makes much difference, the water usage is similar, except you can't control the flush volume of the electric. A second flush uses the full 1.2l.

[Craig]

If you install an electric toilet, consider disabling the single press button that pumps water in and flushes. That arrangement can be a problem, particularly if you develop a partial blockage on the outlet side.

Try a 2 button toilet where you hold the switch down to empty ( usually less than 3 sec) and press the inlet water switch ( about 15 sec) to fill the bowl with clean seawater before emptying again. This method uses 1 bowl of water and ensures the outlet up to your holding tank is fairly clean. Always leave the bowl empty.

The water you use will depend on the size of your bowl. I've found that people having to use a manual toilet don't pump enough water through the system.

Also best to leave holding tanks open for as long as you can and only shut the outlet if in a marina, when swimming or in a restricted area. This also avoids the problem of exploding holding tanks because the fill level gauge is useless.

In 11 years of operation, first 5 1/2 years in the Mediterranean then remainder along the east coast of Australia I've never had a blockage or ran out of capacity with 2 or 4 people on board for weeks at a time. Boat is a Bavaria 38 with 80 litre holding tank. I've checked the hoses a number of times and found little or no calcification in the pipes. Replaced one seal in pump about 1 year ago when it developed a leak. 

Craig
" Shirley Valentine"
Gold Coast
Australia

[elias]

Hi ! we installed the conversion kit, super easy and super loud. They work fine but there are some cases of recirculating the pooh back some seconds if the hoses are scaled and old.

[Club 56]

Update

Outcome is I fitted the Jabsco conversion.

Reasons,
Easy to fit. 7 out of ten. Had to move the toilet bowl 25 mm to the right. Suit hose connections.
Redundancy, swapping back to manual in case of failure or electrics. Easy to store away.

Thus far it’s working well.

I know I was warned about the noise. It’s noisier ( 9 out of 10 ) than expected.

Our view is it’s only 5- 8 times a day and only for 10-15 seconds. No real hardship. Only concern is for our neighbours when we are in a marina.

Thanks to everyone for their posts.

Cheers
Club 56