denwatson
Member
- Aug 3, 2010
- 74
- Boat Info
- 2007 240 Sundeck and before that 1988 Sea Ray Sorrento 23
- Engines
- 350 MAG MPI BravoIII and before that 5.0 Merc 260 with Alpha drive
If I was ordering my '07 240SD new, I would opt for the vacuflush toilet with the ten gallon holding tank. Since our boat was "previously owned" we got what the first guy wanted. In this case the Sealand porta potti with pumpout. Our first guy was a boat user, not a boat maintainer. Our boat came with a bunch of deficiancies including the Sealand with a full holding tank. So I found myself in the driveway dismounting the Sealand so I could dump the tank since we don't have a pumpout unit at home. As I'm hauling the holding tank to our guest bathroom I'm thinking wouldn't it be nice to have my very own new potti with an empty tank. I got on the Sea Ray website to see what they are installing these days. Sea Ray uses the Dometic Sealand 970 series. Good enough for Sea Ray is good enough for me. As long as we are upgrading let's get the one with the five gallon holding tank instead of the two gallon tank. More time between pumpouts and lower pumpout fees. I tried to determine if the plumbing was at least similar but couldn't really see the connections on line. Whatever, same boat builder, same toilet builder how bad could it be? We shopped the toilet and ordered it from an outfit by the name of Ultimate Passage in Ohio. Best price and good service. So the toilet arrives and of course the plumbing connections are completely different. A trip to West Marine produced one foot of 1 1/2" sewer(bilge) hose, a 1 1/2" barbed elbow, one foot of 5/8" vent hose, a 5/8" barbed coupling and the appropriate hose clamps. I swear you could use this hose as the gun on a tank. It doesn't like to bend or be cut. Eventually it all worked out as you can see in the photos. I mounted the toilet closer to the edge of the mounting surface because the five gallon model is three inches taller and the head ceiling comes into play. Big people could use the thing but ours is mostly for the grandkids. The first words out of their mouths after boarding is "Gramps I have to go potty". For them it's like a ride at Disneyland, going potty while watching the water flash by through the portlight. The 970 is a better unit than the old Sealand. It has an air tank which you pump to pressure then hit a release button to flush, works good. It has a little sight gauge to monitor the holding tank. Total cost about $150 for the whole project. Turns out the pumpout facility at our marina is provided free by some environmental group, so much for saving pumpout fees.
