toilet

[boogaard]

So here is a question for all of you. Picked up my 240 sundancer a week ago now. the dealer told me time after time after time that the toilet was not a port a pota, the dealer went through the boat with me & looked at the toilet & said I am so glad this is not a port a potty. Had a Marine Max mechinc out this week to address a few minor issues & I asked him about the toilet since the dealer did not knwo anything about the toilet. Only to find out that it is a port a potty. The boat does have a pump out head so I am good there. My question is if you were told over & over by the dealer that it is not a port a potty what woudl you do? would you make them put in the vacu flush toilet at their expense? split the cost with them? or pay for 100% of it out of pocket. We plan on going on extended weekend trips with the boat & I have a 5 year old boy. We upgraded to a 240 sundancer from a 17' open bow runabout so we could enjoy being out on the water more. I have told the dealer several times that this is not acceptable & he is really do his best to try & make me forget about it. I have told him that "we" need to fix this issue & it was not until today that I finally got his attention on this issue. I feel since I was told over & over that it is not a port a potty that the dealer needs to step up & take responsibility for this. So what would you guys do? would you make them put in the vacu flush toilet at their expense? split the cost with them? or pay for 100% of it out of pocket

 

[kaz911]

The "sealand/dometic" toilet - with pump out facilities is nice and easy to use - and requires very little maintenance (read $)

Vacuflush is nice - but a lot more expensive to maintain. And the effort to empty them are the same. So you have less capacity - but you don't really want to use a VaccuFlush as a "storage tank" anyway. The small version does about 25 flushes - the big (5 gallon) does about 50 flushes before you need to empty them.

But the "real" deal - is - what does it say in your Purchase Agreement? If you have signed a purchase agreement for a Sealand/Dometic toilet - there is not much to do about the dealer. Word of mouth "agreements" are usually binding - but if something else is written in your purchase agreement - it is a hard fight - paper beats spoken words. You could maybe go after him for misrepresentation - but it is a hard fight if the papers say something else.

And it is not a port-a-pottie - it is most likely a Sanipottie - so technically the dealer was right.

 

[Lazy Daze]

It sounds like you got mixed up in semantics. Possibly because you weren't sure of the difference between the three basic styles? Generally speaking as to what is commonly used in smaller Sea Ray's now-a-days, there is 1) Porta-Potti (using the generic term here) 2) Pump-out 3) VacuFlush. A pump-out DOES use a porta-potti toilet, but it is plumbed differently. If you have #2, then the dealer may have been correct in saying that you do not have a porta-potti. Maybe the dealer explained the difference and you didn't understand, maybe he didn't - only you and he can figure that part out. But, like mentioned above, unless you can show that your bill of sale says "vacu-flush" (or something similar) than it really sounds like everything is in order.

Now, what can you do to help with your trips? Assuming you have the pump-out, it is most likely that the "holding tank" portion of the potti is 2.5 gallons. Believe it or not, that is actually sufficient for a weekend trip for a few people. Boating is kind of like camping - you need to frugal in certain ways, and one of those is use of water. This means you should use a minimal amount of water to "flush" your head - which, by the way, you probably have that upgraded "porta-potti" that has the pressurized, flushing feature? But, you could upgrade to the 5-gallon "holding tank" bottom section if you wanted some extra room.

 

[Dave in Wisconsin]

I am a new 240 owner. It is a 2006 and came with the porta-potty with the pump out. I don't plan to overnight on the boat, so this is not a critical issue for me, but it took me awhile to figure out just what I had and some of the pros and cons. As I understand it - the porta-potty with the pump out is viewed by some as superior to the porta-potty that you must disassemble and carry in and out of your boat to dump the waste. It means that while you are limited to the rather small capacity, you don't have to handle any waste. Having to disassemble and carry the waste compartment to a bathroom, dump it in a toilet, rinse it, and then re-assemble it in the boat is what I understand is the generally accepted No. 1 drawback with the porta-potty. With the pump-able port-potty there is a cost to have the system pumped out, (I've been quoted $20) it cannot hold a lot and it will smell and will require chemicals, but it remains in place and you don't have to mess with it much. At pump out (I have not used mine yet) it is recommended (on the list) to take the effort to pour additional water in the lower tank of the toilet so that you rinse the holding tank once or twice. So what do you have? A convenience while overnighting or in my case, in an emergency, with short term storage and some care, maintenance and cost strings attached. I keep mine with the upper tank full and a small amount of chemically treated water in the holding tank, ready for emergency. Because it can be pumped out, perhaps your dealer spun it as fixed to the boat, "unportable" or "portation unnecessary" and so in his mind anyway technically not a "porta potty." I have no doubt that a vacu-flush is superior, has more volume and perhaps less odor potential. It also is a $3,000 addition and introduces another system that can malfunction. It also takes up a lot of the space in the engine compartment. Maybe you can get the dealer to give you a substantial discount on installation of a vacu-flush system?

 

[sbw1]

You could take it out of the boat, place it on the salesman's desk and ask him to explain to you how it is not called a portapottie.

 

[mistercomputerman]

That's a crappy way to make a point. But, I like it!

 

[Alegria]

I understand your concern. Our first boat had this set up. Your set up is new you should have minimum odor issues, you will be able to go the weekend plus with your set up. We were able to go quite some time between pump outs.

If your concerns are capacity you should be Ok. My issue was being charged for a pump out when I only had a few gallons. Our boat now has the vacuflush head and a 28 gal holding tank and I don't mind paying for a pump out now.

If your concerns are around odor in the head then yes your set up and a Porta pottie are very similar.

I would bet you out grow the boat before the head becomes an issue! Next boat you will be looking for a vacuflush.

 

[boogaard]

Thanks for all the responses everyone. I think I got it all figured out? The boat has a 22 gallon pump out head with dockside pumpout. The toilet is a dometic it has 2 hoses on it one small hose about 1" in diameter & a second hose about 3" in diameter. From my understanding is when you pull up to the dock & they pump out the holding tank at the same time its sucking everything out of the toilet? is that correct? and also how much work is it to swap out the bottom half to a 5 gallon holding tank?

 

[kaz911]

Thanks for all the responses everyone. I think I got it all figured out? The boat has a 22 gallon pump out head with dockside pumpout. The toilet is a dometic it has 2 hoses on it one small hose about 1" in diameter & a second hose about 3" in diameter. From my understanding is when you pull up to the dock & they pump out the holding tank at the same time its sucking everything out of the toilet? is that correct? and also how much work is it to swap out the bottom half to a 5 gallon holding tank?

The whole thing is very easy to take apart and put back together again - since you can actually remove the tank. The big pump out hose can be pulled out - as far as I remember - it is only attached with a rubber gasket - not fittings to undo. But you have to take the vent hose off and that has a fitting you need to unscrew.

On the 240 I repaired the toilet on - the bottom part was only attached with brackets you flip out to remove the base. The toilet is in 2 parts - the upper part you "sit on" and has the fresh water supply - and the lower part with the "outgoings" in it - which seals the tank - with the handle at the front. The top part "slides" over the seal at the bottom - and the above mentioned brackets keeps it and the bottom part in place.

The only thing that might be an issue is the toilet becomes 3-4? inches higher with the bigger tank. But I think the mounts are compatible if you can find the 5 gal tank by itself. But you might (i dont know) need longer brackets to keep the thing in place.

But optimistic - max a 2 hour job for a first timer.

 

[Lazy Daze]

The older style has the flip-handles on each side like Kaz mentioned. The newer style has a handle in the front to release it. I haven't replaced a bottom section on the newer styles, but if it is what I'm thinking, it should take about 2 minutes. It's been a while since I've done the older style, but if memory serves, the same brackets are reused which makes that a 2 minute job, as well. Worst case, you are installing new brackets which doesn't take much longer. Once you take a good look at it, it should be pretty obvious.

 

[tcason]

We plan on going on extended weekend trips with the boat & I have a 5 year old boy.

Teach him and your self how to pee off the swim platform - alot less hassle than a toilet!