I took Peggie's advice and disassembled my PHII to lube the piston. Decided
might as well rebuild it while I was at it. I lubed that dry/flush valve and
it turns very easily now. I imagine all these things will last basically if
they're lubed from time to time. Not that bad a job overall.

--


Keith
__
Bend the facts to fit the conclusion. It's easier that way.
"WaIIy" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 21:23:22 GMT, Peggie Hall
wrote:

WaIIy wrote:
My Raritan PHE II seems to break every time I touch it. Since it's
from
1989, I'm thinking of replacing it.

What exactly is breaking?

I bought a 1989 30ft Tollycraft this year. The first thing I did was
break the stem holding the dry/flush knob. No problem, raritan was very
nice and I ordered the new stm assembly, rebuild kit and new style
crank. I haven't pulled the unit to rebuild it because I'm going to put
in a new tank (Ronco) and re-hose everything.
The toilet wouldn't pump out on our latest trip, so I disconnected the
motor to obtain a bigger throw with the lever. Anyway, I was reading
about your advice on the little vent thing, so I promptly twisted that
right off the pump housing. I guess I can dig out the old treads, but
was going to replace the whole housing and the air valve.
That little teeny valve is $25.00 and the pump housing is $43.00.

Since the toilet is from 1989, I thought I might as well replace it.


I've never thought that putting a motor on a PH II does anything more
than turn an outstanding manual toilet into a very poor excuse for any
electric toilet--one of the few things Raritan makes that I don't like.
ALL the motor does is replace the pump handle...and it pumps much
faster, and with a much shorter stroke than pumping manually...which
means it takes longer to prime--and therefore wears out the seals and
o-rings twice as fast--and also "chokes" on flushes that pumping
manually would push through it easily.

I agree, I agree, I agree. That Beverly Hillbilly's motor assembly is a
joke.

Otoh, the Raritan SeaEra is an excellent toilet...macerates, available
in either raw water or pressurized water models--both as "conversions"
that will allow you to keep your existing bowl--and uses considerably
less power than the PHE II--only 10 amps for the pressurized water
version, 16 for the raw water.

I didn't see that one. I was considering the Atlantes, but for a
$600.00 savings, the Sea Era looks good, expecially since I can keep my
larger bowl (seat).

I'm not sure which way to go as to fresh or raw water. I'm on Lake Erie
and there hasn't been a problem with odor with my current raw water
intake.
I guess I could tee off the head sink pipe, but it's that Quest or
similar plumbing and parts are hard to find.

Shop hard enough, you should find it for under $400.

Thanks

Peggie
----------
Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987
Author "Get Rid of Boat Odors - A Guide To Marine Sanitation Systems and
Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor"
http://www.seaworthy.com/html/get_ri...oat_odors.html