We got the manual with the boat, and put in the electric a few months after we moved on
board. I noticed the beginnings of tennis (or is it golfer's?) elbow - perhaps it was
the orientation of my installation - the handle was horizontal, fairly high. The usage of
the electric is tiny, maybe a few Amp-minutes per flush. Its possible to set the pumps
in series if you want both, or as I've said, swap them out in 20 minutes. Since the basic
pump is a Henderson (now Whale) Mark V its easy to carry a whole spare - I got one on the
"clearance table" for $50.



wrote in message ...
On Tue, 28 Oct 2003 19:24:42 -0500, "Jeff Morris"
jeffmo@NoSpam-sv-lokiDOTcom wrote:

Wow! I guess "the grass is always greener"! While I like my Lavac, I've often thought
I
might try the Vacuflush on our "next boat."

The one special advise I'd give to anyone setting up a Lavac (and this probably holds
for
all heads where there is an option) is try to locate and orient the pump so that it can
be
cleaned easily. The primary way to clog a Lavac is to get something stuck under the
intake flapper. If the pump is setup right, this can be cleared in 5 minutes through
an
access port. One mine, I have to remove the pump, but even so, it only takes 20
minutes
to be running again. I wonder if mine clogs on occasion because its an electric and
you
can't give it an "extra vigorous" pump to clear it?

Well, if I chose Lavac I wouldn't go electric because I think it's an
unnecessary complication on a boat under 50 feet or so...particularly
when my batteries would be better devoted to radar, windlass, etc. If
the batteries conk, I can use a bucket, right? Not so with radar!

R.



"Bryan B" wrote in message
...
We replaced two vacuflush toilets with lavaks. In essence we traded an
electric vacuum toilet for a manual vacuum toilet.

The vacuflush was easy to plug and very unpleasant to unplug but used very
little water. They were nice toilets.

The lavaks have never been plugged by my children, friends children,
friends, drunks, scoundrels, cat, wife, or myself. Instructions say do not
sit on the toilet and press the button to flush. I think your insides would
be outside if you made a seal. The lavak uses more water. They are nice
toilets.

We all like different stuff, thats why they make wallpaper.

B





wrote in message
...
On Tue, 21 Oct 2003 14:49:17 -0700, yes wrote:

Read the archives of this NG for many accurate comments.

Some points - the Lavac has a small seat and no ass room. The seals
ruin the paint on the seats and they always look dirty - like nobody
even cleans the sea. The Lavac seats freq are wet from flushing -
yuck. The lavac seat lids are prone to cracking from the vacuum
pressure or kneeling on them - cost $$$ and the toilet won't flush
with a cracked lid or bad seals - can't get good enuf vacuum. A friend
with a big French charter boat had 5 onboard - replaced them all with
Groco K's.

More - Raritan PH II heads are poorly designed and regardless of
Peggy's current ralationship - these are crappy toilets. I've owned 4
of them and replaced them with Groco K's. The Groco were recently
factory rebuilt by Groco - like new after 12 years hard use. The PH II
flush lever is horizontal and operating it puts your face directly
above the bowl - nice view. The lever operates a s/s rod up and down
and this rod has a "water lubricated" seal which tends to spray up in
your arm and face. It's sewage water.

Thanks for the first-hand info. Quite the picture you paint, so to
speak. I wonder why this "technology" isn't perfected yet, but then I
guess people figure that to a sailor dopey enough to sail, anything
looks better than a cedar bucket or backing off the pulpit...G

R.