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Lavac heads vs. others
On Tue, 21 Oct 2003 05:25:35 GMT, Peggie Hall
wrote: wrote: To Peggie and the head heads: I am intrigued by the vacuum method of Lavac heads: they seem simple and efficient compared to the frankly sub-par (pun intended) majority of marine heads I've seen. Peggie, I know you vend and prefer Raritan, so feel free to make a case. Hold the phone...I don't "vend" ANYTHING...I sold my company to Raritan, but I have no relationship with them or any other company. My apologies...I am obviously working on old and possibly incomplete information. I call 'em as I see 'em (which is why I don't have a relationship with any mfr...they all tend to get just a wee bit testy when an employee recommends a competitor's product over their own). I do like MOST Raritan products, but I'm not alone in that...PS and everyone else who tests equipment rates 'em the best bang for the buck too, especially the manual PH II. I'll check it out...if I can see one "live" around here. Most people are day and weekend sailors: most people use the low-end Jabsco, etc. brands. Myself, I have a Bryson from the '80s with parts salvaged from another Bryson. Not that it matters, but you mean Brydon--a version the Jabsco manual that was made in Canada under licensing agreement. If today's Jabsco toilets were built even half as well as the Brydon Boy was, they'd outlast most PH IIs. Correct...Brydon is the one. I *did* say I rebuilt it into a FrankenHead from a salvaged one...but that can't last forever, so I am looking for a better solution. planning for next season a complete overhaul of my heads installation and I am interested in Lavacs. The price is higher, but the logic seems sound, and frankly, I value well-built and reliable over cheap and cheerful. The Lavac is an excellent toilet...made by Blake, whose "Baby Blake" compact toilet is one of the best in the world--arguably better than the W-C Skipper...both built to have lifespans measured in centuries if maintained--and with price tags to match...about $1000. Thank God the Canadian dollar is past 75 cents U.S.,,,,eek. But as Jeff said, the Lavac is NOT child/landlubber guest-friendly...instead, about as intimidating to 'em as the toilet on submarine would be. So while it's an excellent choice for adult blue-water cruisers, I can't recommend it for the typical "weekend warrior" sailor. I don't have guests usually, as the type of trips we take tend to be about sailing, not ferrying a booze crew around G. Also, at dock I tend to send 'em up to the clubhouse with a "scary head" story...I don't like pumping out my own leaving, never mind visitors...So unless it involves NASA-levels of complexity, it's not a deal-killer. ...I have heard that Lavacs use too much water and are only appropriate for "weekending". Why? It's true that they do use a bit of flush water, but I dunno where anyone got that idea...'cuz it's just the opposite--they have no moving parts...the pump is a diaphragm bilge pump, and requires no more maintenance than any other diaphragm bilge pump--occasional lubrication and a new diaphragm every 5-10 years....compared to the average piston/cylinder pump toilet, they're virtually maintenance-free. Which is WHY they're so popular with blue water cruisers. I like, I like... Lots of British distance cruisers use Lavacs with no complaint, or so I hear. The Lavac can use a lot of flush water...but that doesn't matter to blue water cruisers because they don't have to worry much about filling up holding tanks...they flush directly overboard at sea and in many foreign coastal waters too. Fair enough. I guess they use the verboten "Y" connection in conjunction with a vented loop...I think if I installed that in the Great Lakes I'd have to convincingly disable it as our Coast Guard frowns on the mere presence of a method to fire waste out the side... If not Lavac, then, why, and what are good alternatives. If it weren't for the relatively small holding tank on a very big "no discharge" body of water...and if there's never (ok, rarely) anyone on your boat but you and other well-seasoned sailors, I'd say go with the Lavac. But if you're the typical weekender who only takes occasional long cruises of a week or more, and frequently have guests aboard, I don't think it's the right toilet for your boat. OK, thanks. Any sense of how much the Lavac needs per flush? I draw lake water into the head from the same thru-hull as the sink drain...it's T'd off just below the waterline (above the standard bronze ball cock at the thruhull end) and a plastic ball valve is just below the sink drainpipe, so I alternate closing and opening the T if I want to either drain the sink or pump the head. It works well and is compact. Lots and lots of doubled SS hose clamps, though. The only heads firm I have heard nothing but praise for is W-C... That depends on which model. Their low end Headmate doesn't get very high marks...their top of the line Skipper and now discontinued Imperial and Winner models are the best toilets you can buy. But they'll cost you $700-$800 at discount. If you're planning to keep this boat for the rest of your life, that's a worthwhile investment...but if you're like most people who trade up or down (or into a trawler) every 3-10 years, I think you can be just as happy with a toilet that costs about $250 at discount-- the Raritan PH II. Lever action pump instead of the typical "bicycle pump" allows it to swallow amounts of solids and TP that would choke any other toilet under $700. Exceptionally durable...keep it properly lubricated and rebuild it about every 5 years or so, and it'll last at least 20 years before any hardware needs replacing. I will follow it up then, thanks. Stay away from the electrified version, though--the PHE II...the motor does nothing but replace the pump handle, pumps it faster and with a shorter stroke than pumping manually, which wears out seals and o-rings twice as fast and causes it to choke on anything much more than 3 sheets of TP. IMO putting a motor on a PH II turns a fine manual toilet into a very poor excuse for an electric toilet. I have no time for electric toilets with only two house batteries and a 35 amp alternator G. I would electrify a windlass before a toilet. The exercise is good for the arm... Feel free to blast away. I want the benefit of experience beyond wanting for Practical Sailor to revisit the topic. They just did, about this time last year or the year before...and the PH II came out on top...again, as it has every time for a couple of decades and its predecessor PH did for a decade or two before that. You asked for my $.02 worth...that's it. Peggie Many thanks, Peggie. R. |
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