Lavac toilet questions

[tgeewe]

HI.

I am in the process of replacing my old head. Based on some research, Lavac Popular (24V) seems to be the best bet, however I do have some questions about it. Any help is appreciated.

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1. Some say that it is not guest friendly. Why?

2. My old head did have a macerator, this way If I was pumping into the sea, the "hard stuff" came out in "small pieces". How is it with the Lavac? Is there some mechanism built in to break it up? Or else, is it feasible to build a macerator into the system?

3. Also worried about having to use the toilet brush to clean up after harder jobs. Do you ever have to do this? Asking because this would require two flushes and a waiting time of 2 minutes (at worst) between them which is not really user-friendly. (What I can think of is that the strength of the vacuum pull causes the flushing water to entirely clean of any mess)

4. Is there a way to add water to the toilet before the next job, if leaving it dry.

5. What is the power consumption of the 24V (or 12V) electric pump? How is it compared to other toilets?

6. There are times when you have to use "extreme amounts" of toilet paper ... Will it clog the system?

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Thanks :),
tg

[DanC]

We (myself, wife and 10-yr old son) have lived daily with a Lavac for over 2 yrs now. I highly recommend it, with a few qualifications. I'll try to comment on your questions as you numbered them.
1.Guest friendly? Yes, with a clear hands-on demo, so the person PRACTICES (not only watches, listens to or reads) exactly how to operate the Lavac, well before the guest needs to use it.
2. Macerator? Probably not needed for most installations, and not even discussed as an option in the Lavac installation and operation manual. We use a manual diaphragm pump as specified by Lavac. There is an optional electric pump offered - is that what you mean by a macerator? The vacuum and pumping action breaks up the solids as they pass through the toilet outlet and the diaphragm pump. Once in a great while (maybe 1 in 40 to 50 flushes) some solids and/or paper might block the check valve on the pump, sticking the valve open. When that happens, continued strong pumping can cause the pump to push some of the discharged material back into the toilet. Not pretty, but not impossible to clean up (it doesn't blow the lid open or anything like that). After it happens a couple of times, you learn what proper pumping action feels like, and learn to pump more gently for a few strokes until any partial blockage is cleared.
3. Brushing and cleaning? The vacuum flushing action does a pretty good job of cleaning the bowl, but not perfect. Once in a while there will be some clean-up needed, and then the 2-minute wait is a bit of a pain. But remember, you are pumping a manual pump (or letting the electric pump run) for only about the first half of that 2 minutes, at the most. Once the pumping stops, it only takes about another 20 or 30 seconds for the vacuum to bleed off enough so you can lift the lid. This might be a pain if you need to use and flush the toilet non-stop (like if you are really sick), but otherwise, not a problem. As to cleaning, since there are no moving parts in the toilet itself - only a bowl and lid - it's simple to clean. There is a narrow channel inside the rim, at the top of the bowl, that takes a little extra work to get really clean, but it's not a big deal.
4. Adding water? The normal flush will leave an inch or three of water in the bowl, which you can pump out after the flush by first lifting the lid and then pumping the pump a couple of strokes. If your boat isn't bouncing around, you can leave the water in the bowl for odor control (just like at home). There's no valve or lever on the Lavac to add water to the bowl before the next flush. The only way to add water before the next use is to pour some in by hand. You can keep a cup in the head for that purpose. You don't need to add any water for the system to work, it's just a personal choice. I suppose you could put a tee into the inlet hose and feed some water to the Lavac from somewhere (a foot pump from a hose and valve on the sink drain?) but I would think twice about anything that defeated or bypassed the vented loop in the inlet piping - that Lavac would be a pretty big opening to the outside of your boat.
5. Power consumption? Since we use the manual pump, our Lavac's power consumption is zero. After 2+ yrs of daily family experience with the Lavac, I would not want to bother with an electric pump, the manual one has been fine. In any case, I would not install a non-diaphragm pump, either manual or electric, without making sure it was at least as strong and as non-clogging as what Lavac designed the toilet to use.
6. Clogs? An extreme amount of paper might clog the Lavac, just as it might any toilet. I would bet that the Lavac system, if properly installed and operated, will pump through what would choke most other heads. I have had almost no problems - a few partial blockages that were easily cleared by some gentle but persistent coaxing with the manual pump. I can recall only once when the system seemed really plugged, and even then I was able to clear it with the pump. I had the system apart a couple of times to fix the gasket that fits to the pump cleanout cover, but that was because I didn't get the gasket in right the first time.

Some comments:
There is a tendancy for the flushing action to leave the underside of the lid slightly wet sometimes. This is easily wiped down with a few pieces of toilet paper, ideally right after flushing the toilet.
A full cleaning includes removing, wiping down, and reinstalling the two seals that go around the edges of the seat and lid. This only adds a couple of minutes to a cleaning session but is worth the extra trouble.
I would NOT get the optional behind-the-bulkhead pump, I would get the one that mounts where you can easily see it and get to it. No it isn't the prettiest sight to look at but when you need to change your hoses or replace a pump diaphragm, you will be glad it's not behind a bulkhead.
You can get great info at the www.blakes-lavac-taylors.co.uk/ site, and the USA dealer (St. Brendans Isle in Florida) is very helpful too. Buy direct from the distributor that knows the unit, and carefully and completely follow the Lavac installation instructions.
We discharge from the Lavac through and Electro-Scan treatment system, and I consider the combination of Lavac and ElectroScan a great discharge solution where it is legal. But it took some fine-tuning to get the system up and running. Neither the Lavac or ElectroScan folks are really totally familiar with using the products together, so I was pretty much on my own in setting it up correctly. I would say that it's pretty trouble free at this stage, and would recomment the combination (again - where it's legal).
Good luck!
Dan

[svbillabong]

After five years of continual use, we still love our lavac. Our's is the manual pump version, but I added a Y valve between the Bowl and the pump so that I can also manually pump out the holding tank.

Keep a keen eye on the scale build up as we blew a pump rubber due to a 90% clogged discharge hose. We regularly use vinegar but once it gets too thick the only option is remove and replace (or if you are sitting in the middle of the Red Sea with no chandlery in site..by hand). Also you can tweak the timing of the vacuum seal, and water level by changing the size of the "bleed" hole in the line.

Bought a spare set of seat seals.. haven't needed them!!

[Brent Swain]

Take any marine head, glue closed cell foam under the lid and seat to make it airtight, hook up the intake hose to a thru hull, take out the standard pump and hook a big bilge pump to it, like a Henderson, and you have a lavac equivalent for a fraction the price of a new one. This is a good trick to remember when your standard head breaks down far from parts.
Brent

[ggpark]

Pretty cool set of resources...thanks
Point of Sale (http://www.mpos.net/). (http://meshowfashion.spaces.live.com/)

[goneagain]

We lived aboard our yacht for 20 years with a hand pumped Lavac and found it absolutely the BEST, far better than other heads on friends' boats. It was virtually unplugable. We only replaced the seals once in all that time. We have since sold that yacht and bought another and are putting another Lavac in but this time it will have an electric motor. Go for it and then you don't have to think about it!!