Give me the Ho' down on Boat Potties
 

First off, go easy on me with this one :), I have a family (three boys) that have loved boating since the day they were born and part of the boating experience (at least now) is to make sure I have a decent enough potty on board. With that in mind, I have a few questions for you other "family" guys who use the toilet in your boat.


What type of toilet do you have on board?

Do you wish you had a different type toilet?

Is a porcelain type with pumpout just a different type of porti potty that allows you to pump out the waste when docked?

What does a macerator do?

For those of you who do your own Winterizing (Nort, to bad you don't know what Winterizing is, sorry dude ;) ) LOL, how much of a pain in the ass is winterizing the holding tank/macerator types?


Just trying to do my homework for my next boat.

Thanks

3 BOYS ??? Let them pee the way god intended .... In the Wind:D


Macerator = Chit chopper upper

Here is the setup on my Cruiser. A Groco KH with porcelain house-size bowl and electric flush-bulletproof bronze and will not clog. 15 gallon holding tank with pump out. Macerator plumbed to the bottom of the tank to aid in cleaning after pump out(saves having to pay 5-10 bucks to pump out clean water). Somewhere in the boat is a y valve to dump over the side untreated but I have never even tried to find it:D

Very good question HP500EFI, we have been wondering the same thing.

I appreciate your reply Troutly, we ordered the Vacu-Flush in the new 36 because it seemed to be the best they had to offer. Was just hoping it would work well. Glad to hear that it does.

Mark

Vacu Flush is the king of crappers. No "chit chopper" needed cause the "chunks" are exploded when they pass through the orifice. DO use some tank treatment (Odorloss or others) to keep the mix in balance. Also, the "stink filter" on the tank vent needs replaced every couple of years at $70. If you let the tank get full enough for liguid to hit the stink filter then it is trashed and will need immediate replacement.

You won't need to use "VacuFlush" toilet paper, but you need to stay away from "super double-quilted extra thick diaper-grade mega-sorbent aloe and lotion impregnated paper".

Be aware that they make a larger "elongated" bowl for the Vacu Flushes if you want the ultimate in comfort (and makes it easier in the "morning condition" to aim the stream!).

M

Mr. Trout, sounds like Mr. Mcollinstn is in the business of waste removal:D :D

I installed a mascerator to the porto-****ter on my old formula. Tapped into the pumpout hose and connected another hose to a through hull fitting that went out the bottom (below the water line). Seemed to work pretty good. When hitting the 'fire missle' button i would stand over it while dumping a gallon on water to fully clean and flush the holding tank out. Only problem i had was trying to hide the heavy gauge wires that ran up to it. Ohh and the other thing was the awful feeling of drilling a Hole in the bottom of the boat :( ....Haven't decided if i am going to install one on the new boat....for now it's piss in the wind, or for the more timid...i supply a beautiful beer pitcher (that i mistakenly walked out a the bar with) that can be disposed of at thier discresion.

What a SH*TTY thread!!:D :D

i have a plain old porti potti. Had to take a duece in it once.I just couldn;t hold it anymore. I wasn't even on the water. Long shorribe story dont; ask. But all i can tell you is i was in et cabin crapping and a buddy of mine thinks it would be funny if he starts towing the boat while i am in the crapper.

oh but to the point porti potties are disgusting to have to clean.

he damn near got his ass kicked real bad! Blue **** water sloshing around is ****ing nasty!

Granted if it was me driving and not on the ****ter i would have laughed my ass off!

yeah, I've always been full of it.

M

Vaucu-Flush is want you want. Uses fresh water from your holding tank so no sea water smell. Flushes real quick. Pump out at most any marina. But on most boats like what you are looking at; the holding tank is small. So get a macerator, then when your offshore, open the valve, throw a switch, and the holding tank is emptied out. With macerator, the overboard discharge is only cloudy looking water.

Any luck on a 340?

mcollstn: just bought a "dump" truck.:D :D :D

Man, your a classy guy:D :D

Ha! "dump truck"
I get it!

Irony is, I'm sitting with my wireless laptop typing this right now on my elongated-bowl porcelain throne of choice. "getting my thoughts together".

Ha!
Potty Humor.

I got a PortaPot in my Formula, and while it is better than nothing, it ain't nuthin compared to the VacuFlushes in the Sea Ray. If anybody is running a Porta John, though, it REALLY helps to use the toilet treatment chemicals in it. If you got wimmen on board they can pee in it several times and the smell is GONE with the use of the chemicals. I keep the Porta John ready to go all the time, but prefer to use it only when "necessary". The one I got is not too much of a chore to clean out. And it seals up tight so no shmelly smell. Seems that whenever somebody brings kids on board, the first thing they want to do is cr#p in the PortaJohn. I politely explain the method of how to clean the PJ to the parents when that occurs.

SeaLand or equivalent treatment chemicals (the blue kind) work extremely well and I recommend you folks to use them. If you use them chems you will find that your head situation dramatically improves and you won't be so uptight about folks using it.

Granted, if kids and women are not on your boat alot and you have access to a large boat with a real head, or are close to marinas then don't even let people know you hav a john. If kids and women and no marina access is your norm, then it really makes the day go easier if you have a sytem in place for taking care of business.

OOps, time to flush.
Everybody have a nice day!

M

when you have to go you have to go.