Looking at a Thetford/Wilcox - Tecma Silence Plus Fresh Water Toilet

[SanDiegoChip]

We are doing sea trials this coming Monday. One of the first things we want to do is make the boat livable if all goes well. We will cruise in a few years.
Our first purchase is a new toilet. We (my wife and I) have weighed all the options we know of and have decided on an electric toilet. The particular toilet we are looking at is a Thetford/Wilcox - Tecma Silence Plus Fresh Water Toilet.
There are other makes and I am wondering if I have missed one that may be better.
Has anyone had experience with a better electric toilet or with this one good or bad?
I do not want to re-visit the electric verses the manual issue as we have decided on the electric for various reasons.
I did (I think) see one at a boat show one time that had a hand pump as an option incase the electric went south for some reason. I have never found it again. Any ideas on that one?
As a side note I had haemoid surgery not long ago and it is not to be taken lightly. The doc’s best advice was to take the magazines out of the means room. Not good to spend any more time than needed on the throne for your butt.

oops, this may be better in the gear forum but I do not see a way to move it.
Chip

[camaraderie]

I moved the thread for you.

As far as I am concerned there is no such thing as a good electric head on a cruising sailboat. If you want a great head....get the Lavac.

[badsanta]

I would get the largest house hold size bowl you can find.

[ITMaster]

Wilcox Crittenden that got bought out by Thetford. For a crapper, it is a piece of crap. It uses an impellar with a clutch in it that is prone to failure once a year. So, when you fill the bowl, the motor turns one way and then when you fllush, the motor turns the other way. After time, the clutch fails and the thing leaks and makes a mess. The rebuild kit is $80 and you have to get it from a dealer. In four years, I have had to rebuild it three times
I am considering a replacement, someone said getting a large bowl, similar to the house, I second that opinion

[sailingdog]

I'd second getting a Lavac. They're pretty close to bulletproof.

[SanDiegoChip]

I called Lavac about their Popular model and it sounds great. What they could not tell me is how quiet it is. They said it is quiet. Can you tell me how quiet it is? On our new old boat the head is next to the master state room as is on most boats. Will the electric head wake up a light sleeper like my wife?
It is great you can have bothe the manual and electric.
Also because of the head configuration I would need to do some serious fiberglass re-fitting to get the Tecma toilet to fit, even then I am not sure. It is a quiet operating toilet though.
Thanks,
Chip

[ITMaster]

Is loud. Very loud. Mine is so loud, that I can be at the helm, with the diesel running 3000 to 3400 RPM's and guess what, I can hear the head flush over top the sound of a diesel. Will this one wake up your wife when she is sleeping without another sound on the boat and she is a light sleeper? Without a doubt mine will. Also, when you flush it, you should watch the amp gauge peg out, it jumps up over 40 amps. If you have been on the hook all night and get up in the morning and take a good healthy dump, you best start the engine up first, cuz you will drain your batteries stone dead in a heartbeat.

BTW, mine is the Newport Model

[SanDiegoChip]

That is not a Lavac model though is it? The guy I talked to at Lavac said he had an electric tolit on his power boat and it was real loud but the Lavac "Popular" model was not.
Chip

[camaraderie]

I don't know the noise level of the Lavac and do NOT recommend the electric model pump even with the manual backup. Why the need for electric? You will use a LOT of amps and have a LOT of messy problems. Go lavac popular manual all the way and enjoy consistent performance and NO electrical concerns or electric pump jams.

[sailingdog]

IMHO, the simpler you can keep the head, the better off you're going to be in the long run.