Marine Elegance issues

[SteveK]

Since the vacuflush group are exchanging maintenance items, I thought we who have ME heads can do the same.

My ME now four years old has lost the slow drop of the seat. I actually have to lower by hand. Short of buying a new seat, any repair solutions? My second 2 year old ME has become the go to head,

 

[Comodave]

The beauty of a ME head is that there is so little maintenance that there aren’t that many threads on them as far as maintenance goes. I have put them in 4 boats so far and nave never had to do anything to them, knock on wood…

 

[Todd R]

Since the vacuflush group are exchanging maintenance items, I thought we who have ME heads can do the same.

My ME now four years old has lost the slow drop of the seat. I actually have to lower by hand. Short of buying a new seat, any repair solutions? My second 2 year old ME has become the go to head,

Called Raritan and they sent out a new set of soft closing hinges. I believe they may have them listed on their website.

 

[Todd R]

Slow Close Seat Hinge Set -Raritan

Raritan HingesSC, Slow Close Seat Hinges

marinesan.com

 

[Comodave]

Their support has always been great whenever I had a question.

 

[Flatswing]

I had the same problem after 3 yrs. Basically a 1st world problem, so now we lift and lower the seat manually. (Replacing the hinges requires rear access which requires basically unmounting the throne in our case). Ok so I’m lazy

 

[SteveK]

Well I went to purchase the new hinges from Raritan I found that the shipping was twice the item cost approx. I can go to the local hardware and have the seat included, I drew the line, manual it will remain.
Ok, what other problems does the ME have.

 

[Comodave]

I haven’t had the hinge issue, but I would take them any day over random vacuum leaks…

 

[Flatswing]

Absent the hinge problem, no issues whatsoever since 2019. We cruise approx 3 mos of the year so good mix of daily use & prolonged disuse. Very happy with em since we replaced the vacuflushes, which worked fine, but we needed the space taken up by 2 vacuum generators, 3Y valves, etc.

 

[PierreR]

My new ME is sitting on the garage floor awaiting my installation.

 

[Comodave]

My new ME is sitting on the garage floor awaiting my installation.

Jump on it, I predict you will love it.

 

[Mac2]

A hidden issue that slowly creeps up on you: After about four years (liveaboard), I noticed the toilet wasn't filling up to it's original level and the fill pressure was reduced. I re-programmed the fill time length. After awhile, I noticed the same issue. Long story short, after removing the inlet water hose, I noticed a filter inside the fitting for the inlet hose. It's thimble shaped and you won't see it unless you use a mirror to look up inside. The filter had small debris inside that restricted the water flow. After cleaning, the toilet filled normally. The store I bought the ME from was not aware the filter was there. I removed the filter in favor of a remote filter I could see/clean easier. I have a filter in line for water going to my house pump and I have not had this issue with my other two ME toilets. I will add remote filters to them as the problem occurs.

 

[Comodave]

Good tip, I didn’t know about the filter either.

 

[SteveK]

good tip indeed, but I do not find a filter

Raritan - Raritan Parts Diagrams - Elegance Parts Drawing - Marine Sanitation & Supply

marinesan.com

 

[Mac2]

It’s not in the diagram. I believe it would be at the entrance to the solenoid. Marine Sanitation and Supply in Seattle thinks they started adding them to prevent a piece of debris from causing the solenoid/valve to stay open and flood the boat.

 

[Mac2]

PierreR: When you go to install your new ME can you verify the filter?

 

[SteveK]

 

[SteveK]

Part # 75 is like a garden hose fitting?

 

[Mac2]

I thought it was #75 as well but the filter I pulled out was all plastic, shaped like a thimble and was inside the pipe. I think it had a tab in the middle so you could pull it out with needle nose.

 

[guy with a boat]

I had the same symptom on a Tecma and found some sandy particles in a filter in the same location. Problem solvced.

 

[SteveK]

I have a raw water adapter option to install in case of fresh water shortage. Can select fresh or raw. That process will let me look for this screen.

 

[Takoradi]

Since the vacuflush group are exchanging maintenance items, I thought we who have ME heads can do the same.

My ME now four years old has lost the slow drop of the seat. I actually have to lower by hand. Short of buying a new seat, any repair solutions? My second 2 year old ME has become the go to head,

From experience, the hinge “problem” can be caused by forcing the seat down which ruptures the shock piece that slows the drop. Or… it wore out. I also have experienced GREAT customer service from Raritan.

Tak

 

[Nepidae]

Raritan has been my go-to for anything I need or want that they sell since

I bought the boat in '10. Had some Electroscan issues which a local rep wouldn't handle. Talked to the President about the issue and was assigned a VP to assist. VP called on a Saturday before going to a wedding. While waiting for a callback I did some investigating. Well, turned out that it was my problem, I kicked the circuit breaker. VP called back and I admitted my error, reporting I had just bought the boat and didn't know the Electroscan. Laughs all around. VP has been a friend since.

Their support is 2nd to none.

When we installed our ME and the control switch with it, which is the greatest thing, I put a strainer in on the intake side. Didn't know about the little inline filter but in our installation, it should be safe from clogging.

Last winter doing our winterization I pulled the basket, and it was pretty clean.

The fact that it is quiet when flushed and with the control panel can be flushed with minimal water make it a great MSR head.

 

[Mac2]

“When we installed our ME and the control switch with it, which is the greatest thing, I put a strainer in on the intake side. Didn't know about the little inline filter but in our installation, it should be safe from clogging.“

My toilet is about 4 years old. The distributor of ME was not aware of the inline filter. Implications were that the filter was a new thing (I bought around 2019).

 

[High Wire]

Thanks for the tip. I’ll check mine this fall.

 

[Mac2]

Finally got the picture. This is the thimble type filter I was talking about.

 

[Bmarler]

Looks like part of the valve assembly. Is it removable?

 

[Bmarler]

And why the heck did they put it on the exit side of the valve?

 

[Mac2]

Looks like part of the valve assembly. Is it removable?

Yes. You can see that "tab" in the middle you can grab with needle nose. It's on the intake side. From what I recall, I screwed a barb connection to the intake threads for the water supply hose. You only need to pull out and clean when you notice the bowl isn't filling up like normal, or you happen to have the toilet removed for some other maintenance (my toilet is a pain in the ass to remove).

 

[motteatoj]

Raritan has been my go-to for anything I need or want that they sell since

I bought the boat in '10. Had some Electroscan issues which a local rep wouldn't handle. Talked to the President about the issue and was assigned a VP to assist. VP called on a Saturday before going to a wedding. While waiting for a callback I did some investigating. Well, turned out that it was my problem, I kicked the circuit breaker. VP called back and I admitted my error, reporting I had just bought the boat and didn't know the Electroscan. Laughs all around. VP has been a friend since.

Their support is 2nd to none.

When we installed our ME and the control switch with it, which is the greatest thing, I put a strainer in on the intake side. Didn't know about the little inline filter but in our installation, it should be safe from clogging.

Last winter doing our winterization I pulled the basket, and it was pretty clean.

The fact that it is quiet when flushed and with the control panel can be flushed with minimal water make it a great MSR head.

In my search for a DE boat in the 30-34’ range I am finding about half of them don’t have a head. If we settle on a boat that we love but doesn’t have a head already installed...what would be your go-to brands and or kits? Open to ANY suggestions, even the composting heads.