Raritan Marine Elegance on a Heritage East 36

[DWJensen]

Thinking about changing out the old noisy and smelly electric Jabsco toilet in our fwd head to a Raritan Marine Elegance freshwater - We put one in our previous boat and loved it - Wondering if anyone here has done the upgrade on a HE36 and if you had any issues with the install.

It looks like the physical space will work (haven't gotten down and dirty with exacts yet) - But I'm wondering about the plumbing. Our current Jabsco electric has the intake and waste lines exiting out the side above floor level and IIRC, the Marine Elegance lines run straight down under the base. I "think" I have some room under the base but not sure yet just how much and am hoping to hear from someone who's already done the upgrade.

Thanks in advance

 

[HeadedToTexas]

A hose kinked inside my Jabsco Deluxe that led to a series of unpleasant days. I was shocked to find that the head had to be removed to access the macerator, hoses, and even joker valve. I suppose it is theoretically possible, but not in my boat where the head is installed with barely two inches of clearance between the rear opening in the porcelain housing and the port hull interior.

Keen to not repeat those days of unpleasantness, I replaced the entire head rather than just the offending hose. The day head was the original Raritan Sea Era where you have easy access to the motor, hose connections, joker, wiring, everything. Yes, it is not as contained and "pretty," but I'll take that any day over the misery of wrestling a bowl full of, well, you can imagine.

I believe the Raritan Elegance has that same enclosed design. My advice is to consider the more serviceable design of the Sea Era. Just my 2¢.

 

[ksanders]

A hose kinked inside my Jabsco Deluxe that led to a series of unpleasant days. I was shocked to find that the head had to be removed to access the macerator, hoses, and even joker valve. I suppose it is theoretically possible, but not in my boat where the head is installed with barely two inches of clearance between the rear opening in the porcelain housing and the port hull interior.

Keen to not repeat those days of unpleasantness, I replaced the entire head rather than just the offending hose. The day head was the original Raritan Sea Era where you have easy access to the motor, hose connections, joker, wiring, everything. Yes, it is not as contained and "pretty," but I'll take that any day over the misery of wrestling a bowl full of, well, you can imagine.

I believe the Raritan Elegance has that same enclosed design. My advice is to consider the more serviceable design of the Sea Era. Just my 2¢.

YES!!!!!

I love Raritan products and have studied the Marine Elegance enough to realize that in my boat the entire head will need to be removed to perform almost any repair.

 

[HeadMistress]

The Raritan Marine Elegance can be plumbed to discharge out the back See the owners manual here: Raritan Marine Elegance Owners Manual


The "innards" of the Marine Elegance are easy to access because the back is entirely open. It only requires removing the mounting bolts and either sliding it forward or (CAREFULLY!) laying it down if that's not possible. The many TF members who have an ME will tell you that the need to do that is very rare.



--Peggie

 

[HeadedToTexas]

It is entirely possible that I overreacted to the trauma!

 

[Comodave]

Raritan sells a kit to have the discharge hose exit out the back instead of the bottom. I bought the kit and I believe it was around $40 or so. It was 2 hose clamps and a 90 degree barb fitting and a short section of 1” hose. If I were to need the kit again I would just make up one on my own.

I ran the new 1” discharge hose through the old 1.5” hose and it saved me cutting up cabinets and a lot of work. I used OC Divers process for cleaning holding tanks in the old discharge hose prior to removing the Vacuflush head to help clean the old hose. Then I ran an inspection camera to check for any blockages, none present. Then I ran a 1/4” nylon rope through the old hose using an electrician’s fish tape. I use copious amounts of cable pulling lubricant on the new hose and pulled it through. I didn’t have any significant bends in the old hose and I was able to cut the old hose behind the refer so I had a run of 8.5’ and 12’ from the refer compartment. Overall the discharge run is 36’. My wife timed us and it took 57 minutes to run the 36’ of 1” Raritan SaniFlex hose. Waaay easier than trying to run it without the old discharge hose.

 

[Itwasntme]

I love this head model with one caveat. When I was installing them, out of carelessness I fried the control board (with the membrane push buttons for fill, flush, etc.) on one of them. I installed in its place two marine quality momentary switches, one for water input one for the macerator (flush). I actually like it better and there is no worry about a board going out.

 

[Comodave]

I just installed a ME in our boat. The nice new thing is a wireless connection between the main control board and the flush control board. No cable to run. Very easy to install. They also have an app that lets you program the settings instead of doing it manually on the board.

 

[HeadMistress]

It is entirely possible that I overreacted to the trauma!

<LOL!


--Peggie

 

[SteveK]

Had one, now have two M.E. both with 1 inch line. Have the salt water adapter kit soon to be installed to one unit to use when fresh supply is limited, but flushing with fresh was the best part of the upgrade.

 

[HeadMistress]

I love this head model with one caveat. When I was installing them, out of carelessness I fried the control board (with the membrane push buttons for fill, flush, etc.) on one of them. I installed in its place two marine quality momentary switches, one for water input one for the macerator (flush). I actually like it better and there is no worry about a board going out.

I always recommend the Raritan 3-option "Momentary Flush" instead of the 4 option "Smart Flush panel because a) it doesn't have a control board...2. the Smart Flush "Full Flush" 4th option flushes more than once, using a lot of water that reduces the number of flushes a holding tank can hold...and 3, it costs less than the Smart Flush panel.

I dunno if Raritan still offers a blue tooth flush, but I've always thought that someone who has some blue tooth tech skills could have a lot of fun flushing his dock mates' toilets with it.

--Peggie

 

[Comodave]

You can change how long the flush lasts and therefore how much water is used. Our new ME has 1” discharge hose that is 36’ long. It calculates to 1.5 gallon capacity in the hose. Right after we installed it my wife flushed with the regular flush option, which actually flushed 3 times in a row, it took 2 full flushed before water came out into the holding tank. So each 3 flush flush, if you will, uses about 3/4 gallon of water. But if water usage is a concern then there is a short flush option that only flushes once so water usage is very small.

 

[catalinajack]

I opted for the simple momentary push-button - simple, foolproof. One one-thousand, two one-thousand. Nothing to fail.

 

[SteveK]

I opted for the simple momentary push-button - simple, foolproof. One one-thousand, two one-thousand. Nothing to fail.

+1
Have not figured out what I am missing. empty bowl, release button, next.

 

[HeadMistress]

What you're missing is the ability to bring water into the bowl and hold it (essential ahead of solids if you want the bowl to be free of skid marks afterward), and the ability to dry flush in addition to the basic simultaneous water in/bowl contents out. And all without a circuit board.



--Peggie

 

[SteveK]

Peggie. after bowl is empty and button released about two cups water enters at the ready. Never had a dry bowl. No skid marks on flush. Thus, not sure what I am missing.

 

[Dwk]

We often use the flush option only on control panel for urine only. When we clean the bowl the add water only option is helpful followed by the flush only option. To each his own. I prefer the four option control panel and after 7 seasons,no issues.

 

[Comodave]

We often use the flush option only on control panel for urine only. When we clean the bowl the add water only option is helpful followed by the flush only option. To each his own. I prefer the four option control panel and after 7 seasons,no issues.

Agree.

 

[SteveK]

We prefer the "if it's yellow, let it mellow". Flush less often, save filling tank with diluted yellow. When guests on board another story

 

[Comodave]

We prefer the "if it's yellow, let it mellow". Flush less often, save filling tank with diluted yellow. When guests on board another story

Yes, you can do that with any flush option also.

 

[SteveK]

Yes, you can do that with any flush option also.

of course, now I see the point of having a fancy control panel.

 

[Comodave]

The fancy control panel allows you to do a flush without adding water and also just adding water without flushing. The advantage of flushing without adding water is sometimes it takes a while for the macerator to prime.and if you are adding water the bowl can overflow. Ask me how I know…

 

[SteveK]

Dave, pulling your leg.

 

[Comodave]

Not a problem.

 

[HeadMistress]

Peggie. after bowl is empty and button released about two cups water enters at the ready. Never had a dry bowl. No skid marks on flush. Thus, not sure what I am missing.

It's YOUR boat...whatever floats it for you is fine with me.


--Peggie

 

[Comodave]

It's YOUR boat...whatever floats it for you is fine with me.


--Peggie

Yes, it is his boat, but that doesn’t make him right…

 

[SteveK]

What a tough one sided crowd today.
Why then do they ship with a simple push button if Raritan did not expect them to work adequately without the computer controlled multi function flush option 1 or 2?

Yes it is my boat and I have two ME on board.

 

[Comodave]

Dave, pulling your leg.

Right back to you…

 

[Delta Riverat]

I guess I got the West Marine default.

You could get 12 or 24 volt and the same with fresh or "float water" that included a pump.

They all came with the 4 button panel.

 

[DWJensen]

Thanks for the input everyone. I did some looking and measuring and it looks like I should have no problems with fitment so I placed the order this morning. Decided to go with the MFC as Peggy recommends over the Smart controller. The only issue we ever had with our previous ME was with the touch control panel going out, so momentary switches it is on this one.