Association Forum - Dual Porta Potti

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Dual Porta Potti

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

britinusa
Web Editor

Member Avatar

USA
5404 Posts

Initially Posted - 04/01/2009 : 06:54:03

So, we were out sailing a few months ago when the porta potti reached the 'Oh C%#p' level. I was dispatched to the bathroom in the harbor to empty it. (I describe them as 'Hump & Dump' excursions)

The Head that came with the new boat only holds 2.5(us)gallons of dodo etc. We minimize the load by not flushing and using the wipe down technique instead, but still, 3 nights aboard and it's time for a Hump & Dump excursion, which of course also means a trip into a harbor. Sure, we don't miss the chance if we are alongside overnight, so that extends things a bit.

But it's a pain in the butt to keep checking the oderflow meter on the porta potti.

So we cracked and blew $160 on a new 5(us) gallon super porta potti (Dometic 975)

Looks to be a very nice unit.

Peggy has asked that I keep the old porta potti onboard as a spare.

So now we have a One-Two which doubles our options for both number Ones and Number Twos.

Paul

Joint Decision. (Sold)
PO C250WB 2005 Sail # 841.

Moved up to C34 Eximius

Updated August 2015

Edited by - on

DaveR
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
2015 Posts

Response Posted - 04/01/2009 : 07:59:55

That's why I love my marine head and the free local pumpouts. I know some people prefer the porta pottie because of the smells that a head and holding tank produce but I haven't had that problem.

Edited by - on

redviking
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1771 Posts

Response Posted - 04/01/2009 : 08:39:21

Ah, the age old debate. To flush or not to flush. Porta potties are desirable when your head and/or holding tank act up and you have to tear it apart while trying to keep your insides together. On our C25, the process of dumping the portapottie whether offshore or in a restroom somewhere always made me gag. There are tradeoffs. Having just rebuilt our system, yuck 5 gallons from the day tank pouring into a collapsible bucket - I am thinking composting head...

With all of that space below the V-berth, why not just plumb a 20-30 gallon tank and use a macerator to discharge when offshore, or just hook it up to a deck fill and get regular pumpouts? We always got a good laugh from the pumpout boys when we hauled our porta pottie into the cockpit.

sten
SV Lysistrata - C&C 39 - Fernandina Beach FL
DPO Zephyr - C25 #3220 - FK, SR

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 04/01/2009 : 09:21:31

The 975 can be plumbed to a deck fitting for pump-outs, but then it's a permanent fixture like my 9-gallon 711. When we had our 5-gallon Sanipottie, I used an enzyme treatment that made dumping and cleaning pretty uneventful--virtually no odors. Now I find the pumpout boat to be more objectionable than the dumping was.

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 04/01/2009 09:23:51

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

Members Avatar

USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 04/01/2009 : 10:05:06

On a recommendation from someone on the forum (sorry, drawing a blank who it was right now), we just bought a Fiamma Bi-Pot to replace our leaking Thetford. Surprisingly, the Bi-Pot's only an inch or two higher than the Thetford, but it's twice the capacity at 5 gallons for the waste tank. It's designed for motorhomes, so there's no hold downs built into it, so I'm making some wooden ones to cradle it inside the head. The nice thing about it was it was less than $100 from JC Whitney. The fill & pour spouts are nearly big enough to get my hands into unlike the Thetford. Plus it's quite sturdy. I am going to have to shave down the hanging locker door to make it fit, but that's not a big deal to me, 30 seconds on the bandsaw & maybe 10 minutes on the bench sander to clean it up, then another 10 minutes to apply a replacement border around it and it should be ready to go.

We're going to keep the old one to take on camping trips or whatever. Just have to be aware of the slow leak around the flush bellows (which I'm going to try to seal with silicone or Lifeseal). We won't be keeping it on the boat though.

Edited by - delliottg on 04/01/2009 10:06:43

dmpilc
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
4593 Posts

Response Posted - 04/01/2009 : 11:18:11

Thought just came to me - Has anyone tried buying a second holding tank (bottom half) for the porta-potty they now use?

Edited by - on

Nautiduck
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
3704 Posts

Response Posted - 04/01/2009 : 15:17:33

We have a Thetford 5 gallon porta-potti plumbed for pumpout. Our lake has free pumpout provided by the Army Corps of Engineers which certainly helps. Paul, be aware that a full 5 gallon tank will be heavy.

Edited by - Nautiduck on 04/01/2009 15:23:21

islander
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
4024 Posts

Response Posted - 04/01/2009 : 16:06:19

So Dave, I guess you got the BI-POT. Not bad huh?

Edited by - on

piseas
Former Treasurer

Members Avatar

USA
2017 Posts

Response Posted - 04/01/2009 : 16:37:24

Paul, my porta potty came with my (used) boat. Frankly, I am not sure if I have the 2.5 or 5 gal, not that you mention it. Gonna have to check.
But I and 2 others have been on Piseas II for 4 or 5 days and we have never filled her. Mostly because we went onshore to do our business.
And the smell never bothered us using the deodorizer.
But 2 porta potties on board, how about His and Hers! But I like Dave's suggestion re plumbing to use on pump out stations. You can do that in your sleep. In fact that's a good job to take on while sipping on a couple of beers and munching on some nachos! Then you get to christen her after a well done job.

Steve A

Edited by - on

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

Members Avatar

USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 04/01/2009 : 16:42:28

Yep, thanks for the recommendation (and sorry for not remembering, I had a sleepless night, still fuzzy).

Still figuring out the logistics of getting it mounted to the deck in our head, but I'm confident of that.

It's a bit tricky to fill the reservoir, there's a pinhole relief port in the back of the bowl that likes to leak if you've got it filled too high, plus the flush mechanism will leak if it's too high as well.

Edited by - on

Admin
Forum Admin

Members Avatar

460 Posts

Response Posted - 04/01/2009 : 21:45:54

Oh Oh! hadn't thought about the closet door!

I'll have to put it in the head to see how it fits and if the door opens all the way!

Paul

Edited by - on

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

Members Avatar

USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 04/01/2009 : 22:21:05

The 975 will almost certainly be too tall. Randy did this as well as I recall, he made a post about it sometime last year.

Edited by - on

Nautiduck
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
3704 Posts

Response Posted - 04/01/2009 : 23:05:21

Right, I had to trim a bit off the bottom of the wet locker door. Not hard to do.

Edited by - on

sweetcraft
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
816 Posts

Response Posted - 04/02/2009 : 08:57:33

I have the Porta Potti with the large base tank and the second waste tank. Our lake has no dump facilities so home we go. I use the clean out outside our home with a hose to rinse which makes the task very simple. I gladly take care of the duty as a potty problem can ruin the cruise for your crew. I bought the second complete unit as just the waste tank was more. It is stored in a plastic bag ready to be installed with the full tank placed in the back of the cockpit under a small cover so I don't have to make course changes just to find a dump facility. The dump facility's in the NW are noted in the cruise books and most are free with water and hand cleaning provided. I have paid $5.00 for a pump out and they take care of even the rinse.

I have to share what I did with the waste tanks as I found that the sealed unit gives you a puff of bad air with what ever is in the bowl and the tank puffs up like a balloon on a warm day until you open the valve. I installed a small plastic hose from a fitting on the tank to a copper tube installed high up behind the potty which is slipped off for the trip to the dump facility (a plug or knot seals the tube for the trip to the facility). The hold down is a line with 2 wraps around the handle and back to a jamb cleat behind the unit. The hold down clamps provided didn't hold during a race and the unit was upside down until we could finish the race. Isn't this a lot more than you wanted to know? Hope you never have toilet paper on the ceiling.

Edited by - on

britinusa
Web Editor

Members Avatar

USA
5404 Posts

Response Posted - 04/08/2009 : 20:53:30

Installation complete, no change to the locker door.

I used the paper template to position the unit slightly off center and twisted to front to port slightly. It looks just fine. Glad that you guys gave me the 'heads' up about the closet door. I'll seal the old holes with silicone sealant.

Thanks guys! good save!

paul

Edited by - on

Prospector
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Canada
3159 Posts

Response Posted - 04/09/2009 : 16:40:17

You guys make me feel blessed to have a permanent head. Only challenge is that the Wilcox-Crittenden that I have won't suck water in. Are you supposed to prime it somehow?

Edited by - on

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.