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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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Securing porta-potti

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OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Initially Posted - 03/04/2010 : 07:09:24

I've seen pix of porta-potti installs here - some of which have a strap over the top of their unit to keep it in place. Has anyone found a brand that has hold down brackets that keep it from falling over in the head area

while on a port tack?

Edited by - OJ on 03/04/2010 07:10:13

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 03/04/2010 : 07:27:44

My 5-gallon Sealand came with brackets.

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 03/04/2010 07:36:10

britinusa
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Response Posted - 03/04/2010 : 07:42:04

We have both Dometic and Porta Pottie, both came with brackets.

(The Porta Pottie came with the boat, we switched to the larger Dometic becuase it holds more p**p.)

(ok, it means we don't have to empty it as often)

The thought of the head falling over is just awful!

Paul

Edited by - on

OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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Response Posted - 03/04/2010 : 08:05:48

Yes, my previous Thetford brand came with brackets - but they were flimsy plastic (that I wouldn't hit a dog in the a** with) and didn't hold the unit in place. I had to have custom metal brackets made - which I'm trying to avoid this time.
Are you saying the plastic brackets that came with the Sealand and Dometic unit hold it in place - even on a port tack?

Edited by - OJ on 03/04/2010 08:10:08

britinusa
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Response Posted - 03/04/2010 : 08:24:32

When our Dometic is in place, it would take a big butt to shift it!

(I had to use spell checker there!)

Paul

Edited by - on

OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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Response Posted - 03/04/2010 : 08:34:04

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by britinusa
 When our Dometic is in place, it would take a big butt to shift it!<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Well, in that case we should be safe!

Interesting, when I explained this issue to Thetford they said I was the first customer to have this problem. "Really?" I said . . . I guess I won't be calling them again with the same complaint.

Dometic, hmmm, hadn't heard of that one - ah yes, it is Sealand.

Edited by - OJ on 03/04/2010 09:28:03

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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4479 Posts

Response Posted - 03/04/2010 : 10:14:24

I secured our new Fiamma Bi-pot with 2" velcro in about a 1' square on the bottom. It holds 5 gallons in the upper reservoir, and a bit more (hopefully) in the bottom. Admittedly we didn't get out much last season, so I can't definitively say it's secure, but I made two wooden inserts that slot into it's bottom recesses to keep it secure laterally, but we haven't taken any large heeling angles, so I'm not sure that it won't topple, especially when it's empty (with 40lbs of water in the top reservoir). It should get more stable the longer it gets used, in theory. I think I posted pictures of the whole thing a while back. I left plenty of thickness in the wooden inserts to attach a strap if I think it becomes necessary.

Edited by - on

Derek Crawford
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3321 Posts

Response Posted - 03/04/2010 : 12:05:45

I screwed a cuphok on each side of the porta-potti into the "bulkhead" behind it (it's a 5 gsallon potti). Then I ran a tight bungee all the way around the potti from cuphook to cuphook.
Even heeling at 35 degrees on port tack it stays in place.

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 03/04/2010 : 12:28:07

Sealand's newer 5-gallon model 975 [url="http://www.sealandtechnology.com/pdf/600345649%20Dometic%20970%20series%20toilet%20manual-USA.pdf"]Owner's Manual[/url] (page 4) says the unit's locking handle secures it to the brackets you screw to the floor.

Edited by - on

OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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4382 Posts

Response Posted - 03/04/2010 : 13:10:24

As usual - all great advice - thanks very much.

Just as Dave mentions above - Demotic/Sealand recently introduced the 975MSD.

As many of you know, Canada requires any portable toilet unit to be plumbed to a deck pump-out fitting. This product accomplishes that.

Dave, jeez you're quick - you beat me with the owner's manual post by about 5 minutes!

Edited by - OJ on 03/04/2010 15:01:13

jerlim
Master Marine Consultant

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1484 Posts

Response Posted - 03/04/2010 : 18:17:04

we did as did Dave...2 screw eyes and a snug bungee.

Edited by - on

islander
Master Marine Consultant

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4023 Posts

Response Posted - 03/04/2010 : 18:42:31

Trust me that the plastic hold down clamps can break. Don't ask me how I know so to make sure It wont happen again I put a teak bar across the front and three aluminum brackets for side to side. The bar simply lifts out for emptying.

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 03/04/2010 : 20:07:00

Ya, Scott, but if your boat turns turtle, you'll have a mess!

Jerry: Derek did the bungees--not me.

Edited by - on

sweetcraft
Admiral

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USA
816 Posts

Response Posted - 03/04/2010 : 21:32:52

Ok, good plans but I use to send one of the kids down to set on the unit during heavy seas, of course that didn't last long. Used the brackets and the wood cleats but on a warm day that didn't work. The unit would swell up an push itself off the brackets. The boys then would also complain that during the operation of opening the valve it would puff, the warmed air with droplets escaping. It had bad breath as one of the little guys told me. So...after installing a fitting to the base as high as possible (the roll storage area) and a plastic tube to the unit and then to a fitting through the hull just under the rub rail. The final step I installed a jam cleat and fitting behind the unit and used a line to tie the handle to the fittings. That's my story and the system has worked for over 20 years. I get to take my grandkids sailing now and no complains using the port-a-potty.

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 03/04/2010 : 22:32:23

An old admonishment for anyone with a porta-potty with no vent plumbed in... Before each use of the potty, crack the flush valve to release any pressure inside ("burp the potty") caused by heat and other forces of nature. Failure to do so can make things UGLY when flushing is attempted! All users should be instructed on this vital point. The right enzyme treatment makes "burping" much less obnoxious than one might expect.

Jim--how do you seal off your vent when removing and dumping the potty?

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 03/04/2010 22:37:44

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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5368 Posts

Response Posted - 03/04/2010 : 22:35:48

In reference to Dave B's Sealand, I inherited it with Passage. Works like a champ, and the hold down brackets work great. I did add a bungy that goes over the top from the metal brackets because I was looking for "belt & suspenders" style safety.

We've used it a total of one time last summer when I did the 3 day trip to/from Mystic with my daughter. Once we got to the Marina, it was an easy chore to swish it out in the loo. A few rinses with soap and water, and all was well again.

I could not imagine using the portapotty for several days in a row without cleaning it out, unless no land-based facilities were available. In our neck of the woods, staying offshore for more than two days is a practical impossibility.

Edited by - on

islander
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Response Posted - 03/05/2010 : 15:29:09

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Ya, Scott, but if your boat turns turtle, you'll have a mess!
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

If I turtled the boat, The head would be the last thing I would be worried about!

Edited by - on

sweetcraft
Admiral

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USA
816 Posts

Response Posted - 03/06/2010 : 00:44:28

Yes, the procedures told to the crew is easy by just writing on the wall but when during warm weather with a young crew who waits till the last minute the vent works. It is a simple task for me to slip the small plastic hose off the vent tube, pinch it under the handle and prepare to transport it to a facility. Our lake has no facility so I take the base unit home. The second base unit is installed and then the potty is always ready. The vent tube that is installed just under the rub rail, no one has ever noticed and there's little evidence that someone has opened the flush valve(spots on the ceiling). When cruising we don't have to plan the cruise around where to dump the porty potty as the second base unit extends the anchoring and there is very little evidence of smell of the unit. The chemicals used have all the advertisments they are the best but on warm days beware. When on a charter boat the notice on the wall got my attention "Don't put anything in the head unless you have eaten it first". This is just sharing what works for me and I usually learn the hard way.

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 03/06/2010 : 08:24:36

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by sweetcraft
 ..."Don't put anything in the head unless you have eaten it first".
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">So where do you put the used (uneaten) TP?

Edited by - on

sweetcraft
Admiral

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USA
816 Posts

Response Posted - 03/06/2010 : 10:49:05

My question also but the sign sure got my attention. As a contractor you can only quess what I have found in a plugged up toilet.

Edited by - on

OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 03/06/2010 : 14:01:16

The new porta-potti (Sealand 975MSD) arrived today and I was happy to discover the mounting brackets are metal (now imagine what most women would think after reading this first line.) Perhaps unlike Thetford, Sealand listens to their customers.

http://www.sealandtechnology.com/productpages.asp?pid=94

I am reconsidering the idea of using teak plywood for the floor under the head - Star Board may be a more sanitary approach - and require less maintenance.

The vendor I purchased this from had the lowest price on the Garelick 71091. When the bracket arrived in the (inadequate) factory box, it had some minor marring on it - but not enough to raise a fuss. When, I sent them an e-mail explaining the condition of the box and the small blemishes just as an FYI - then immediately issued me an unsolicited $20.00 refund - which I promptly applied towards the porta-potti!

Edited by - OJ on 03/06/2010 14:38:03

britinusa
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Response Posted - 03/06/2010 : 18:28:39

We keep a fresh grocery plastic bag in the head for the uneaten toilet bits and pieces.

You know when you're having a good day when the Admiral comes out of the head and says 'Bullseye!'

Paul

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