If you have fitted a marine toilet and a holding tank can you tell me where you fitted the tank, what size it was, how did you secure it, where were the inlet and outlet seacocks positioned and how did you run the pipework?

Robin Cooter.

Hi - I am also interested to know where the sea cocks should go, but plan to discharge as there is nowhere near us to empty a holding tank. Graham (Totnes in devon) & new owner of Sunshine no 66.

I went the other way on my P27 which originally had a Jabsco sea toilet. I was looking to fit a holding tank due to restrictions on discharge in various parts of the Solent. An ex boatbuilder friend suggested the much easier option of fitting a portable toilet. I went for the Dometic portable toilet that comes in a 10 litre and 20 litre version and in particular has a pump out facility which comes as an add on kit, this means you don't have to keep lifting the toilet in and out as the setup is a toilet and holding tank all in one. I originally went for the 10 litre version but purchased the larger tank a year later. The pump out just needs the pump out pipe extending for the deeper tank which is 3" taller.( although I now see they are selling a longer pipe version) The Dometic toilets are the 970 series and you will need the pump out kit part number 385320007 and the hold down kit. I then added a whale sanitary hand pump to the bulkhead which fitted to the the original thru hull fitting. I have blanked off the flushing inlet since I do not use it, as the toilet has it's own flushing tank. On the P27, the plinth raises the taller toilet a bit high and I am looking into cutting down the plinth about 3" to accommodate the taller toilet. The two versions of the toilet are 12" and 15" tall so the shorter version is the same as a sea toilet. My next itteration however may be the ultimate system, which is a composting toilet - no smells and only urine to discharge which most places do not have an issue with. I am playing around with a design I came across online which you can make yourself, so is a LOT cheaper and can be adapted to fit (hopefully) the smaller heads on P285s on down. will keep you all posted if it comes off.

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Martin.

You have some interesting thoughts! Unfortunately for me the P27 interior design is very different to the P235 so there is no point in asking you where the seacocks were located!

What you don't say in your post is the make of the domestic toilet that you are planning to use?

Robin
235 Ossie,

Adrian R, who posts on this forum, has fitted a holding tank to his 235 - and made a very neat job of it - suggest you contact him.

Regards

Dick

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Hi Robin, the portable toilet I installed is the Dometic 970 series toilet which I mentioned in my first reply. They make two toilets in this range a 2.5 and 5 gallon version. I originally fitted the 2.5 gallon but swapped the base for the 5 gallon version after the first year because I wanted a larger holding tank capacity, otherwise the units are identical. They are available form various chandleries and more commonly from camping/RV/caravan suppliers as well as from Dometic UK directly. It has worked well although I still occasionally have issues with slight odours which is why I am now considering changing to a composting toilet but it will have to be a a home built version as most commercial versions which are designed for larger boats or home use where space is not an issue. They are also hugely expensive.I have a design which I am considering modifying to fit in my boat and which will be much smaller. All the articles I have read about composting toilets extoll the virtues of not only biologically green use but also NO ODOURS. As far as where to fit the outlet for your boat, as long as the have a point where you are not going to drill through the ballast, anywhere low down would be fine but without knowing the particular layout of your boat, I cannot suggest anything more. On my boat which had the fitting already fitted, it appears to pass through the hull just at the edge of the encapsulated ballast in the heads area immediately inside the heads doorway and on the outboard side of the heads doorway. I would suggest you fit a Marelon/Forspar valve as then you will not need to worry about corrosion issues. Just be sure to use silicon sealant, NOT sikaflex or similar as the normal sealing mastics can affect the plastic of the fitting causing failure.

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Hi, I am the new owner of Sunshine. She had a failed Portapotty which I have dumped. I'd like to fit a marine toilet with or without a holding tank and favour a Lavac which worked very well on my last boat. Can anyone tell me where the optimum locations for the stopcock/through hull fittings should be, and whether there are any problems in making and sealing a lole thorugh the hull and internal grp moulding togehter? Is there a gap between them two grp mouldings and, if so, are they void or filled with something?

Any comments gratefully recevied. Thanks tony
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Hi, I am the new owner of Sunshine. She had a failed Portapotty which I have dumped. I'd like to fit a marine toilet with or without a holding tank and favour a Lavac which worked very well on my last boat. Can anyone tell me where the optimum locations for the stopcock/through hull fittings should be, and whether there are any problems in making and sealing a lole thorugh the hull and internal grp moulding togehter? Is there a gap between them two grp mouldings and, if so, are they void or filled with something?

Any comments gratefully recevied. Thanks tony
\

Hi, I am the new owner of Sunshine. She had a failed Portapotty which I have dumped. I'd like to fit a marine toilet with or without a holding tank and favour a Lavac which worked very well on my last boat. Can anyone tell me where the optimum locations for the stopcock/through hull fittings should be, and whether there are any problems in making and sealing a lole thorugh the hull and internal grp moulding togehter? Is there a gap between them two grp mouldings and, if so, are they void or filled with something?

Any comments gratefully recevied. Thanks tony
\

Hi, I am the new owner of Sunshine. She had a failed Portapotty which I have dumped. I'd like to fit a marine toilet with or without a holding tank and favour a Lavac which worked very well on my last boat. Can anyone tell me where the optimum locations for the stopcock/through hull fittings should be, and whether there are any problems in making and sealing a lole thorugh the hull and internal grp moulding togehter? Is there a gap between them two grp mouldings and, if so, are they void or filled with something?

Any comments gratefully recevied. Thanks tony
\

Hi, I am the new owner of Sunshine. She had a failed Portapotty which I have dumped. I'd like to fit a marine toilet with or without a holding tank and favour a Lavac which worked very well on my last boat. Can anyone tell me where the optimum locations for the stopcock/through hull fittings should be, and whether there are any problems in making and sealing a lole thorugh the hull and internal grp moulding togehter? Is there a gap between them two grp mouldings and, if so, are they void or filled with something?

Any comments gratefully recevied. Thanks tony
\

Hi, I am the new owner of Sunshine. She had a failed Portapotty which I have dumped. I'd like to fit a marine toilet with or without a holding tank and favour a Lavac which worked very well on my last boat. Can anyone tell me where the optimum locations for the stopcock/through hull fittings should be, and whether there are any problems in making and sealing a lole thorugh the hull and internal grp moulding togehter? Is there a gap between them two grp mouldings and, if so, are they void or filled with something?

Any comments gratefully recevied. Thanks tony
\

I went to the Southampton Boat Show on Wednesday and saw a new, compact composting Toilet that is the same size as my Dometic 970 cassette Toilet and is a pretty reasonable £279 (other brands that are too big for our small boats cost in excess of £700). It is being sold by Riberproducts.com and is 52cm high x 32cms wide x 42cms deep. It has an 8ltr liquids bottle and a 7.5ltr solids container and apparently only needs a large handful of desiccant such as dried coffee grounds (available free from most coffee shops and which you bake to dry out), cat litter or even sawdust. I'm seriously considering fitting this arrangement as the issue of odours is supposedly nonexistant with a composting toilet. Disposal of the liquids is usually not an issue even in a harbour and solids are disposed of in a compost heap or in a biodegradable bag in a normal waste bin. Conveniently Lidl do 15ltr waste bags that are biodegradable and which I already use for my onboard waste bin. I was going to fit a deck pump out fitting as part of a move towards being more environmentally concious but this looks a much better option.

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