Mansfield Vacu-Flush heads
Pete Drez
reasonable prices. Your suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks
Pete Drez
Peggie Hall/Peal Products div/Raritan Engineering
news:38380645...@news.alt.net...
> I am looking for a good source for Mansfield Vacu-Flush parts, with
> reasonable prices. Your suggestions would be appreciated.
Mansfield has been SeaLand Technologdy since 1984...although the part #s
have changed, the VacuFlush toilet has changed little if any. You can call
SeaLand at 800-321-9886 for the name of the nearest retailer...and while
you're at it, ask them to send you a current owners manual.
That's the good news...
VacuFlush toilets and parts are only available from "authorized VacuFlush
Service Centers"...and only at list prices prices, never at discount. So
you're gonna pay about the same amount, no matter who you call.
That's the bad news...
However, despite SeaLand's claims to the contrary, the VacuFlush is prob'ly
the simplest toilet on the market...there's only so much that can go wrong
with it, and the symptoms are pretty straightforward--if it's doing (or not
doing) this, you need to fix that. Not only have we been in the marine
sanitation business for 12 years--during most of which we were SeaLand
distributors--but I've also had a VacuFlush on my own boats for the past 10
years ( I wouldn't buy another one, though)...so I'm intimately acquainted
with it. I'll be glad to trouble shoot it for you and tell you which parts
you need if you'd like to e-mail me.
Peggie
> Thanks
>
> Pete Drez
Tom Tcimpidis
Tom
Peggie Hall/Peal Products div/Raritan Engineering
news:3838C630...@akamail.com...
> Out of curiosity, why not?
I mentioned in my previous reply that the V/Flush hasn't changed
significantly since Mansfield first introduced it more than 20 years
ago...it was--and is--a great toilet...it's just obsolete now...someone else
has introduced a better toilet for less money: the Raritan Atlantes "water
saver" model.
The Atlantes uses less power, macerates, yet can use even less water than
the V/Flush actually requires (despite what SeaLand claims), all the innards
are contained in the one piece china bowl & pedestal instead of all over the
boat...can use either sea water or onboard fresh water (in fact, a kit is
available that allows switching between them at will)...is quieter...and
while it has about the same list price as V/Flush, it's available from West
Marine, Defender, BOAT/US etc for about 1/3 less $$.
Peggie
Stan Nackdymon
I don't understand your comments re the Sealand. Are you saying that they take
more than the pint they claim? How can it be quieter if a macerator pump
operates with each flush and is right there in the head with you?
Stan
Peggie Hall/Peal Products div/Raritan Engineering
news:38489750...@gte.net...
> Peggy:
>
> I don't understand your comments re the Sealand. Are you saying that they
take
> more than the pint they claim?
Yes...First, unless you turn off the fresh water system at its main breaker
(not the toilet night switch), the VacuFlush cannot use LESS than a pint of
water...because depressing the flush pedal also starts the flush water
flowing. So you cannot do a "dry bowl" flush. But, more importantly, that
wimpy little trickle of flush water down the sides of the bowl isn't enough
to rinse solids and paper completely out of the hoses, vacuum accumulator
tank and vacuum pump...so it's necessary to leave your foot on the pedal for
much longer than the 3 seconds called for in the directions--which still
won't get the job done...so it's also necessary to fill the bowl completely
at least twice and flush that through to rinse out the system before closing
up the boat at the end of the weekend (or a couple of times a week if you're
a liveaboard.) ...otherwise, odor builds up in the system, permeating
hoses...and can knock you out if you step on the pedal when the bowl is
empty. There's also the matter of macerated vs. non-macerated waste...the
V/Flush doesn't macerate...and bigger pieces left in the hose and vaccuum
accumulater tank mean more matter left in an airless environment to putrify
and stink. It's the reason why the new SeaLand "OdorSafe" hose
exists...they had no choice but to come up with a "bulletproof" hose.
The Atlantes, OTOH, has a 2" throat going from the bowl to the
macerator...and runs a minimum of a quart through the system--a fraction of
the minimum amount of flush water required by any other macerating toilet,
and actually the same or less than the V/Flush REALLY requires to operate
satisfactorily.
> How can it be quieter if a macerator pump
> operates with each flush and is right there in the head with you?
It's a common misconception that it's the macerator that's noisy...it's
not...it's the flush water intake pump, which is eliminated by selecting the
optional fresh water solenoid. The Atlantes is quieter than a household
toilet...and the flush only lasts for 10 seconds. The VacuFlush pump OTOH,
is a diaphragm pump that runs for AT LEAST 45 seconds...making a loud
"chonka-chonka-chonka" sound....When it's installed in an outside engine
comparment under the cockpit, it's not bad...but often the only place to put
it is in a settee or under a berth (my current one is under my v-berth...my
previous one was in the engine room, but it was right behind my head in the
aft cabin of a Sea Ray Sundancer)...the d'd thing will blow you out of the
soundest sleep if you forget to turn it off at night. But even, if you had
an intake pump in the head with you--and the vacuum pump or vacuum generator
too--which would you rather hear--"rrrrrrrrrrrrrr" for 10 seconds....or
"CHONkaCHONkaCHONka" for 45 seconds to a minute? :-)))
You can't be a sailor, or you'd have challenged me on the power consumption
too: although the Atlantes with a freshwater solenoid DRAWS more than the
V/Flush, the actually amp hours consumed by the VacuFlush are at least twice
as high. How can that be? Time... The V/Flush draws 5-6 amps for at least
45 seconds following each flush...while the Atlantes draws 11 amps for only
10 seconds per flush. Net AH used by V/Flush are twice as many.
I'm not knocking VacuFlush...nor have I rushed to replace mine with an
Atlantes. It's an excellent toilet...at the time I installed it on my
current boat, the top-of-the-line marine toilet. But it's since been made
obsolete by something better and less expensive.
Stan Nackdymon
As I understand the V/F's principal the "instantaneous vacuum" introduced to the
waste is supposed to shred it on the way to the tank. In terms of water
required, does a V/F use more than a pint when flushing liquid waste? That
would be the large majority of the heads usage. Wouldn't it? In terms of
power, I am a sailor, but by my calculations the V/F would only use an extra 0.5
A/H per day with ten usages a day. But I will check out the Atlantes and
recheck the V/F at the next show. You've given me something to consider, I
especially love to save money.
Thanks, Stan
Peggie Hall/Peal Products div/Raritan Engineering
> Peggie:
>
> As I understand the V/F's principal the "instantaneous vacuum" introduced
to the
> waste is supposed to shred it on the way to the tank.
Weeelll...it pulls it through a narrow funnel in the pedestal, which kinda
stretches it out and pulls it apart, but it's really not much different than
what a vacuum cleaner does when it sucks up dirt off the floor...and it's a
mixed blessing, 'cuz it leaves bits of wet paper and solids plastered to
the inside of the hose, which have to be rinse out with a larger volume of
water than normally flows through the bowl with each flush.
> In terms of water
> required, does a V/F use more than a pint when flushing liquid waste?
That depends upon whether a man or a woman is using it...'cuz men doesn't
use any paper...but women do. And bits of paper are gonna be left in the
hose and vacuum tank unless a full bowl of water is flushed through the
system behind the waste. That doesn't mean you have to fill the bowl and
flush it every single time the head is used...but it does mean that you have
to do it every day--or at least every time you leave the boat for a few
days...otherwise, those bits of paper dry out and stick to the walls of the
hose etc and build up to trap solids and more paper...and create gasses that
permeate hose.
> That
> would be the large majority of the heads usage. Wouldn't it? In terms of
> power, I am a sailor, but by my calculations the V/F would only use an
extra 0.5
> A/H per day with ten usages a day.
11a x 10 secs x 10 flushes = 1100, which equals .30 a/h/day
5a x 45 secs x 10 flushes = 2250, which equals .625 a/h/day
Neither one is all that much on a daily basis...but when cumulative power
consumption at sea becomes an issue, twice as much per day begins to add up.
Plus--the 5a useage for the V/Flush is conservative...even SeaLand shows it
to be between 5 and 6. And that also assumes that the system never develops
a vacuum leak that causes the pump to run between flushes...an assumption
you can't make because even the tiniest bit of paper or solids caught in the
opening at the bottom of the bowl will prevent it from sealing...duckbill
valves in the pump do wear out...so can the spring in the flush
mechanism...a number of things can--and DO--cause vacuum leaks that can
cause the pump to run for a few seconds or even continuously till someone
shuts it off between flushes.
> But I will check out the Atlantes and
> recheck the V/F at the next show. You've given me something to consider,
I
> especially love to save money.
Don't we all! :-)))
Peggie