I am tired of stressing about the possibility of failure regarding our 12 year old Sealand Magnum Opus VacuFlush commode. Many of you know the stories I have posted and that I have affectionately referred to it as the "Turbo Turd 3000". This commode is located on the street side of the coach ... black tank is either mid or curb side ... thus, we need the vacuum system to pull the poo to the desired location. The vacuum system works well (and we have recently had the duckbill valves replaced) but the commode itself has an electronic "brain" circuitboard that is on it's way to failure ... just because it is 12 years old. Replacing the circuit board is $1000+ IF ... IF you can find one. Parts are scarce. Another brainy toilet has circuits AND a macerator, which I really do not want. My wish is to go to a unit that is simpler ... just a foot pedal instead of an electric flush, and I THINK it is doable. I have spoken to the "Yoda" of toilets at Ardemco Marine in California (they are the Sealand/Dometic Sanitation folks for this part of the country) and I have a recommended replacement model. We are also working with the installer/trouble shooter/figureitout guy at Premier Motor Coach here in Tucson. We have used them several times now, for various things on our coach, and they have not disappointed us. They know Foretravels fairly well, call the factory and ask questions if they are not 100% certain about a system, have fair prices and will talk to us and let us talk to the tech who is working on our coach. We have established a pretty good relationship so far. At any rate ... My thinking is that the commode and the vacuum system are two separate and distinct items. Once the vacuum is built up in the line, if I step on the pedal and open the seal in the bowl ... WHOOSH ... stuff goes where it needs to. Release the pedal, the seal closes in the bowl, the vacuum system starts chugging away until such time as the pressure switch tells the vacuum pump that sufficient pressure has been achieved in the line again. HOWEVER ... there are also sensors attached to the Turbo Turd that tell it about incoming water flow, level of contents in black tank, regulate and shut off the level of water in the bowl, etc ... and we are trying to figure out how to bypass or disconnect those sensors. One plan is to just relocate the black tank sensor so that it never reads any kind of "fault" (this has been done successfully in a Country Coach they worked on) and do something similar to the others.
Has anyone here happily replaced a complicated electronic commode with a simpler model ... that is NOT a direct drop and also uses a vacuum system? I know Barry Beam got rid of his Turbo Turd ... but his is a direct drop. My only other thought is to completely redo the tank arrangements OR buy another coach ... neither of which is really an option if I know what is good for me.
I'm no help other than to say I understand your concern. After seeing two friends deal with a flooded poop coach due to an electric toilet failure (and reading numerous other stories), Jim replaced ours with a manual direct drop. But, ours was like Barry's -- the toilet sits right over the black tank.
Good luck in your search.
Hi Carol sorry to hear about your problem. I guess I need to add that to my list of what to check when buying another FT! Too much to know. Good luck John
Carol,
You might "think outside the bus" and look at other marine toilets. You'll probably have to consider the space available for a different vacuum generator if you are looking at other than Sealand. Most seem to go the route of macerator and "push" these days, though, like the Techma Silence Plus rather than vacuum generator and "pull" like the VacuFlush. I do see a model from Raritan that somehow creates vacuum at the toilet end. Some of the boating forums might be a good place to lurk for things like this thread
Vacuflush vs Raritan Elegance - Trawler Forum (http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s31/vacuflush-vs-raritan-elegance-6697.html)
That said, knock on wood our VacuFlush Magnum Opus is still kachunking away happily and we would replace it with a newer Vacuflush if we were "in the market".
But Carol, if you do fix it permanently, what will we do for entertainment without your posts? ;D
Oh, don't worry ... "It's always something ...."
Vacuflush toilets are used a lot on boats. Thousands of boaters can't be high and dry....