Retrofit C-Head in C-242 Coupe?

[Brunski]

Hi,

I'm getting a C-242, and I want to replace the marine head with a composting toilet and also get rid of the holding tank, hoses, etc. I made a box template of the smallest composting toilet I could find, the "C-Head", and tried it out in one of the boats at the dealer (not my boat). The C-Head is 18 inches deep, so it sticks out a few inches and the door won't close.

I'm wondering what's behind the Jabsco toilet, under the shelf area. Is the hull *right* there at the bottom , or is there some room to cut into the white surround and recess the C-Head into that space a few inches?

Also, where is the waste tank on this boat? Is it accessible/removable?

Bruno

 

[stwendl]

Most of those composting heads are made one size fits all. It wouldn’t be so difficult to come up with a mold that would fit a ranger tug perfectly and details inside a triangle shaped (for instance r27) system. The innards of those devices aren’t really rocket science to duplicate

 

[Kevin Lamont]

Hi,

I'm getting a C-242, and I want to replace the marine head with a composting toilet and also get rid of the holding tank, hoses, etc. I made a box template of the smallest composting toilet I could find, the "C-Head", and tried it out in one of the boats at the dealer (not my boat). The C-Head is 18 inches deep, so it sticks out a few inches and the door won't close.

I'm wondering what's behind the Jabsco toilet, under the shelf area. Is the hull *right* there at the bottom , or is there some room to cut into the white surround and recess the C-Head into that space a few inches?

Also, where is the waste tank on this boat? Is it accessible/removable?

Bruno

Bruno,

I would check with your dealer to see if the boat is already being built or not. We might be able to accommodate you with this by NOT installing the toilet and black water tank/hoses. The black water tank is under the cabin floor in the center and is not removable without either cutting or splitting the floor/deck. If you want to send me an email I can take some pictures of that area and send them to you, my email is below. Is there a reason why you don't want to use the toilet we provide?

Thank you,

 

[Brunski]

Hi Kevin,

TL;DR: Composting toilets are way better and the boat could use a bigger fresh water tank.

Thanks for your reply! I sent you an email, I'd love to see some pics. I realize you have to cater to what most people like and expect, and need to minimize build options to keep costs down, so I'm not criticizing the design choices made for the boat. My reasons for wanting a different toilet are:

1. Let's face it, the boat is small. Just about the smallest commercially available package that still includes an interior shower, albeit basically in the companionway/v berth. Very impressive design, BTW. But, since there is a lot crammed into this boat, that means both the fresh water tank and the black water tank are on the small side. I'd rather have a larger fresh water tank (Are they both on the center line right next to each other? A single bigger water tank would be sweet...) and no holding tank, or if that's not an option, re-purpose the holding tank as a second fresh water tank (as long as it's brand new, unused and clean, of course).

2. The toilet design in the C-242 uses raw water. For me that means sea water. Sea water toilets tend to be smelly, and the hoses tend to develop blockages as urine reacts with the sea water, depositing scale. To keep the smell under control you have to remember to flush out the system with fresh water, use chemicals, get a holding tank vent filter, etc. If you swap it over to use fresh water, or flush using the shower head (fresh water again), you're using up your precious 30 gallons. Not a big deal at the marina, but problematic when on hook, since there's no water maker.

3. Pump outs, fixing leaks, clearing/replacing joker valves, etc. are all basically horrid "not fun" activities that I'd rather not deal with. I'd much rather take on the far more pleasant and far less smelly composting toilet maintenance duties. Plus with an 11 gallon holding tank pump outs would become a more frequent occurrence. Yeah, nah.

4. One less winterizing activity.

5. Better for the environment. Composting toilets reduce resource consumption, both during manufacture and use, particularly if flushing a marine toilet with fresh water. Composting toilets have fewer parts, trivial maintenance, and no chemicals are needed. Also, if you use something like coconut coir for the composting medium the overall environmental impact is relatively benign, as it is both a renewable resource and a byproduct of coconut agriculture.

So what are the drawbacks? Well, for one even the smallest composting toilet I can find is too deep for the space. The door won't close all the way. Either I add a folding panel to the door (meh, not great), or maybe I work on some sort of swiveling mechanism to rotate the toilet out for use, as it seems it will fit in the space when oriented fore/aft. Another drawback? Need to teach people how to use the toilet. Fortunately, that's pretty easy to learn. Storage of composting medium is another issue, but coconut coir is shipped in compressed blocks and a little goes a very long way, so that's not a major problem for a tiny boat either.

The biggest issues with composting toilets, aside from learning how to use them, are offloading liquid waste and and composted (actually mostly just desiccated, composting takes awhile) solid waste. The liquid waste goes straight into a gallon milk jug. Cap that puppy and take it to the restroom at the marina, or pour it out once past legal limits. The solid waste can either get further composted in a different container, or added to a compost pile, or even just dumped into a trash bag and tossed into a dumpster. Dumping at sea once past legal limits is also possible. Which ever way, it doesn't smell bad, and it doesn't look bad, so it's not a horrid job at all.

Oh, and BTW, a composting toilet can handle anything that comes out of a human body, so technicolor yawns are not an issue, and neither is "that time of the month".

OK, so that was a little long-winded. Hopefully I can get my boat outfitted for more fresh water, and not even have the Jabsco toilet installed.


Best Regards,

Bruno

 

[stwendl]

Have you looked into incinerating toilets?

 

[Brunski]

Have you looked into incinerating toilets?

On a C-242? Power demands, complexity, and most of all physical size preclude this as an option.