Electric Marine Toilet

Upgrading a standard manual Jabsco toilet is a nice upgrade and only requires a bit of electrical & plumbing work. It can be done in an afternoon if all goes smoothly. Big text

Johnson Pump Brand part # 80-47231-01 (similar to Albin Pump Marine)

30yr old Jabsco Marine Toilet

Old holes filled with epoxy, 3 new holes drilled.

12v (over 12 AWG wire) from shower pump connects to switch which then connects to pressure and macerator pumps.
Ground run and tied together separately.

Included pressure pump, spliced into my old 3/4 water line that went to the Jabsco.
It is mounted on 2 wood strips epoxied to the hull under the sink.

New compact style bowl is noticeably larger and 3 inches higher than the Jabsco
As a bonus this puts it just above the water line when the boat is level.
They also sell a comfort style bowl that's similar to a domestic toilet I believe.

Project complete!

The macerator is powerful and clears a full bowl in just a few seconds. The diaphragm pump takes 5-10s to fill the bowl so holding the top control button pretty much is all that is needed when flushing & rinsing. The bottom control button provides the option to only add water to the bowl or to only pump out. While rinsing with both pumps running it draws about 6 amps and about double that when pumping out a full bowl.

The only extra parts I needed to purchase were 6-8' of electrical wire, some connectors and 2' waste hose.
The toilet was purchased from AnchorExpress, delivered for $254 (Feb 2020) which is about as cheap as you can find it. I had no issues with them though I would call ahead to make sure they have the item in stock as I've read some complaints. If you want to use sea water make sure you get the setup w/ 12v diaphragm pump, model 80-47231-01. The model 80-47231-01 comes w/ solenoid. One model from Albin Pump doesn't come with a solenoid but can be purchased separately, see below.

My rinse/fresh/seawater setup is different as I use raw/sea water which is pulled in from a tee just above the thru hull that the head sink drains through. With the seacock open I pump sea water to rinse the head. With it closed (typical position), I run some water in the sink before and/or after rinsing my hands which is then drawn through the diaphragm pump (shown above) and pumped through the bowl. Before I leave the boat I fill the sink a bit over 1/2 way and pump everything through to fully clear the lines & reduce odor. Since the toilet macerates it can also pump out through a provided 1" hose fitting as well as make any aerobic processes in the holding tank potentially go a bit quicker.

As mentioned there are other versions of this toilet/head including one marketed by Albin Pump which use a solenoid tapped into the onboard fresh water to rinse / provide water to the bowl. If you're only using this with your holding tank & fresh water that model is $30 cheaper (Albin brand 07-03-010) but you'll need to pickup a solenoid (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018WRJYUE/) and some fittings so it's about the same in the end. It might be a bit easier to install as I imagine the solenoid wouldn't have to be mounted securely to the hull and perhaps could just sit inline in the hose (teed from the head sink cold water hose?). A vented loop might provider further isolation from the fresh water side though I believe the solenoid would do the trick.

There are also similar toilets that have the rinse water pump that runs off the same motor inline with the macerator pump and have a single control button.. I believe they use impellers which might run dry at times causing extra wear & maintenance. In the model above the macerator pump is made of a hard material so I'm hoping only the shaft seals will need maintenance and not nearly as often as an impeller might. These inline units might be a bit easier to install but I also like the independent control with my setup. Finally, the Jabsco Lite Flush Electric Marine Toilet which goes for $600+ has a foot switch and is fully self contained and programmed w/ a feed water pump. 2.5X the price but looks nice assuming it fits.

Will my/your days of explaining & demonstrating how to use the head be gone? Just press the button! The unit has a posh soft close lid so we'll loose the "we're moving now" sound the old one would make when we heeled hard to starboard and it came crashing down ... everything is a trade off on a boat.