Raritan Electroscan - any users?

[Peregrine1983]

Hi all,

Curious if anyone here has first hand experience with the Raritan Electroscan MSD system. After the latest issues with my holding tank system, I am eager to stop sailing around with 30 gallons of human waste on my boat.

I read this thread here (http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...s-68608-2.html) and people seem happy with the unit but the thread is a few years old and I had a couple of specific questions:

- If I understand correctly, I would also want to also install a small holding tank for when I am in a NDZ. Right? I assume NDZ means no discharge at all - even treated waste.

- Also, I assume salinity will be high enough at 40 degrees North to operate this unit without adding salt, but I am not sure.

Any insight appreciated.

[Connemara]

Yep.

Above the Fold had one of the original Lectrasan units when we bought it but it was on its last legs. So we replaced it with the ElectroScan; took the guy a morning, but then all of the plumbing was already in place.

We like it a lot because the discharge is completely sanitary and there is no holding tank. Salinity in any ocean should be just fine. Auckland is at 36S, which is getting down there.

U also need a macerating toilet.

Don't know about NDZs.

There is a large but momentary power draw, which can be alarming if you are watching the gauges. And it's noisy; our unit is located under the v-berth, but again that's only for 40 seconds or so.

Connemara

[Peregrine1983]

Originally Posted by Connemara

Yep.

Above the Fold had one of the original Lectrasan units when we bought it but it was on its last legs. So we replaced it with the ElectroScan; took the guy a morning, but then all of the plumbing was already in place.

We like it a lot because the discharge is completely sanitary and there is no holding tank. Salinity in any ocean should be just fine. Auckland is at 36S, which is getting down there.

U also need a macerating toilet.

Don't know about NDZs.

There is a large but momentary power draw, which can be alarming if you are watching the gauges. And it's noisy; our unit is located under the v-berth, but again that's only for 40 seconds or so.

Connemara

Awesome. Great info. Thank you. Do you also have a holding tank or just the electroscan?

[Connemara]

Just the wee one that's part of the system. Basically, the toilet chops everything up and pumps it into the holding tank, where it is stirred around in the weak HCL soiution created by running electricity through the salt water from the toilet. Without looking at the manual, I can't recall whether that then stays in the tank until the next flush or is flushed out immediately. I think the latter.

There is a direct discharge route if you're at sea and the unit craps (heh heh) out.



Connemara

[senormechanico]

We have one and like it. We're in the PNW.
It draws about an amp hour per flush, i.e. an average of 30 amps for two minutes.
Salt is not needed in Puget Sound unless you're anchored near a fresh water stream.
Also, when you get into areas with a lot of mountain snow runoff, you need to add salt.
We keep a plastic bottle with coarse salt near the head and just toss in a measured amount from a small cup.
The display unit will tell you if you have used enough.
Around the Desolation Sound area, we used about a rounded tablespoon per flush.

The first flush goes into the first compartment, the second flush pushes the first into the second compartment.
The third flush sends the first flush overboard.
Every flush treats both compartments.
To be legal in an NDZ, you still need a holding tank.

[peghall]

U also need a macerating toilet.

Sorry, not true...the ElectroScan--and also the PuraSan--is designed to be used with ANY toilet...and there are many people who use them with manual toilets. They both have mixers and macerators in them.

Peregrine if you haven't read the owners manual for it, you'll find answers to most of your questions in it ElectroScan owners manual If you're likely to cruise in waters that are too cold for the ES, I suggest you check out the PuraSan Raritan PuraSan Promo Sheet Raritan PuraSan EX owners manual It was designed for use in fresh water and with toilets that use onboard pressurized fresh water, so it doesn't need salt...which allows it to work equally well in fresh, brackish and salt water.

Since you'll also need at least a small holding tank, you might want to check out Raritan's "Hold 'n Treat" system which includes both a holding tank and either of their treatment devices. Raritan Hold N'Treat Bundle If you already have a tank you want to keep and just add the treatment device, you could go with just the Hold 'n Treat controls holdntreat controls .

Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein

[Peregrine1983]

Understood. Thanks Connemara. Good to know there is an alternative way to get waste out of the system if it s**ts the bed (pun intended).

Senormechanico - Cool. Glad to hear you like yours and thanks for the clarifications. That's helpful that the unit tells you if it needs more salt.

Which units specifically do you guys have?

[Peregrine1983]

Originally Posted by peghall

U also need a macerating toilet.

Sorry, not true...the ElectroScan--and also the PuraSan--is designed to be used with ANY toilet...and there are many people who use them with manual toilets. They both have mixers and macerators in them.

Peregrine if you haven't read the owners manual for it, you'll find answers to most of your questions in it ElectroScan owners manual If you're likely to cruise in waters that are too cold for the ES, I suggest you check out the PuraSan Raritan PuraSan Promo Sheet Raritan PuraSan EX owners manual It was designed for use in fresh water and with toilets that use onboard pressurized fresh water, so it doesn't need salt...which allows it to work equally well in fresh, brackish and salt water.

Since you'll also need at least a small holding tank, you might want to check out Raritan's "Hold 'n Treat" system which includes both a holding tank and either of their treatment devices. Raritan Hold N'Treat Bundle If you already have a tank you want to keep and just add the treatment device, you could go with just the Hold 'n Treat controls holdntreat controls .

Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein

Awesome. Thank you Peggie. Going to discuss this with my better half.

[myocean]

We have been cruising with our cat for 2.5 yrs and installed one at the beginning - combined with normal Jabsco manual toilet. The second toilet on board got equipped with a large holding tank.
Looking back I am not enthusiastic about this device.
1. With a manual toilet the handling is a bit erratic. Timing of ElectroScan processing and toilet flushing needed to be synchronized correctly to do it right. Typically it is not but you don't have any feedback about this. So a lot of stuff may go over board untreated.
2. If you use this several times a day the electrodes wear out rather soon and you need to replace them.
3. OK, the treatment kills germs by blending your produce with chlorine. But overfertilization, which is in some regions as problematic or even more problematic than germs, is not solved at all with this device.
4. It is quite noisy...
Power consumption was not really a bit issue, even though we had no genset on board.

[Peregrine1983]

Originally Posted by myocean

But overfertilization, which is in some regions as problematic or even more problematic than germs, is not solved at all with this device.

Good point. I was wondering about that, but then I figured that in the US the areas that would be most affected by over fertilization would also be NDZ's - bays etc. - so the waste wouldn't be dumped until you were in open ocean anyway. However, I know this isn't the case in many places outside the US.

[roverhi]

Had the early model LectraSan. Used it for more than two years of full time live aboard and cruising without any problems. Outward appearance of the old unit with the new was almost identical so don't think the actual functioning was much different. The unit had it's own macerator because the poo needs to be liquified for the electrically created chlorine to completely mix in and do it's thing. Ours worked fine with a standard Raritan PHII head.

Discharge was a brown liquid that mixed into the surrounding water almost instantly. The treated waste in the LectraSan remains in the box till it's pumped through. If you want to move the waste through you'll need to pump water through the head after the unit has treated the sewage. Don't know if there is a holding period needed to completely treat the poo before it's pumped out.

Bought an LectraScan for my new boat but haven't gotten around to installing it. Haven't used the head all that much and haven't lived aboard outside a marina to use the head at all. So no great pressing need to get it working. Hope it will function as it's been mounted in the boat for awhile without being hooked up.

Unless you are going to the Great Lakes or some other large body of water that's an NDZ would just go with a bucket toilet for emergencies. The bugs in human waste are actually quickly rendered safe in salt water if you want to pee over the side. Direct discharge I understand is legal everywhere but an NDZ.

Areas with low salinity are mostly in the Baltic where freshwater inflow, in a relatively enclosed body of water, is so great as to lower the salt content. 40 degrees north is San Francisco, btw.

Originally Posted by Connemara

Yep.

Above the Fold had one of the original Lectrasan units when we bought it but it was on its last legs. So we replaced it with the ElectroScan; took the guy a morning, but then all of the plumbing was already in place.

We like it a lot because the discharge is completely sanitary and there is no holding tank. Salinity in any ocean should be just fine. Auckland is at 36S, which is getting down there.

U also need a macerating toilet.

Don't know about NDZs.

There is a large but momentary power draw, which can be alarming if you are watching the gauges. And it's noisy; our unit is located under the v-berth, but again that's only for 40 seconds or so.

Connemara

[Peregrine1983]

Cool. Thanks. We currently have 2 manual heads on board, but I would likely upgrade at least one to an electric toilet.

Originally Posted by roverhi

40 degrees north is San Francisco, btw.

It's also NYC

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by myocean

We have been cruising with our cat for 2.5 yrs and installed one at the beginning - combined with normal Jabsco manual toilet. The second toilet on board got equipped with a large holding tank.
Looking back I am not enthusiastic about this device.
1. With a manual toilet the handling is a bit erratic. Timing of ElectroScan processing and toilet flushing needed to be synchronized correctly to do it right. Typically it is not but you don't have any feedback about this. So a lot of stuff may go over board untreated.
2. If you use this several times a day the electrodes wear out rather soon and you need to replace them.
3. OK, the treatment kills germs by blending your produce with chlorine. But overfertilization, which is in some regions as problematic or even more problematic than germs, is not solved at all with this device.
4. It is quite noisy...
Power consumption was not really a bit issue, even though we had no genset on board.

#1 When I installed mine, I counted the time it took to pump the maximum recommended amount of water per flush as in the installation manual.
Having a relatively new Thetford Nano Eco head, it was an easy thing to do.
It turned out to be a maximum of 15 seconds of flush time.
In actual use, the maximum needed is less than ten seconds, the minimum being about 5 seconds for full evacuation of the hose between teh head and the ElectroScan.
If you have a manual head, just find out how many strokes of the pump equal the maximum water being flushed. It's simple math.

#2 The electrodes DO require an annual maintenance, but no disassembly is required.
It's all in the manual. Dump in some muriatic acid in a water solution, flush, let sit for ten minutes or so, then flush thoroughly. It's not hard, just something that ought to be done during installation.

#3 no comment.

#4 Ours is mounted under the V berth.
You can hear it run, but it's not loud and not obnoxious sounding.
It's not halfway as loud as the electric head, and quieter than a macerator pump.

[Maka]

When I bought my boat it already had one.
I called electrosan to clarify some points since I am in fresh water.
They were most helpful.
I recommend you call them and get your answers from the horses mouth, as it were.

I have found that Morton Salt "When it rains it pours" works best as it wont solidify in the container from humidity. I keep couple extra in a cupboard in the head.

My Marina lets me discharge in my slip .... so no pumping out....ever.
I Love it.

[KadeyKrogen38]

I have a unit complete with salt water tank and electric flush solid state control. Works perfect. I replaced my head with a composting head so no longer need.