Portable toilet with MSD option?

[tribologist]

Im thinking of installing a portable toilet with MSD fittings so i can feel like the big guys going to the pump-out stations... Does anyone on the forum have experience with any of them? Im leaning towards Thetfords 550 or the older Dometic 965MSD version. What im concered about is installing the hose and wich of them is easier to install neatly. The Dometic 970 seems to have more complaints of leaking seams etc. Any input is appreciated.

Ulf

[DesertAlbin736]

One thing to take into consideration is the height of the unit & LxW dimension the base. As you know the toilet sits on a raised platform that is not very wide due to the curve of the hull. That & the head compartment is not very big to begin with.

[NickScheuer]

We installed MDS fittings on our 5-gal Mansfield Sani-Potti with a great deal of success. I used standard white PVC hose (heavy duty stuff) for both waste and vent tubing. Both went more of less straight up to the deck from behind the potty, which means pretty close alongside the inner surface of kthe hull. The waste connection on deck has a threaded plug. The vent tube terminated on an open flange fitting covered with a chrome-plated vent hood.


Both waste and vent tubes were fitted with white PVC pipe unions, with short lengths of PVC pipe secured to the flex tubing by hose clamps. The unions served to let me disconnect the potty when I wanted to carry it into a public toilet for emptying where "pump-out" facilities did not exist. After the potty was disconnected, the waste and vent unions would both be plugged by short pipe and cap so nothing would leak out on the walk to the toilet.

It all worked very well in our 28' Shearwater Yawl for something like 12 or 14 years. W


We have a Natures Head composting toilet in our Albin-25 which my wife likes more than the Mansfield Sani-Potti.

I'd post photos, however, I usually experience a great deal of frustration trying to post photos on this site.

[DesertAlbin736]

I'd post photos, however, I usually experience a great deal of frustration trying to post photos on this site.

Posting photos should not be a problem if they're in jpeg format & less than 5MB. Used to be the size limit was much smaller. I'm a Windows user, so I'm not familiar how it would work on a Mac, but in Windows if the photo file is too large I first go in my file manager, right click on the photo, do the "open with" option, and open it in "Photo Gallery" app. In Photo Gallery there's an "Edit, organize, or share" menu bar function. Click on that, then the Edit tab and pick "Resize". Under "Select A Size". "Large/1280" should shrink the file size down below 5MB & saving that will create a smaller copy that should be easy to post in AOG's "full editor" mode while leaving the original full size file alone.

[tribologist]

Thanks! The Natures Head looks neat but its quite pricey. On the other hand, if that fits, I will have no issue fitting a 5 gal sani potti.

Ulf

[kerrye]

We have a Thetford 965 although the pump out hose is not hooked up. Does not seem difficult to hook up at all. We carry an extra tank for 10 gallons of total supply.

[tribologist]

Finally got mine hooked up to the outside. I quickly realized the issue with carrying the jug in marinas, taking it down the ladder with boat on trailer was no fun either. One learning was that the nut holding the pumpout hose barb is way to flimsy. For now i solved it by putting a hose clamp over it but it will be replaced with an o-ring sealed fitting that dips into the tube so the nut will not be in bending.

[WillieC]

I am weighing either the Thetford or Dometic five gallon portable MSD fitting units.

Driftless, are you happy with yours and did you get the attachment issue resolved to your satisfaction?

Tribologist, did you land on either unit? Any big surprises?

Thanks!

[tribologist]

It has worked very well. Perfectly happy with it.

The pump out parts are standard plumbing parts so its easy to adapt and change as you like. My hose is stiff so it put a lot of bending on the fitting and it was hard to install it while keeping the gasket there so I found a better nut at home depot that is sturdier and I slipped a sleeve in that holds the gasket. I made that from what I think it called a tail pipe. Its used between the sink and the p-trap.
.

[WillieC]

Tribologist =Driftless. Ah, it's all in the fine print, and reading comprehension scores.

Thank you!

[WillieC]

So you ended up with the Dometic, correct? Which model? I think they are up into the 970s now.

It looks like you purchased the official MSD hose connecter thang. Did the unit also come with the Plain Old Ordinary original dump spout? I ask because our travel area may periodically require physically removing the lower tank from the boat and hauling ashore. I can see switching attachments in my future, not a happy prospect. Do you find yourself in similar circumstances and how nasty is it?

I like your installation. The head on the WillieC still has the useless sink, though tastefully done in formica and stainless, its attendant drain, supply hose, and clever foot pump. What were they thinking? We should poll members and ask for videos of those who have successfully brushed their teeth, bent over the sink without whacking head on electrical closet, stood on one foot in lively seas all while operating the foot pump with the other and one hand waving free! (With ANOTHER fully functional sink two feet away.) THIS is where the mechanical bull rider champeens of the 80s got their training! I digress.

The WillieC also still has what I have assumed to be the factory installed Whale hand pump for dumping the holding tank out its own dedicated, thankfully, thru-hull. All that equipment eats up a lot of valuable real estate. You could install a wall mounted TV in there! I may not have to move up to a 30 foot Willard after all.

The reality is that all of the 'Merikan Salish Sea is a No Discharge Zone, unless you are a municipality, another pointless digression, and chances are good we may never get back into BC in my lifetime. I should just eliminate all that excess plumbing and go for the widescreen. I could stuff a bunch of batteries where the defunct holding tank is.

[tribologist]

Yes, the 965 model. The big round scary hole covered by plastic cover sealed with rubber gasket is there. I hauled it out a few times to empty in the toilet at home. No big deal but consider im in the blessed groups of ostomates and on top of that i grew up on a hog farm so my references are maybe a bit off...

The top clips of. The hose tend to be dry and reasonable clean and i have a cap for tge fitting and the vent hose connection. There is a carrying handle on it so its easy to carry ashore. You have to be a bit careful when emptying. A little shake to break up “ clumps” before opening and emptying is a good idea.

https://www.dometic.com/en-us/us/produc ... 65-_-33511

[WillieC]

Thanks, Tribologist. I am close to pulling the trigger on the 975 and doubling the usable space in the WillieC.

I could have some spare parts sometime this winter. Then again maybe I should hang onto them in case things don't quite work out. I am also slowing down in my dotage.

Be well. A very good friend of ours is also an ostomate, yet another word you made me look up. Life is indeed very good, friend.