MountainSufi said:
Howdy from Jackson Hole!
Just bought a Thetford Marine Porta Potti 260 for my 2017 Fleet Side Dinette. It comes with some plastic flanges that held on by screws that are called a "Hold-down Kit".
Is this a permanent hold-down, or something that works with the Manual/Pour Out model? Will it hold the Potti in place in it's little cubby hole?
How do you guys secure your Potti in it's little side space? Pictures appreciated.
Thankx
Often, hold-down kits are sold with MSD (Marine Sanitation Device) versions of porta-potties. This version is intended to change a toilet from a dump-out to a pump-out version.
We can see this in the exploded-parts diagram that the difference between models is the pump-out fitting versus the spout.... (click to enlarge)
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I bought an MSD version of a 5-gallon Thetford model in 1986 for my trailerable sailboat as I wanted to sail in Ontario, where provincial law prohibits portable toilets on their waters. The hold-down and pump-out kits allowed the otherwise portable toilet to be considered a non-portable one (with addition of a line to allow it to be pumped out at a marine pump-out facility).
The problem with a pump-out-only toilet in a trailerable sailboat is you often need a dump-out version. The law is there to prevent me from dumping the toilet overboard and I understand that... but where is my pump-out facility when I'm using the trailered sailboat as a camper? Or when I put the boat back on its trailer without first diverting to a pump-out facility? Or what if I want to use that potti in my campervan?
So I realized it's still possible to dump it out at a dump station or toilet.... just remove the pump-out fitting and dump away (carefully!). I did that for years. However, it's far from ideal. I've found It's much easier and cleaner to dump with a spout than without one. In a household toilet, for example, you can minimize splashing by putting the spout end down near the water. And at a dump station, you can get that spout down into the pipe.
Also-- We find the 5-gallon models more optimal than the 2-1/2 gallon ones for our wandering. Longer range, fewer searches for acceptable places to dump, fewer cleanups, more traditional seat height. But of course it has to fit its storage area.
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