Tecma

An Italian Ceramic Toilet Maker Bought by a Dutch Sanitation Group

Tecma built its name on Italian ceramic bowls at a time when most marine toilets, in the US market especially, were moulded plastic. Thetford, the much larger Dutch group whose own history runs back to 1971 and which invented the portable Porta Potti, brought Tecma into its portfolio as the marine sanitation half of a three-brand line-up alongside Thetford (cooking and portable sanitation) and Norcold (refrigeration), sold together under the Thetford Marine name. Manufacturing stayed in Italy, at Otricoli in the Terni province, which is where the ceramic bowls that distinguish Tecma from most American-made plastic marine toilets are still produced.

Thetford Group itself sits inside the Recreational Vehicle Group of the Dyson-Kissner-Moran Corporation, a privately held US holding company with no relation to the vacuum-cleaner Dyson, giving the brand a much larger corporate parent than its Italian factory-floor origins suggest. For an owner, the practical effect of that ownership is a genuinely international parts and support network built on an RV and leisure-vehicle sanitation business far larger than boats alone, rather than a small specialist that could disappear. That RV heritage is visible on the ground: the same basic electric ceramic macerating toilet built for boats also turns up in the compact bathroom of a small travel trailer, sold and installed through the RV trade rather than a marine chandlery, which is a reasonable place for an owner to see one running in everyday use before ever buying one for a boat.

What Tecma Actually Sells

The Silence Plus 2G is an electric macerating toilet with an Italian ceramic bowl and a ceramic-coated wooden seat and lid, built around a 12V (or 24V) macerator pump that grinds waste and pumps it up to 120 ft through a 1-1/2 inch discharge line, controlled from a wall panel that also lets an owner program water usage per flush and monitor holding-tank level from a separate sensor wired into the tank. A low-profile version needs at least a 4-inch platform beneath it, since part of the mechanism sits below the bowl rather than entirely behind it.

The newer Breex and E-Breex models, launched as Thetford Marine's next-generation sanitation line, add a soft-closing seat and cover with a quick-release front hinge for easier cleaning, and on the E-Breex, an electronic multifunction bidet operated by a wireless remote. Thetford markets the E-Breex as the first marine toilet system engineered to run entirely on 48 volts, aimed at the growing number of yachts standardising their house electrical systems at that voltage rather than the traditional 12 or 24. Flush volume across the Breex line runs from 0.5 to 2.7 litres depending on mode, and both toilets are offered in 12V, 24V and 230V versions to suit different boats' electrical systems, so a yard specifying either model still has to match it to whichever voltage the rest of the head's plumbing and lighting circuit already runs on.

Tecma water pressure isn't so critical for it flushing, which is the one line every experienced owner comparing brands keeps coming back to.

What It Costs to Buy

The Silence Plus 2G was priced at USD 1,735.99 through a major US parts retailer for the standard elongated-bowl, low-profile ceramic model, a European retailer separately listed a comparable model closer to EUR 983. Neither figure includes the wall control panel, which Tecma sells separately from the toilet itself, a detail worth knowing before budgeting a replacement: an owner buying a bare toilet to pair with an existing controller pays a different total than one buying a complete first-time installation. A separate waste-tank level sensor, a small potted module wired into the discharge line and mounted at the top edge of the holding tank, is typically an additional line item on a full install rather than bundled with the toilet.

The Breex and E-Breex models are new enough that consistent US retail pricing was not yet established across major chandleries at the time of writing; European retailers list the standard Breex around similar territory to the Silence Plus 2G, with the E-Breex's bidet function and 48-volt engineering commanding a premium over the standard line. As with any electric marine toilet, the sticker price is only part of the real cost: installation labour, any platform-raising carpentry the low-profile version needs, and wiring back to a dedicated circuit breaker all add to the bill a boatyard actually presents.

Tecma Against Its Main US Rival

On The Hull Truth, a captain comparing the two for a forum poster replacing older Tecma units wrote that both brands "work really well and are really reliable," but added that "the BIG issue is Raritan needs really good water pressure to operate reliably without clogs. Tecma water pressure isn't so critical for it flushing TP and waste and getting it to the tank." The same poster noted a practical cost-of-ownership point for anyone already running Tecma: switching to Raritan means rewiring for a different control panel and display, so "labor would probably be cheaper with Tecma since you already have Tecma and don't have to convert anything."

Raritan owners on the same thread were generally positive about their own toilets: one reported a Marine Elegance "trouble free since 2020," another had run one "a decade with zero problems," and a third called it an upgrade over the smaller seat on their old toilet with no issues since. A separate owner's complaint about a persistent false "holding tank full" warning was diagnosed by another poster as a faulty tank sensor rather than a toilet fault, a reminder that a marine toilet complaint is often actually a sensor or plumbing issue once it is investigated properly. The one specific, repeated piece of buying advice in the thread, regardless of brand: get the taller toilet with the elongated bowl rather than the compact version, which several posters flagged as a comfort difference worth paying for.

Buying and Installing

The low-profile Silence Plus 2G needs a minimum 4-inch platform beneath it because part of the macerator mechanism sits below the bowl rather than entirely behind it, which matters in a shallow-sole head where that clearance does not already exist. Voltage has to match the boat's house system, 12V, 24V, or on the newer E-Breex, 48V, since the macerator motor is not designed to be run off an inverter or a voltage converter as a workaround. The control panel is commonly sold separately from the toilet itself, so a full first-time installation costs more than the toilet's advertised price alone suggests, and a straight toilet swap where the existing panel and wiring are reused costs meaningfully less in both parts and labour.

A waste-tank level sensor, wired into the top of the holding tank and back to the control panel, is a small but easy-to-overlook part of a proper installation; skipping it removes the tank-level warning that the panel would otherwise display, which is the feature that prevents an overflow. The sensor itself is a small potted module, printed with an explicit instruction to install it at the top edge of the waste holding tank rather than lower down, since it works by detecting when waste finally reaches the very top of the tank rather than measuring level continuously; fitting it too low gives a false full-tank warning long before the tank is actually full. Because Tecma is now the more common toilet on new-build yachts, an owner replacing a failed unit on an older boat with a different brand should weigh the rewiring cost against simply staying with what is already fitted, exactly the calculation raised on The Hull Truth by an owner comparing Tecma against Raritan before deciding.

لمين هو: Owners replacing a failed head, specifying a new build, or simply trying to understand why their boat has the toilet it has, especially anyone weighing whether to stay with an existing Tecma installation or convert to a competing brand.