Raritan PHII not pumping in water...will pump out

[Pat]

My PHII head will not pump in water from the thru hull....it will pump out..
although somewhat reluctantly. The thru hull is open and does provide water to the AC system so I know the thru hull is open....there is a 'T' on the line that sends water to the head when required......It typically works fine.....could the 3/4 inch hose be plugged....perhaps the tank is nearly full..? your thorughts are appreciated Peggy.....by the way, the vent thru hull was totally plugged with bugs & debris. Patrick

 

[Stu Jackson]

1. How old is the head? The pHII is a great unit. Mine has worked flawlessly for over three years.

2. Have you ever serviced the head?

3. Does your dry/flush turn thing work easily? (Don't ever move it when you're pumping - it's in the manual.)

4. Have you considered disconnecting the inlet and running a hose to the inlet from a bucket to assure that your intake line is clear?

5. Are you sure your holding tank isn't full and that your vent line is now clear?

Good luck.

 

[chuckwayne]

are you sure you're not sucking air from the AC side of the tee?

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

My PHII head will not pump in water from the thru hull....it will pump out..
although somewhat reluctantly. The thru hull is open and does provide water to the AC system so I know the thru hull is open....there is a 'T' on the line that sends water to the head when required......It typically works fine.....could the 3/4 inch hose be plugged....perhaps the tank is nearly full..? your thorughts are appreciated Peggy.....by the way, the vent thru hull was totally plugged with bugs & debris. Patrick

If your AC water intake shares a thru-hull with the toilet, it shouldn't--not because it'll harm the toilet, but because the ac water pump shouldn't ever run dry, even for a couple of minutes at a time....like, when someone flushes the toilet. It needs to be rerouted to its own thru-hull, or better yet the head sink drain line.

An over full tank would only impact flushing, it wouldn't have anything to do with bringing flush water in.

Yes, the intake line could have a blockage in it...weeds, sand, sea water mineral buildup. So could the channel in the rim of the bowl and/or your head discharge line.

f the toilet is at least 5 years old, it's highly possible that it's in need of a rebuild kit...especially if you haven't kept it well lubricated. There are TWO rebuild kits for the PH II...those made before 6/92 use kit PHIIRK...those made AFTER 6/92 use kit PHIICRK. Only about half the parts in each kit are interchangeable, so be sure to get the right one for your toilet.

 

[Pat]

Thanks for the interesting/thought provoking comments. First, it was Mermaid's President who called me when we ordering parts and he gave his permission to share the head thru-hull since it is used so seldom....vs. the AC...fact is, the head doesn't seem to interfere with the Mermaid like I thought it might....no slowdown in cooling water going overboard at all...you can't even tell when someone is using the head...I do
need to check the tank to see if full although my other half says we emptied it before
winterizing....that Is NOT what I recall....she's probably right though....I'm going to go to the lake and take off the head intake line and see if it is clean....this head is about 8 years old...so should be most recent repair kit....next question, could I possibly need a
new pump somehow..? you are right that the head would not pump out if the tank were full though...pumping it out is tough though....doesn't seem happy pumping dry...i.e. harder to get handle up and down....although it does eventually empty...vernt
is not clear....although I did not take the vent line off the actual holding tank and check
it at that point for a blockage......thanks for your thougths...Oh, by the
way, I have never had to repair the head system, but have not routinely lubricated the parts either....Patrick

 

[Pat]

no, the AC is working perfectly....may go out and try to prime the head again...and check
the intake hose...thanks for your help ! Pat

 

[Ron20324]

Remove the head intake line from the tee and stick it in a bucket of water to see if it works that way.

Take off the pumpout cap to vent the tank before trying to remove the vent hose. See if it works that way.

 

[Pat]

I spoke with a fellow at Raritan yesterday and he said to remove the 3/4 inch intake hose and then look for a spring inside the pump housing and just lightly fiddle with it to perhaps reseat it. I'm not sure I can even see that portion of the pump where the intake connects as the bulkhead is very close....will try today and see...maybe should try to take a mirror with me...or can you buy an adjustable mirror from O'Reilly's or somewhere like that. Thanks for all the help folks....this site is a great, great asset !
Pat

 

[woodster]

for those of you who may not know..... Peggy Hall worked at Raritan for quite some time.... and i have always found that if she tells you the Blackberries are ripe.... the best thing to do is get lots of buckets ...just incase anyone did not know this......

 

[seadaddler]

LUB

Well if you have never lubed the pump piston than that is one big part
of the problem if not the problem but I would also check the other things
after taking the pump apart and cleaning and a good amount of lub until
it is working well for sure.
Nick

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

for those of you who may not know..... Peggy Hall worked at Raritan for quite some time.... and i have always found that if she tells you the Blackberries are ripe.... the best thing to do is get lots of buckets ...just in case anyone did not know this......

I appreciate the kind words, Woody, but I never worked at Raritan. I (my company Peal Products) was a Raritan distributor for about 10 years--which is how I got to know so much about all their products...and I did sell the Peal Products line of consumables (all their sanitation and cleaning products) to them, but my only "employment" with Raritan was as a consultant just long enough to educate them about our products....they'd never had a line of consumables before. I could have had a job with Raritan, but it wouldn't have worked, because I built my reputation on "calling 'em as I see 'em," which I still do! If I'd gone to work for 'em, my recommending Raritan products would have become tainted...and if I were to recommend something else I thought would be a better choice for that particular installation, they would NOT have appreciated it! So we both agreed my working for Raritan would be a bad idea, so we shook hands and agreed that it was in both our best interests for me to remain free to continue "calling 'em as I see 'em." That's worked well for both of us and we remain good friends. They've even adopted an idea or two from me...one of which was selling the PHII/PHC LBAs as a "conversion" instead of only as repair parts.

More than you prob'ly wanted to know, but I needed to set that record straight!

 

[woodster]

thanks Peggy my mistake/assumption i just know that i have never seen anyone else that knows as much as you do about their products and that you have never given any bad advice and i am sure everyone that has had dealings with you or your advice has the highest regard for what you say ....

now for the disclaimer ...i am just a satisfied user of your information and no other affiliation with The Headmistress ....

again thanks

Woody

 

[Kermit]

...i am just a satisfied user of your information and no other affiliation with The Headmistress ...Woody

Woody is such a flirt. ;-)

 

[woodster]

Woody is such a flirt. ;-)

dang Kermit better to flirt with her than kiss a frog :dance:

 

[Kermit]

dang Kirmit better to flirt with her than kiss a frog :dance:

Especially a bullfrog. hehehe or ribbit or croak

 

[Allan12210]

I appreciate the kind words, Woody, but I never worked at Raritan.

"Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated." attributed to Mark Twain

 

[Ron20324]

"Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated." attributed to Mark Twain "

No, I'm pretty sure he is dead.

 

[Pat]

Peggy, are there particular lubes that I should not use....say teflon; which I ask about since I have several little jars of it....just rub it on ? I'went out yesterday in a nasty wind and cold and followed the intake line around and will try to disconnect it iand stick in a tub of water if the hose will reach...also another head issue you replied to concerned taking the inlet hose off at it's connection point to the toilet and try and reseat a little spring that is in there with something like a pencil eraser.....this too for no water flow into head.....I'll not be able to see it well in my case so I'm not sure of what the goal is for the little spring....how will I know I've done it right? Thank you so much for trying to help me....! Patrick in Wichita....

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Peggy, are there particular lubes that I should not use....

Do NOT use any petroleum based grease...that would include Vaseline.

say teflon; which I ask about since I have several little jars of it....just rub it on ?

Rub it on what????

Thick teflon or silicon grease that's sold in tubes is the the recommended grease for toilet pumps. SuperLube is the brand Raritan recommends...a one-use tube of it is included in rebuild kits. Remove the pump from the base...stick the tube nozzle into the pump and give it a healthy squeeze (ALL of the one-use tube, about a tablespoon from a full size tube)....replace the pump onto the base, pump the toilet a few times to spread it all over the inside of the pump cylinder...you're done for the season. Also good for y-valves, manual diaphragm pumps, winches... lube every spring as part of spring recommissioning.

I'went out yesterday in a nasty wind and cold and followed the intake line around and will try to disconnect it iand stick in a tub of water if the hose will reach...

Bring a bucket of water to the end of the hose!

also another head issue you replied to concerned taking the inlet hose off at it's connection point to the toilet and try and reseat a little spring that is in there with something like a pencil eraser.....this too for no water flow into head.....I'll not be able to see it well in my case so I'm not sure of what the goal is for the little spring....how will I know I've done it right?

The ball won't be stuck any longer (if it is now), and you'll be able to bring in flush water again (IF that's what's causing your problem.) I think it would be a good idea if you give tech support at Raritan a call ...they can walk you through trouble-shooting and problem solving on the phone while you're at the toilet trying to cure its problems. 800-352-5630
Meanwhile it's suddenly occurred to me to ask: you DO know what the knob on the front of the PH II pump does...that it has to be rotated to the "flush" position to bring in any flush water...that the pump only pushes bowl contents out--can't bring in any flush water--when it's in the "dry" mode? You wouldn't be the first person who's driven himself up a wall trying to fix something that turned out to be an "OHHHHHH DUH!"

 

[Pat]

I do know the flush out from the water in position....I did call Raritan, and I did ref. the previous questions, but the front of my PHII has a square'ish' knob that my drawing from the PHII booklet does not really explain......I really just wondered how I would know when the spring is in correctly and you answered that. Raritan serviceman did not speak very good english...so I'll call again tomorrow if it doesn't work today. Thank You!