Dear Head Mistress: Based on what happened to my Hunter 42 Passage, I think the following situation happened. Please give us your opinion. If the joker valve is leaking and the holding tank thru hull is open.... Will the passing of holding tank air thru the joker valve then allow sea water to enter the holding tank... Sea water then fills up the holding tank till it overflows back into the head till the incoming holding tank sea water seeks its own level and then stops. Because I do know that the head overflowed - AFTER I pumped out the holding tank - when ONLY the macerator discharge was left open (BEFORE I knew better, Mistress, thank you) and when the joker valve was old, brittle, and had a slightly open mouth. (The head intake thru hull was first closed, but the head overflowed again anyway. So it was definitely the macerator pump out thru hull.) I replaced the joker valve, and all was ok. The discharge thru hull was left open as a trial, and it didnt fill up the head again...so it must have been air leaking out, which allowed sea water to enter the holding tank and fill up the head to sea level. I guess if my head was installed one foot higher, my boat would have been a new coral reef. Whadya think????? I know...CLOSE THAT SEACOCK!!!
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What is a joker valve and . . .
the holding tank is below the water line. It will fill up if the discharge is left open. Sea water will then flow out of the holding tank to anything else that is below the water line. Is a joker valve a check valve?
the holding tank is below the water line. It will fill up if the discharge is left open. Sea water will then flow out of the holding tank to anything else that is below the water line. Is a joker valve a check valve?
Joker valve has nothing to do with tank filling up
The tank vent--unless it's blocked--provides the necessary air to let the tank fill up and overflow. The only thing a joker valve does--when it's in good condition, that is--is prevent the oveflow from getting into the TOILET via the head discharge hose. So although replacing the joker valve kept your toilet bowl from filling up again, leaving the seacock open had to fill up your holding tank again and back water all the way up to the toilet's joker valve. If the top of your bowl was LOWER, not higher, than the boat's waterline, leaving the seacock open could have turned it into a new reef. Your joker valve was so old it was BRITTLE??? I've never seen one that bad! And if you apply just a little bit of common sense and logic, it should tell you something very important: People often replace only the joker valve--in fact it should be replaced at least once a season, and inspected at least twice a season and replaced any time the "lips" aren't closed tight. But NObody rebuilds a toilet without replacing all the parts in the kit...and a joker valve is part of a rebuild kit. So if a joker valve in the condition yours was in can't be any older--and could be newer--than the rest of the seals, valves and gaskets in your toilet, what does the joker valve's condition tell you about the likely condition of every other seal, valve and gasket in your toilet????
The tank vent--unless it's blocked--provides the necessary air to let the tank fill up and overflow. The only thing a joker valve does--when it's in good condition, that is--is prevent the oveflow from getting into the TOILET via the head discharge hose. So although replacing the joker valve kept your toilet bowl from filling up again, leaving the seacock open had to fill up your holding tank again and back water all the way up to the toilet's joker valve. If the top of your bowl was LOWER, not higher, than the boat's waterline, leaving the seacock open could have turned it into a new reef. Your joker valve was so old it was BRITTLE??? I've never seen one that bad! And if you apply just a little bit of common sense and logic, it should tell you something very important: People often replace only the joker valve--in fact it should be replaced at least once a season, and inspected at least twice a season and replaced any time the "lips" aren't closed tight. But NObody rebuilds a toilet without replacing all the parts in the kit...and a joker valve is part of a rebuild kit. So if a joker valve in the condition yours was in can't be any older--and could be newer--than the rest of the seals, valves and gaskets in your toilet, what does the joker valve's condition tell you about the likely condition of every other seal, valve and gasket in your toilet????
Brad, a joker valve is...
a one way rubber device that looks like a little cup with a duck's bill at the bottom that has a slit in it. It isn't a check valve, it's a one-way valve. It goes in the head discharge fitting. When the toilet is flushed, the force of the pump pushes waste into the cup which forces open the slit--which immediately closes again--at least it does until it's been forced open so many times that the rubber starts to lose its elasticity. Water backing up against the "lips" can't force them open, so it prevents backflow in the head discharge line from entering the toilet bowl. If you'll look at the exploded drawing in your toilet owners manual or the instructions that come with a rebuild kit, you'll see what it looks like and where it goes in the toilet. It is NOT wise to rely on the joker valve to keep water out of your toilet if you leave a seacock open or your tank overflows. As we're seeing here, half the world doesn't even know what it is, 90% of the other half hasn't ever checked it to see what condition it's in, much less ever replaced it...and once a joker valve starts to lose elasticity, the "lips" don't close any more, creating first a slow leak and then it might as well not even be there. And I've seen an overfull tank with a blocked vent line create so much pressure against a joker valve that it actually turned it inside out. So the best that can be said for a joker valve is that it MIGHT slow things down a bit, will PROBABLY stop a backed up tank from erupting into your face as you're bending over pumping the head...and USUALLY keeps anything in a low spot in the discharge hose from backing up into bowl again. It's better than nothing--but even then, only if the joker valve is in good condition.
a one way rubber device that looks like a little cup with a duck's bill at the bottom that has a slit in it. It isn't a check valve, it's a one-way valve. It goes in the head discharge fitting. When the toilet is flushed, the force of the pump pushes waste into the cup which forces open the slit--which immediately closes again--at least it does until it's been forced open so many times that the rubber starts to lose its elasticity. Water backing up against the "lips" can't force them open, so it prevents backflow in the head discharge line from entering the toilet bowl. If you'll look at the exploded drawing in your toilet owners manual or the instructions that come with a rebuild kit, you'll see what it looks like and where it goes in the toilet. It is NOT wise to rely on the joker valve to keep water out of your toilet if you leave a seacock open or your tank overflows. As we're seeing here, half the world doesn't even know what it is, 90% of the other half hasn't ever checked it to see what condition it's in, much less ever replaced it...and once a joker valve starts to lose elasticity, the "lips" don't close any more, creating first a slow leak and then it might as well not even be there. And I've seen an overfull tank with a blocked vent line create so much pressure against a joker valve that it actually turned it inside out. So the best that can be said for a joker valve is that it MIGHT slow things down a bit, will PROBABLY stop a backed up tank from erupting into your face as you're bending over pumping the head...and USUALLY keeps anything in a low spot in the discharge hose from backing up into bowl again. It's better than nothing--but even then, only if the joker valve is in good condition.
The holding tank overflowed AGAIN!
Well the holding tank did it again, overflowed that is. EVEN WITH the new joker valve installed. I sort of hoped it would, because the joker valve shouldnt have held back the tank's over filling if the thru hull is left open, as Mistress has stated. So now the overflow thru hull is closed, and the forward head smells like IVORY soap instead of tooshie doody. For now, that is.
Well the holding tank did it again, overflowed that is. EVEN WITH the new joker valve installed. I sort of hoped it would, because the joker valve shouldnt have held back the tank's over filling if the thru hull is left open, as Mistress has stated. So now the overflow thru hull is closed, and the forward head smells like IVORY soap instead of tooshie doody. For now, that is.
Tank not pumping out
Your tank is either 25 gallons or 35 gallons depending on the year your boat was manufactured. Either way, you need to pump it out every 2 days of use at least. There is no way 2 people can make it overflow in less than 2 days IF it is pumping out completely. The pump will blow bubbles into the sea when the tank is empty. Is it doing that?
Your tank is either 25 gallons or 35 gallons depending on the year your boat was manufactured. Either way, you need to pump it out every 2 days of use at least. There is no way 2 people can make it overflow in less than 2 days IF it is pumping out completely. The pump will blow bubbles into the sea when the tank is empty. Is it doing that?
I don't think that's her problem, Brad...
Jolie just refused to believe that the joker valve in the toilet won't prevent an open discharge thru-hull from from flooding and overflowing the tank till she proved it to herself by leaving the d'd seacock open again. When I was about 2, my dad told me not to stick my finger in a light socket...I didn't listen to him either.
Jolie just refused to believe that the joker valve in the toilet won't prevent an open discharge thru-hull from from flooding and overflowing the tank till she proved it to herself by leaving the d'd seacock open again. When I was about 2, my dad told me not to stick my finger in a light socket...I didn't listen to him either.
Ouch!
Well the thru hull fitting is closed and I just bet now the forward head smells like my aft head...sweet and perfumey. I never really knew it had to be closed. I'll report back how sweet the head smells next time I go aboard in a few days.
Well the thru hull fitting is closed and I just bet now the forward head smells like my aft head...sweet and perfumey. I never really knew it had to be closed. I'll report back how sweet the head smells next time I go aboard in a few days.
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