Bubble and Gurgle

[Jeff]

I have a '90 Hunter 28. About a year ago I replaced the entire manual pump and it worked fine. The pump still works well but now when I empty the head a few seconds later I hear all kinds of bubbling noises and the bowl starts filling with water and the pump handle slowly rises. The water..or whatever..only backs up a few inches up the bowl so is not a flood problem, but I have to go thru the ritual of re-pumping several times before the bowl is empty. Any idea what is going on here?

 

[Peggie Hall/Head Mistress]

Three possibilities:

1. Your holding tank vent is blocked, but only about 95% blocked. Flushing is pressurizing the tank...the pressure is sending the waste back into the bowl and pushing the pump handle up. Just barely enough air is escaping slowly out the vent to relieve the pressure just enough to finally let it all go down. The easiest way to check this one out is to open the pumpout fitting and flush the head. If it still happens, it's not the tank vent. If that "fixes" it, check your vent thru-hull...that's where 99% of vent blockages occur.2. If your toilet is a Jabsco manual, the dry/flush valve has failed (they've had problems with it)...it hangs, creating symptoms you describe. If it's not the tank vent, that's the most likely cause. Cure: call Jabsco.3. A partial blockage in the head discharge line. We'll get to the cure after you've eliminated the other two.