My Jabsco manual head is six years old and in need of rebuilding. I was thinking of replacing it with a Raritan PH II. Before starting I wonder if it will fit? Are the bolt positions for the base standard for all manual toilets? I appreciate any input on this topic. Thanks, Doug
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On our H340 I was able to use two of the existing holes but had to fill one and drill one.
On our H340 I was able to use two of the existing holes but had to fill one and drill one.
WHY in the world...
are people SO obsessed with whether or not a couple holes will line up??? Uhh, no, they are all not the same!!! If you have a piece of crap toilet and can replace it with a GREAT toilet by just filling 2 holes with some MarineTex...what's the big deal. It amazes me that Peggie can still hang out on these forums and answer the same old questions over and over.
are people SO obsessed with whether or not a couple holes will line up??? Uhh, no, they are all not the same!!! If you have a piece of crap toilet and can replace it with a GREAT toilet by just filling 2 holes with some MarineTex...what's the big deal. It amazes me that Peggie can still hang out on these forums and answer the same old questions over and over.
appreciates peggy's patience
I am glad that Peggy hangs out on this forum and answers questions. I appreciate that she is patient and always gracious in her answers. Yes, it does seem like she answers questions that have been asked and answered before. She certainly is nice about it. Thanks Peggy, you have helped me a lot. Good luck Doug, it sounds as if your question can be answered in the archives. I made sure I showed my appreciation by buying a copy of her book.
I am glad that Peggy hangs out on this forum and answers questions. I appreciate that she is patient and always gracious in her answers. Yes, it does seem like she answers questions that have been asked and answered before. She certainly is nice about it. Thanks Peggy, you have helped me a lot. Good luck Doug, it sounds as if your question can be answered in the archives. I made sure I showed my appreciation by buying a copy of her book.
Or,
you could just rebuild the pump with a Jabsco rebuild kit. I was facing this dilemma recently; the Jabsco bowl was only 4 seasons old and wasn't flushing properly. Common advice here is the Jabsco bowl is junk - just replace it with a $300 bowl that may or may not fit in its place. Well, why spend $300 for a new bowl, when an inspection of the vent hose (free) and a $60 rebuild kit will do the job? The junky Jabsco now is as good as new, and the job was simple to do. That's $240 in my pocket, or enough to rebuild the thing 4 more times. At my 4 season interval, that's 16 more years! I won't own the boat that long. I guess it depends on how much abuse your bowl gets. Mine is only used for liquids, and it's really only my wife who uses it. I expect it to last a long time....
you could just rebuild the pump with a Jabsco rebuild kit. I was facing this dilemma recently; the Jabsco bowl was only 4 seasons old and wasn't flushing properly. Common advice here is the Jabsco bowl is junk - just replace it with a $300 bowl that may or may not fit in its place. Well, why spend $300 for a new bowl, when an inspection of the vent hose (free) and a $60 rebuild kit will do the job? The junky Jabsco now is as good as new, and the job was simple to do. That's $240 in my pocket, or enough to rebuild the thing 4 more times. At my 4 season interval, that's 16 more years! I won't own the boat that long. I guess it depends on how much abuse your bowl gets. Mine is only used for liquids, and it's really only my wife who uses it. I expect it to last a long time....
Ditto what Greg said about the 'rebuild' kits.
If you make sure your holding tank is empty you can replace a few springs and rubber gaskets among other parts with the overhaul kits for a lot cheaper than buying a whole new head system. I have also found Peggy's book quite a useful reference on the subject of heads as it contains some explosion diagrams of the way the parts go together. The modest upgrade kit cost me $90 at worst marine for a Groco head and the replacement of parts seems simple enough given the right tools. An hour or two worth of work for saving yourself the price of a new head and worrying about the wholes lining up. Try the quick fix first. Good luck. PS - I have a Jabsco head on my Tartan 27' so I am interested in how your mileage may vary. I am not sure if any Service Kits (or packages) were available for Jabsco but I will be rebuilding a Groco head/pump very soon.
If you make sure your holding tank is empty you can replace a few springs and rubber gaskets among other parts with the overhaul kits for a lot cheaper than buying a whole new head system. I have also found Peggy's book quite a useful reference on the subject of heads as it contains some explosion diagrams of the way the parts go together. The modest upgrade kit cost me $90 at worst marine for a Groco head and the replacement of parts seems simple enough given the right tools. An hour or two worth of work for saving yourself the price of a new head and worrying about the wholes lining up. Try the quick fix first. Good luck. PS - I have a Jabsco head on my Tartan 27' so I am interested in how your mileage may vary. I am not sure if any Service Kits (or packages) were available for Jabsco but I will be rebuilding a Groco head/pump very soon.
Tip
I have found ut it is much better to flush these heads with fresh water for less smell and less maintenance with less problems. The easy way to do this is with a little sprayer that can get at Home Depot and add to the fresh water system,just spray as much water in bowl as needed to flush. This works easy and great just keep pump in dry and pump to flush,I keep the raw water intake when fresh water is needed on longer trips. Mine was real easy to I just used simialar snap on fittings into fresh water line in the bath room cabnit. This is the second boat that I did this on and it really keeps the head working longer with less problems. Nick
I have found ut it is much better to flush these heads with fresh water for less smell and less maintenance with less problems. The easy way to do this is with a little sprayer that can get at Home Depot and add to the fresh water system,just spray as much water in bowl as needed to flush. This works easy and great just keep pump in dry and pump to flush,I keep the raw water intake when fresh water is needed on longer trips. Mine was real easy to I just used simialar snap on fittings into fresh water line in the bath room cabnit. This is the second boat that I did this on and it really keeps the head working longer with less problems. Nick
fitting, fresh water
Hello, Note that not all Jabsco's are the same either. The Jabsco on my Newport 28 was leaking, not drawing water, etc. I tried a quick rebuild, no go. I bought a new one for $100, but the bolt's didn't line up. It wasn't difficult to install the new one, but it took longer (and required two more trips to the hardware store) because the mounting pattern was different. Regarding fresh water flushing, the PO of my boat kept a gallon jug of water and two 2 quart bottles in the head. The quart bottles are filled with a mixture of CP, or some other holding tank treatment. Use the head, then flush with some fresh water follow up with a little treated water. The head on this boat has little to no odor as compared to my last boat which had a definite odor (not strong but you noticed it when you went into the head) and was flushed with salt water. After this season I have decided to continue with the fresh water flushing. Barry
Hello, Note that not all Jabsco's are the same either. The Jabsco on my Newport 28 was leaking, not drawing water, etc. I tried a quick rebuild, no go. I bought a new one for $100, but the bolt's didn't line up. It wasn't difficult to install the new one, but it took longer (and required two more trips to the hardware store) because the mounting pattern was different. Regarding fresh water flushing, the PO of my boat kept a gallon jug of water and two 2 quart bottles in the head. The quart bottles are filled with a mixture of CP, or some other holding tank treatment. Use the head, then flush with some fresh water follow up with a little treated water. The head on this boat has little to no odor as compared to my last boat which had a definite odor (not strong but you noticed it when you went into the head) and was flushed with salt water. After this season I have decided to continue with the fresh water flushing. Barry
Between rebuild or replace,
replace is the way to go. Nowdays the cost of a repair kit is almost as high as a new head. It is much easier to just drop in a new unit than to fiddle around with all those springs and seals. Most likely all the holes won't line up so just fill in the old ones and drill new ones; still easier than fiddling with all the springs and seals. Besides changing parts in an old toilet you have to scrape mineral deposits and clean the crud and it will never go back to being new. As far as value, a new head in a boat increases the value of your boat. Just my humble opinion.
replace is the way to go. Nowdays the cost of a repair kit is almost as high as a new head. It is much easier to just drop in a new unit than to fiddle around with all those springs and seals. Most likely all the holes won't line up so just fill in the old ones and drill new ones; still easier than fiddling with all the springs and seals. Besides changing parts in an old toilet you have to scrape mineral deposits and clean the crud and it will never go back to being new. As far as value, a new head in a boat increases the value of your boat. Just my humble opinion.
Ditto the nix on rebuilding
Previous boat had a Jabsco failure. At the time, West Marine had a whole head (Jabsco) on sale for $115. A new pump only was like $99 and a rebuild kit was around $70. I bought a whole new deal. I've lost count, but seems like that was #2 for that boat. So when the original Jabsco started failing on the new to us 340, I spent the extra money for PH-II. I guess we need a real test from "Practical Sailor", but IMHO, the Raritan has got more "pull". Its on year three and flushin' fine. Its the head-to each his own. Heads are like opinions, everyone has one and they all stink to the other person!!
Previous boat had a Jabsco failure. At the time, West Marine had a whole head (Jabsco) on sale for $115. A new pump only was like $99 and a rebuild kit was around $70. I bought a whole new deal. I've lost count, but seems like that was #2 for that boat. So when the original Jabsco started failing on the new to us 340, I spent the extra money for PH-II. I guess we need a real test from "Practical Sailor", but IMHO, the Raritan has got more "pull". Its on year three and flushin' fine. Its the head-to each his own. Heads are like opinions, everyone has one and they all stink to the other person!!
Mounting Holes
Unless you are replacing the exact same make and model of toilet, rest assured – the mounting holes between the old one and new one WILL NOT line up. Even with the same make and model, if too many years have gone by between the older one and the newer one, they still may not line up. At home, you can have your plumber rip out an old, round front American Standard toilet and replace it with a brand-new, elongated Kohler toilet, and the mounting and the plumbing will align perfectly. Not so in the marine industry. Why not, you ask? All marine toilets, other than portable toilets (Porta-Potties) and drop-down RV-type toilets, use pumps of one kind or another to operate: piston pumps, diaphragm pumps, centrifugal pumps, rubber impeller pumps, progressive cavity pumps, rotary piston pumps, gear pumps, vacuum pumps and probably some other types of pump that don’t readily come to mind. Then, to go one step farther, the pumps will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and model to model as to their size and their capacity. With the wide variety of pumps available to use on a given marine toilet, the method of mounting it and the location of the mounting tabs for the toilet will vary because the manufacturer must locate them where they will provide adequate support for the mechanism and at the same time, not interfere with the actual operation of the unit. The same applies to the locations for connecting the input and discharge hoses. They must be where the input and output ports are on the pump being used. About the only standard for marine toilets is hose size. Most marine toilets use ¾” I.D. hose for the input and 1½” I.D. hose for the discharge. A few manufacturers, on some of their products, use 1” I.D. hose for the discharge, but the most common hose size for the discharge is 1½” I.D.
Unless you are replacing the exact same make and model of toilet, rest assured – the mounting holes between the old one and new one WILL NOT line up. Even with the same make and model, if too many years have gone by between the older one and the newer one, they still may not line up. At home, you can have your plumber rip out an old, round front American Standard toilet and replace it with a brand-new, elongated Kohler toilet, and the mounting and the plumbing will align perfectly. Not so in the marine industry. Why not, you ask? All marine toilets, other than portable toilets (Porta-Potties) and drop-down RV-type toilets, use pumps of one kind or another to operate: piston pumps, diaphragm pumps, centrifugal pumps, rubber impeller pumps, progressive cavity pumps, rotary piston pumps, gear pumps, vacuum pumps and probably some other types of pump that don’t readily come to mind. Then, to go one step farther, the pumps will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and model to model as to their size and their capacity. With the wide variety of pumps available to use on a given marine toilet, the method of mounting it and the location of the mounting tabs for the toilet will vary because the manufacturer must locate them where they will provide adequate support for the mechanism and at the same time, not interfere with the actual operation of the unit. The same applies to the locations for connecting the input and discharge hoses. They must be where the input and output ports are on the pump being used. About the only standard for marine toilets is hose size. Most marine toilets use ¾” I.D. hose for the input and 1½” I.D. hose for the discharge. A few manufacturers, on some of their products, use 1” I.D. hose for the discharge, but the most common hose size for the discharge is 1½” I.D.
Correction
<< Most marine toilets use "” I.D. hose for the input. >> (below) Should say -> 3/4" I.D. hose for the input.
<< Most marine toilets use "” I.D. hose for the input. >> (below) Should say -> 3/4" I.D. hose for the input.
Honeyman, I wish we were all as smart as you....
Honeyman, I know you are frustrated that we all ask the same question over and over. Unfortunately, we don't watch this forum everyday like you might. You are a genius at fixing things on a boat while the rest of us are still learning. You whipped me once and now I see you at it again. Grab a bottle of merlot and chill out....
Honeyman, I know you are frustrated that we all ask the same question over and over. Unfortunately, we don't watch this forum everyday like you might. You are a genius at fixing things on a boat while the rest of us are still learning. You whipped me once and now I see you at it again. Grab a bottle of merlot and chill out....
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