Marine head flushes OK, but in drybowl mode very difficult to move pump handledown (up OK). Help with problem/correction. Thanks. Jim
- Status
Mine too...
Funny, it got worse __after__ applying teflon grease. It does get easier after I have pushed the water up past the vent, but it feels like I'm going to break something. (It is a W&C, probably original to my 1975 Pearson 26.) Thanks. David "Wild Goose"
Funny, it got worse __after__ applying teflon grease. It does get easier after I have pushed the water up past the vent, but it feels like I'm going to break something. (It is a W&C, probably original to my 1975 Pearson 26.) Thanks. David "Wild Goose"
Mine Three
I have an 1989-30' that is new to me (Pelican) and I have some real issues with the head. My pump has been very hard to operate. It also seams that no mater what position I leave the lever in, it will always fill up the bowl over time. I don't know if the factory installation has been modified or not but I see some vary funny things happening. The storage tank is in the vanity cabinet. The tank bottom is at the head base level, so at best with an empty tank you will have to pump up hill. The first thing that you learn in plumbing school is 'poop runs down hill and payday is on Friday'. So as the tank fills it becomes incresingling harder to pump to the point that you can not get the handle to stay down. At the exit of the head is a check valve called a "Joker" valve. This device should keep the poop in the tank and not allow it to return to the bowl(I use the word poop although we don't have any in the tank, just liquid and paper if you follow my drift). Next the discharge line comes up in the cabinet behind the master bed, first stop is an air gap and then a hand pump. You can't pump the tank through the air gap. When I use the pump-out station, sucker hose it appears to suck stuff out of tank but unly for a few seconds and then I get a noise that sounds like a one way valve sucking air. Before I go into much more detail does anyone share this kind of trouble?
I have an 1989-30' that is new to me (Pelican) and I have some real issues with the head. My pump has been very hard to operate. It also seams that no mater what position I leave the lever in, it will always fill up the bowl over time. I don't know if the factory installation has been modified or not but I see some vary funny things happening. The storage tank is in the vanity cabinet. The tank bottom is at the head base level, so at best with an empty tank you will have to pump up hill. The first thing that you learn in plumbing school is 'poop runs down hill and payday is on Friday'. So as the tank fills it becomes incresingling harder to pump to the point that you can not get the handle to stay down. At the exit of the head is a check valve called a "Joker" valve. This device should keep the poop in the tank and not allow it to return to the bowl(I use the word poop although we don't have any in the tank, just liquid and paper if you follow my drift). Next the discharge line comes up in the cabinet behind the master bed, first stop is an air gap and then a hand pump. You can't pump the tank through the air gap. When I use the pump-out station, sucker hose it appears to suck stuff out of tank but unly for a few seconds and then I get a noise that sounds like a one way valve sucking air. Before I go into much more detail does anyone share this kind of trouble?
Hooboy. Ok...one at a time...
Jim...if your toilet is a Jabsco, I suspect the wet/dry valve has failed...a VERY common problem in Jabsco manual toilets made in the last 5-6 years. That valve is actually just a flimsy little "gate" that the lever swings to either block or unblock the flow of flush water. Due to either a design or tooling problem, it's defective...it hangs, usually in the "dry" mode...and when it hangs it creates backpressure that can easily be mistaken for a clog downstream. Jiggling the wet/dry lever MIGHT free it, but only temporarily...the only real cure is a new wet/dry valve assembly...or a new toilet that's a bit more durable. While you have it apart would also be a good time to lubricate it. Dale...your problem is a blocked tank vent. When air in the tank displaced by incoming waste can't get out the vent, the tank becomes pressurized...creating backpressure that prevents waste from going into it. A blocked tank vent also doesn't allow any air in during pumpout to replace contents as they're pulled out...so the pumpout pulls a vacuum as soon as what little air is in the tank is exhausted, preventing any more from being pumped out. Don't use your toilet or attempt to pump out again until you've cleared the blockage...the two most likely places are the vent thru-hull and the connection on the tank. After you get it open, you'll be able to move the bowl contents all the way to the tank if you pump long enough--and without filling up your tank with flush water...'cuz any toilet that's working anywhere near factory specs can move waste/water at least 6' UPHILL in the dry mode. As for the function of a joker valve...the best it can do--IF it's not so worn out that the slit has become just an open hole (joker valves should be replaced at least every two years)--is reduce backflow to slow seepage. Enough backpressure from a blocked tank vent can create an eruption through the toilet that can turn one inside out...if the tank doesn't burst first. David, I suspect you also have a blocked tank vent. It's also highly likely that your toilet is just worn out...30 years is at least twice the average lifespan of that toilet. If it's never even been rebuilt, I'm amazed it still works at all. I strongly recommend that all three of you check out the link below...'cuz the solutions to all of your problems and how to prevent 'em--and most others too--is there.
Jim...if your toilet is a Jabsco, I suspect the wet/dry valve has failed...a VERY common problem in Jabsco manual toilets made in the last 5-6 years. That valve is actually just a flimsy little "gate" that the lever swings to either block or unblock the flow of flush water. Due to either a design or tooling problem, it's defective...it hangs, usually in the "dry" mode...and when it hangs it creates backpressure that can easily be mistaken for a clog downstream. Jiggling the wet/dry lever MIGHT free it, but only temporarily...the only real cure is a new wet/dry valve assembly...or a new toilet that's a bit more durable. While you have it apart would also be a good time to lubricate it. Dale...your problem is a blocked tank vent. When air in the tank displaced by incoming waste can't get out the vent, the tank becomes pressurized...creating backpressure that prevents waste from going into it. A blocked tank vent also doesn't allow any air in during pumpout to replace contents as they're pulled out...so the pumpout pulls a vacuum as soon as what little air is in the tank is exhausted, preventing any more from being pumped out. Don't use your toilet or attempt to pump out again until you've cleared the blockage...the two most likely places are the vent thru-hull and the connection on the tank. After you get it open, you'll be able to move the bowl contents all the way to the tank if you pump long enough--and without filling up your tank with flush water...'cuz any toilet that's working anywhere near factory specs can move waste/water at least 6' UPHILL in the dry mode. As for the function of a joker valve...the best it can do--IF it's not so worn out that the slit has become just an open hole (joker valves should be replaced at least every two years)--is reduce backflow to slow seepage. Enough backpressure from a blocked tank vent can create an eruption through the toilet that can turn one inside out...if the tank doesn't burst first. David, I suspect you also have a blocked tank vent. It's also highly likely that your toilet is just worn out...30 years is at least twice the average lifespan of that toilet. If it's never even been rebuilt, I'm amazed it still works at all. I strongly recommend that all three of you check out the link below...'cuz the solutions to all of your problems and how to prevent 'em--and most others too--is there.
What a Ding-Dong
Peggie, Thank you, I can't belive what a ding-dong I am. Blocked air vent makes perfict sense. I will be at the boat Fri. afternoon and that will be the first thing I work on. I'll let you know how it works out. P.S. My boat is a Hunter 30, I don't know how Catalina got in the name area. Thanks Again.
Peggie, Thank you, I can't belive what a ding-dong I am. Blocked air vent makes perfict sense. I will be at the boat Fri. afternoon and that will be the first thing I work on. I'll let you know how it works out. P.S. My boat is a Hunter 30, I don't know how Catalina got in the name area. Thanks Again.
- Status