Electric Head--Won't

[Jane]

I have an electric flush on my head and it just quit working. When I turn the knob nothing happens, no noise, nothing. I was hoping you all could help me diagonis before I went off in all different directions. I am hoping it's just the fuse. When I turn the breaker on, then try to flush, the breaker flips itself off. Next question....would I find the fuse inline of the electrical wires, so that I just need to trace the wiring (and would that be the red wire?) to find the fuse? Sorry, but electical is not my thing I have checked to make sure the connections are good. Thanks for all your help,Jane

 

[J.B. Dyer]

Short

WIth your breaker kicking out, I would guess that there is a dead ground someplace, replacing a fuse isn't going to help anything. It could be the motor is burned out, a bad switch, or there is an abraded wire somewhere. At any rate, I believe that you should probably get someone to look at it that has some expertise. Bad wiring and DC electrical problems are one of the number one causes of boat burnings.Sorry!

 

[Bob]

Pump Jammed

Hi Jane,Think you will find the pump is not able to spin. This will result in the breaker tripping. Maybe possible to mechanically clear the jam - check manual.Doesn't sound like an electrical problem. Circuit breaker is tripping because the pump won't start most likely.Hope this tip helps.

 

[J.B. Dyer]

Good Point!

Bob has a good point there, wish I'd thought of it! If there is a slight delay and possibly a slight humming noise between the time you hit the button and the breaker kicks out, it very well could be jammed up. That would be the cheapest thing to check for first.Good Luck!

 

[Ed Ryan]

Been there - done that

Jane - For what it's worth, we had an electric head (Jabsco conversion kit) when we purchased our boat. Was very tempermental, particularly to low voltage, so that we occasionally had to start the engine to raise the voltage just to flush. After reading about other problems with this unit in particular, and other electric heads in general on this forum, we took the step to replace it with a plain old manual (Raritan PHII) and have been satisfied ever since. Good luck to you.

 

[Peggie Hall/HeadMistress]

Jammed macerator most likely culprit

Somebody flushed something they shouldn't have. The only cure: open up the pump and clean it out.

 

[carisea]

jammed jabsco

if it is a jabsco I can tell you your symptoms are exactly what I have had to deal with twice. I will bet you the problem is in the plastic housing that sits inside the china base of the toilet. This housing has fins that seperate the trianglar steel macerator blade from the steel implellor that evacuates the toilet. If a fin breaks off it will stay in the first chamber and eventually jam the macerator blade. Motor will not turn, lights dim, and if you hold button too long breaker blows. I replaced this once 6 months ago and it recently did this again. This time I removed the broken fin piece and put the toilet back together. The toilet works fine. I thought maybe it would not flush properly but at least at this time it works fine.I suppose if I lose more fins then maybe it will not work as well but my point is you do not have to run out and buy a new housing every time a fin breaks off. We have been living on the boat for 7 months now so it does get a lot of use. Hope this will save you time starting in the wrong place.