Peggie, I had an opportunity a few weeks back to buy a Groco K really cheap (about $115 total), and you advised that with a rebuild kit, it would likely be a great deal. Well, I bought the head, bought the rebuild kit, and now have a question. All the advice I've seen you give before has talked about not using paper in the head, and most of the things I've read in "generic" sailboat books say the same thing. However, the instructions that came with the Groco kit mentioned that TP is OK, but no trash, paper towels, etc.. Are they being overly optimistic, or is it just that that particular head is "heavy duty" enough to be up to the task?
Groco K Rebuild
- Thread starter Herb Parsons
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Herb,...
I've always tried to adhere to the adage that "if you didn't eat it first, don't flush it", but Peggie has always said that 1 ply TP is very disolvable and will not mess up a marine head. I think it's like a lot of things, just don't try to put too much "down the pipe" at a time! I put a Groco head in my 28.5 years ago that had the bronze base and it was a vey good head that seemed able to handle anything you put into it.
I've always tried to adhere to the adage that "if you didn't eat it first, don't flush it", but Peggie has always said that 1 ply TP is very disolvable and will not mess up a marine head. I think it's like a lot of things, just don't try to put too much "down the pipe" at a time! I put a Groco head in my 28.5 years ago that had the bronze base and it was a vey good head that seemed able to handle anything you put into it.
Nope...it didn't. 
There's no reason whatever to avoid flushing limit amounts of quick-dissolve TP. Just avoid the premium brands.
There's no reason whatever to avoid flushing limit amounts of quick-dissolve TP. Just avoid the premium brands.
Question for Peggy
Hi Peggy, do you have an e-mail address that I can write you at? Bought your book, very good reading! Thanks
Hi Peggy, do you have an e-mail address that I can write you at? Bought your book, very good reading! Thanks
Groco K Follow Up
First of all, a little background: I bought a Groco head on eBay for just a little over $100, most of which was for shipping. Peggie advised here that I should buy a rebuild kit. That with that, it would still be a bargain (a rebuild kit cost me about $80). She suggested that at times people have these heads without knowing their value, find they're leaking, and then buy something cheaper when they find the cost of a rebuild kit was close to what a cheap head costs new. Well, I took her word, and took the plunge. I know (well, KNEW, I'm better educated now) virtually nothing about marine heads. I have a Coronaodo 35 with a cheap Jabsco head, and an O'Day 25 with a porta-pottie. Since most of my sailing is day-sailing, my use of a head is mostly the avoidance kind. We do sleep over often on the Coronado, but even then, using that tiny toy-looking head has always been something I worked to avoid. My wife just flat out wouldn't. Since I got the Groco, I decided to do some changes on both boats. They're both in the process of some major reworking, so I decided to put the Groco on the bigger boat, and put in the Jabsco on the O'Day giving it a permenant head. I ordered the parts, thinking it's basically a few simple to install gaskets. I received an amazing array of various parts, most of which I couldn't recognize. I began to suspect I may have gotten in over my head (no pun intended). Two things about this rebuild. 1) It's a major overhaul. The head is COMPLETELY disassembled. I read the instructions before trying, and was a little put off. It didn't make as much sense as I hoped (one part talked about using a coat hanger to pull the assembly "around the corner". I couldn't even begin to guess what "corner" they were talking about). 2) If you follow the directions step by step, it all does work out, and I believe this is "do-able" by anyone with a few general maintenance skills. Even though my initial impression of the directions put me off, things worked as described. Shortly after I got the head, I hooked up a water hose to test it. With almost no water pressure, the head flowed continually, and would have flooded any boat if it was below the waterline. In the process of rebuilding the head, I saw that the inflow valve was obviously disfigured. The guy that sold it to me told me that he had replaced the Groco with a new smaller cheaper head, so I suspect that Peggie called it exactly right. When I got done, I was amazed at the difference in this head and what I had. Without being too graphic, while I found the Jabsco almost as unuseable as the porta-pottie (in some ways, moreso, since the porta-pottie doesn't pretend to be more than what it is), I found the Groco to be as comfortable to use as a home toilet. Maybe, in some ways, it's more useable, since the water folow is completely controlled by you. Another note on a rebuild like this, I more completely understand the workings of the entire marine head system on my boat now. While it's not something I would want to do every weekend, or even every season, in its own way, I found it as rewarding as the other repair work I've done on my boats. And, a final note. Thanks Peggie for the advice, both giving me the confidence to try this, and the good advaice that a "used" Groco head was worth the $195 I paid for it. This is a far better system on the Coronado than what I had.
First of all, a little background: I bought a Groco head on eBay for just a little over $100, most of which was for shipping. Peggie advised here that I should buy a rebuild kit. That with that, it would still be a bargain (a rebuild kit cost me about $80). She suggested that at times people have these heads without knowing their value, find they're leaking, and then buy something cheaper when they find the cost of a rebuild kit was close to what a cheap head costs new. Well, I took her word, and took the plunge. I know (well, KNEW, I'm better educated now) virtually nothing about marine heads. I have a Coronaodo 35 with a cheap Jabsco head, and an O'Day 25 with a porta-pottie. Since most of my sailing is day-sailing, my use of a head is mostly the avoidance kind. We do sleep over often on the Coronado, but even then, using that tiny toy-looking head has always been something I worked to avoid. My wife just flat out wouldn't. Since I got the Groco, I decided to do some changes on both boats. They're both in the process of some major reworking, so I decided to put the Groco on the bigger boat, and put in the Jabsco on the O'Day giving it a permenant head. I ordered the parts, thinking it's basically a few simple to install gaskets. I received an amazing array of various parts, most of which I couldn't recognize. I began to suspect I may have gotten in over my head (no pun intended). Two things about this rebuild. 1) It's a major overhaul. The head is COMPLETELY disassembled. I read the instructions before trying, and was a little put off. It didn't make as much sense as I hoped (one part talked about using a coat hanger to pull the assembly "around the corner". I couldn't even begin to guess what "corner" they were talking about). 2) If you follow the directions step by step, it all does work out, and I believe this is "do-able" by anyone with a few general maintenance skills. Even though my initial impression of the directions put me off, things worked as described. Shortly after I got the head, I hooked up a water hose to test it. With almost no water pressure, the head flowed continually, and would have flooded any boat if it was below the waterline. In the process of rebuilding the head, I saw that the inflow valve was obviously disfigured. The guy that sold it to me told me that he had replaced the Groco with a new smaller cheaper head, so I suspect that Peggie called it exactly right. When I got done, I was amazed at the difference in this head and what I had. Without being too graphic, while I found the Jabsco almost as unuseable as the porta-pottie (in some ways, moreso, since the porta-pottie doesn't pretend to be more than what it is), I found the Groco to be as comfortable to use as a home toilet. Maybe, in some ways, it's more useable, since the water folow is completely controlled by you. Another note on a rebuild like this, I more completely understand the workings of the entire marine head system on my boat now. While it's not something I would want to do every weekend, or even every season, in its own way, I found it as rewarding as the other repair work I've done on my boats. And, a final note. Thanks Peggie for the advice, both giving me the confidence to try this, and the good advaice that a "used" Groco head was worth the $195 I paid for it. This is a far better system on the Coronado than what I had.
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