Jabsco head

[seth]

Does everyone seem to have trouble with their Jabsco heads?
They seem to be everywhere. They come on nearly all new boats. Are you always changing the flapper valve or worse yet the joker valve. I spoke with a dealer recently and who made mention of the owners of these toilets banning together. It seems these folks are really good at selling really crappy products.

How many of you feel ripped off by Jabsco?

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

They're on every new boat for only one reason:

They're the least expensive..and boat builders don't spend a dime they don't absolutely have to.

"Worse yet" the joker valves? Joker valves are in every toilet, manual and electric, and are actually the easiest part to replace...and one that should be replaced in ANY toilet at least every other year...better yet, annually.

But "ripped off owners banding together" ? No more likely than it would have been for all the Yugo buyers banding together to "do something" about the quality of the cheap cars they bought.

My advice: use it till it breaks...the replace it with something else that's a lot better quality.

 

[Paul Mermelstein]

I know that Peggy does not think much of these toilets, and I agree with her. They are not extremely hardy, but they don't cost much either. I do need to rebuild mine every year (a $50 repair kit). On one of my heads, the plastic on the pump top cracked, so I needed to either replace the pump for around $90 or the entire toilet for around $150. So I replaced the entire toilet. Now, I know that I should spend more for a better toilet, and next time maybe I will. I just went for expediency and lower cost this time.

 

[seadaddler]

Peggy

Can the Jabsco be replaced with the PHII and still use the bowl if so tell these to make the change and find out how great will be.
I changed my two year old Head Mate and used the the bowl on a new PHII
and it is soooooo much better.:dance:
Nick:dance:

 

[jweschman]

In another forum discussion, it was suggested that the Jabsco joker valves can be replaced by a Raritan C253 joker valve. May be worth a try (I can confirm that the C253 seems to work fine, but can't comment on longevity yet).

 

[Patrick17430]

The Jabsco is so cheep I bought an extra one. Now instead of changing out parts on my hands and knees in the tiny little head , I just pull the head, drop in the spare, take the other one to a more comfortable spot to fix it, put it the box, and its ready for the next breakdown.

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Yes

Can the Jabsco be replaced with the PHII and still use the bowl if so tell these to make the change and find out how great will be.
I changed my two year old Head Mate and used the the bowl on a new PHII
and it is soooooo much better.:dance:Nick:dance:

Read all about it here: sbo.com PHII PHC LBA And be sure to see the prices!

 

[Skipper]

Everyone always $!#- talkin' (pun intended) Jabsco.

My example may not = entire product-line integrity. However, if the head is reasonably maintained and used often and not abused, it will likely provide a tremendous value in usage-vs-cost. We've been using basic Jabsco every week for 3-4 days for 4 years. That's around 6,000 uses, and we bought the boat used with the head being a year old already.

We had a calcified waste hose and joker valve which needed replacing, but that's it. And I only lube about once every month or so, when I remember. Minimal maintenence. Thing still works perfect.

The mechanism is soo simple, it's hard to fathom any extraordinary issues. Just pay for the replacement parts if it needs it. What's the big deal? You don't replace parts on your boat? So what if the original unit cost $100. Irelevent when parts need replacing. Other heads don't need parts\maintenance?

If you have the excess money, buy a better one. If your current head works, don't fix it. If it breaks, fix it. Better yet, don't break it (humor).

 

[rickmorel]

I've had great luck with Jabsco heads. Put a new one on the previous boat and lived aboard / cruised for 2-1/2 years without one problem nor replacing anything. Put a new one on the current boat 2 years and 4 months ago, moved aboard and same thing. Well, we did have one problem from day one - the wet/dry valve had to be crammed over all the way to dry or the pump would "jam". I called Jabsco and they promptly sent me a new valve and top. End of problem.

Maybe they have to be used every day?