Joker Valve?

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c130king

c130king

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Mar 22, 2009
360
Catalina 310 Gulfport Small Craft Harbor, MS
Gentlemen (and Ladies if there are some perusing and contributing to this thread),

Great stuff. Learning lots. Please excuse me for ever so slightly changing the subject.

1) Blocked vent was mentioned as a possible cause for backflow. I sorta suspect this in my system. When I use the macerator pump to empty the holding tank after a few minutes I start to hear air going through the bowl (and I guess the joker valve). And it keeps going for a few moments (a minute or two I guess) after I shut off the pump. I guess the tank gets a slight negative pressure and draws air through the head/joker valve. Is this normal? Does this indicate a possible blocked vent?

2) The manual head pump itself. Mine has started to leak and spray "water" when I pump it. Probably not associated with the joker valve but has anyone experienced this leaking/spraying around the pump handle when pumping? Any recommendations on this?

Thanks again to all on this topic and the entire forum for lots of great info.

Cheers,
Jim
 
JK_Boston_Catalina310

JK_Boston_Catalina310

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Nov 18, 2010
2,441
Catalina 310 Hingham, MA
c130king said:
1) Blocked vent was mentioned as a possible cause for backflow. I sorta suspect this in my system. When I use the macerator pump to empty the holding tank after a few minutes I start to hear air going through the bowl (and I guess the joker valve). And it keeps going for a few moments (a minute or two I guess) after I shut off the pump. I guess the tank gets a slight negative pressure and draws air through the head/joker valve. Is this normal? Does this indicate a possible blocked vent?
Click to expand
We don't hear air in the bowl generally. This could be part of a blocked vent problem. One of the things we do as maintenance on a regular basis is rinse out the tank and the vent. After we get pumped out, I will fill the holding tank 1/2 to 3/4 full with tap water from the opening on the deck. I will also push water in the vent.

There are more elegant ways to do this but I simply put the hose nozzle up to the opening on the vent and spray. I get a little wet doing it but that doesn't bother me. I hold the water there for about 30 seconds and then stop. If you hear a clugging you know the water is draining through the vent. I have seen people make a flushing tool out of a plunger or you can buy one made for flushing motors (http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...toreNum=50366&subdeptNum=50396&classNum=50401). Just make sure you know which vent is for the holding tank and which is for the diesel tank. You don't want to put water in the diesel!

2) The manual head pump itself. Mine has started to leak and spray "water" when I pump it. Probably not associated with the joker valve but has anyone experienced this leaking/spraying around the pump handle when pumping? Any recommendations on this?
Click to expand
Sounds like you might need to rebuild the pump assembly. There are other valves in the pump that need to be replaced besides the joker valve. If you still have the Jabsco head it is only a little more expensive to buy a new pump assembly than the rebuild kit. ($72 on amazon compared to $59 for the rebuild kit)

If you go with the new pump assembly to you don't have to deal with the dirty joker valve. That can be a s@%&ty job (sorry, couldn't resist the pun).

Jesse
 
c130king

c130king

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Mar 22, 2009
360
Catalina 310 Gulfport Small Craft Harbor, MS
Jesse,

Thanks. Which of those vents is the holding tank? I presume if I dig through the manuals I can figure it out.

As to the fuel tank vent and water. I always rinse off the boat completely after every trip. Should I be worried about spraying those vents with hose pressure water?

Thanks,
Jim
 
JK_Boston_Catalina310

JK_Boston_Catalina310

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Nov 18, 2010
2,441
Catalina 310 Hingham, MA
c130king said:
Jesse,

Thanks. Which of those vents is the holding tank? I presume if I dig through the manuals I can figure it out.

As to the fuel tank vent and water. I always rinse off the boat completely after every trip. Should I be worried about spraying those vents with hose pressure water?

Thanks,
Jim
Click to expand
The way to confirm which vent is to look through that aft locker. You can see the white vent hose coming from the tank to one of the vents. (over near where the battery charger is).

I wouldn't worry about spraying or washing the general area but I wouldn't intentionally spray in the vent openings.
 
P

paulj

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Mar 16, 2007
1,361
Catalina 310 Anacortes,Wa
Michael Meyer


If you have any questions about holding tanks, heads or anything else in that area I would go to

Peggie Hall's site on this web site Catalina owners....



I talked to Peggie in 2007 and redesigned a waste tank vent made it 1" dia.





paulj :troll:

I'm a mechanical engineer, so I don't know all the answers, but know where to look.
 

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Michael Meyer

Michael Meyer

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Oct 31, 2010
42
Catalina 310 RYC, Richmond CA
I didn't really have questions about the vent. And we really haven't had any issues with the head, on this boat or any of the boats I've owned, until this one started back flowing. Which made me curious about the joker valve.

I think someone else had issues with the vent and it possibly being blocked???

...Although this has been a lively discussion :)
 
c130king

c130king

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Mar 22, 2009
360
Catalina 310 Gulfport Small Craft Harbor, MS
Jesse and Paul,

Thanks for the info. I looked in that aft port locker today but I have so many air conditioning ducts running through there that I couldn't find the vent line.

Will spend a little more time digging around back there next week.

Cheers,
Jim
 
S

Solstice

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May 10, 2008
392
Catalina 355 Boston
IRISH ROGUE said:
Check out this link for some interesting reading. NO S**t. :eek: It has some really good coverage about Heads.

http://www.practical-sailor.com/issues/37_31/features/Joker-Valves-for-Marine-Heads_11065-1.html

Cheers
Irish Rogue
Click to expand
This is a great article and does a nice job of covering the topic-including the chemical equation involved. I posted the highlights when the article first came out. As an FYI, credit goes to Thinwater, who is the author and a frequent poster on this forum and others. I know there are those that don't see value in PS, but I'm a big fan. Even if you don't agree with their findings, at least they always explain their methodology and aren't afraid to acknowledge their mistakes when real world boaters call them out. No advertising also goes a long way. It is not the end all, but certainly another good font of information for becoming better educated. It was also great to see Maine Sail in the last issue!
No affiliation with PS, just enjoy research based info....
 
rpwillia

rpwillia

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Sep 29, 2008
1,930
Catalina 310 #185 Quantico
Just to be contrary ...

and make PaulJ go a little nuts :poke: I am going to try a Groco this winter. It may be a little harder to flush but it is more chemical resistant according to PS and has good performance as well. I did replace the original 2 years ago with another Jabsco but I feel like experimenting.
 
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