My jabsco macerator is leaking quite a bit and I’m assuming it’s rods have corroded like everyone else’s. I’ll be replacing it this weekend with a raritan model as I don’t have enough height in this location for Peggys recommended waste pump. Do I just use pipe dope to seal the threads when I screw the new macerator to that valve? Picture (before cleaning) attached. Thanks for the help!
Macerator Valve Thread Sealant
- Thread starter P12nash
- Start date
If the threaded connection leaks, wrapping the threads on the male fitting with plenty of Teflon tape will seal the connection. But what's the macerator connected to? It looks like corroded iron!
Btw...the hose connection--all your hose connections-- should have TWO hose clamps, with screws 180 degrees apart.
-Peggie
Btw...the hose connection--all your hose connections-- should have TWO hose clamps, with screws 180 degrees apart.
-Peggie
I would strongly urge you to get a Shurflo or Johnson m pump. I did the research maybe 6 years ago, these two, while they look identical on the outside, ARE built quite differently. You want to put off having to ever do this again as long as possible.
Good luck.
Good luck.
I strongly support @Stu Jackson 's suggestion. My old Jabsco looked like a, well ............... it looked like a piece of Jabsco crap. The replacement Johnson pump looked like some thought went into the design.
I'll be a contrarian... just for the sake of being a contrarian. First of all, clearly your macerator is toast and needs to be tossed. I don't have a suggestion for a replacement, and I don't know whether I'd buy a Jabsco if I needed a new macerator.
But I will say that my Jabsco 18590, which was 16 years old, was in fine shape after replacing the 4 brass rods with stainless, and replacing the gasket. In fact, I did buy the rebuild kit (impeller, impeller housing, gasket), but I'm not even sure there was a problem with the old impeller and housing: the main things that needed replacing were the 4 rods that hold the whole thing together and the paper gaskets. After rebuilding it, I really don't see anything to criticize except for the brass rods, and I think I read that they use stainless in the new units nowadays. It looks almost new.
One thing that I believe is better on the Jabsco than the Johnson: the Jabsco has 4 different ways you can orient the discharge, depending on how you put it back together (saw this on some youtube video by Jabsco), and I think the Johnson has only 3 threaded rods, so I'm not sure whether or not it gives you this flexibility.
I replaced our jabsco macerators with raritan smart macerators in 2016. They've worked without a fault or leak. Recommended.
By the way: Hunter installed the macerator oriented sideways, with the discharge pointing back towards the stern (which is, I think, the default way the macerator ships). So the 1" hose looped up and over the macerator before running under the aft bunk to the thru-hull. After doing the rebuild, I oriented it so the discharge points forward, which saves the up-and-over routing. The old routing would certainly tend to cause waste to sit in the hose and the impeller chamber. That's my theory, anyway...
Due to constraints with what adaptors were available locally I ended up having to purchase a replacement jabsco pump at west marine (price matched to defender). There just wasn’t enough line to move it much and if I pushed the valve any further aft it would be under cabin sole that’s basically inaccessible. I figure this one lasted over ten years (okay, its probably been leaking for years). Amazingly, only one of the rods was broken on mine.
Peggie - the valve is is corroded bronze. What you were seeing on the threads is some sort of thread sealer or compound that the dealer must’ve applied when installing the macerator as I know this is the original configuration. It was a real bear to break the seal on that!
I had the sanitary lines replaced 2 seasons ago and apparently the yard made a huge mess which I spent a good while cleanings under the sole in different areas and wiping the hoses totally clean. The boat smells a lot better now! Oh and I went through all of the connections under the water line and made sure I put a second stainless hose clamp on if it was missing. Of course only the lines the yard had touched didn’t! Good thing I’m already planning to switch yards for this winter.
Thanks for your input everyone. As always it’s very appreciated.
Peggie - the valve is is corroded bronze. What you were seeing on the threads is some sort of thread sealer or compound that the dealer must’ve applied when installing the macerator as I know this is the original configuration. It was a real bear to break the seal on that!
I had the sanitary lines replaced 2 seasons ago and apparently the yard made a huge mess which I spent a good while cleanings under the sole in different areas and wiping the hoses totally clean. The boat smells a lot better now! Oh and I went through all of the connections under the water line and made sure I put a second stainless hose clamp on if it was missing. Of course only the lines the yard had touched didn’t! Good thing I’m already planning to switch yards for this winter.
Thanks for your input everyone. As always it’s very appreciated.
Fwiw, I'd put the macerator fairly close to the tank --after any y-valve and above the tank if possible. Any waste left in the line between the tank and macerator will just run back into the tank. That should give you a fairly straight shot to the thru-hull from it.
--Peggie
--Peggie
Very, very interesting.
It was just fine, but I had to rebuild it to make it work.
Fascinating logic....
It was 16 years old, and it turned out that the impeller was just stuck to the sides of the housing. I thought I had checked this by rotating the motor shaft manually, but I think I only considered doing this 4 years ago and never actually carried it out (the boat was on land for 3.5 years). So when I actually took it apart this year, there were only 2 things wrong: the gaskets came apart, and as it turned out, one of the 4 threaded brass rods was cracked about 1/2-way through. Neither of these things had caused a leak yet, but I clearly wasn't going to put it back together without a new gasket and new rods. So yes: my conclusion is that the unit was in pretty darned good shape except for these 2 things.Very, very interesting.
It was just fine, but I had to rebuild it to make it work.
Fascinating logic....
From what I'm hearing others say, 10-or-so years of good service isn't bad for a macerator.
As long as you're happy with one that's prob'ly only performing at about 50% of its rated efficiency, 10 years is amazing. The edges of impeller vanes gradually wear down, making 'em less efficient at pulling anything through 'em. Getting stuck to the housing weakens the vanes, increasing the likelihood of one or more breaking. The rubber dries out and becomes hard and brittle, increasing the odds of failure even more. And lubrication settles in sealed motors, resulting in corrosion in 'em.
That's the long way of saying "everything has a lifespan...yours has been living on borrowed time for several years. Macerator pumps never fail when a tank is empty, only when it's full...replace it!!!
--Peggie
That's the long way of saying "everything has a lifespan...yours has been living on borrowed time for several years. Macerator pumps never fail when a tank is empty, only when it's full...replace it!!!
--Peggie