I was told a long time ago that it was a good idea to flush a little cooking oil (corn oil, etc.) in the head once in a while to keep the parts lubricated. It sounds safe to me, but have you ever heard of this? Is it in fact safe and effective?
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Use head lube instead
You're not making popcorn, so don't use cooking oil
Cooking oil is bad for the system. I'm sure Peggy will reply to this, also. West Marine sells a head lube that you can add thru the toilet bowl. Let it set for 12 hours. Then you can set about business (pardon the pun). I've used it about once a season and it works well.
You're not making popcorn, so don't use cooking oil
Cooking oil is bad for the system. I'm sure Peggy will reply to this, also. West Marine sells a head lube that you can add thru the toilet bowl. Let it set for 12 hours. Then you can set about business (pardon the pun). I've used it about once a season and it works well.A SMALL amount won't hurt....
No more than a tablespoon, but it just washes out in a few flushes, so why not do it right and just do it once instead of the "quick fix" that has be done every week or so?
No more than a tablespoon, but it just washes out in a few flushes, so why not do it right and just do it once instead of the "quick fix" that has be done every week or so?
I have dont that too, but...
I have used both the West Marine brand of head lube and cooking oil as well, but this summer after I replaced my holding tank, I went on an extended sailing cruise with my family. During this time, I fixed a leaky PAR toilet gasket and happen to actually read the toilet manual. They recommend coating the piston and o-ring with petroleum jelly and using baby oil for an occasional lubrication. I disassembled the piston assembly while replacing the gasket and used petroleum jelly as suggested, and it works better that ever. Very smooth and easy to operate. It has been very smooth for over two months now, far better than using head lube and cooking oil. I now believe that puchasing The West Marine or any other head lube is just flushing you money down the toilet!!! Have fun!
I have used both the West Marine brand of head lube and cooking oil as well, but this summer after I replaced my holding tank, I went on an extended sailing cruise with my family. During this time, I fixed a leaky PAR toilet gasket and happen to actually read the toilet manual. They recommend coating the piston and o-ring with petroleum jelly and using baby oil for an occasional lubrication. I disassembled the piston assembly while replacing the gasket and used petroleum jelly as suggested, and it works better that ever. Very smooth and easy to operate. It has been very smooth for over two months now, far better than using head lube and cooking oil. I now believe that puchasing The West Marine or any other head lube is just flushing you money down the toilet!!! Have fun!
Petroleum jelly??? Jabsco SHOULD know better
than to recommend using any petroleum product to lubricate the toilet...petroleum products damage rubber and neoprene seals and valves. Otoh, that does boost their sales of rebuild kits and new heads...so maybe that explains it. Fwiw, NO other toilet mfr recommends using any petroleum product. However, it's not as uncommon as you might think for a mfr to offer a solution to one problem that creates other problems. For one thing, it's usually somebody way down the food chain in the marketing department who writes the owners manuals...they're writers, not engineers, and they prob'ly don't own a boat either. Somebody higher up in the marketing department who isn't an engineer either signs off on it...and in large companies especially, nobody who knows enough to say "bad idea" ever even sees it. And, equipment mfrs tend to think ONLY in terms of that piece of equipment, or solving one particular problem...without any consideration for the fact that it's not "stand alone," but part of a complete system. That was especially true when boats first began to have holding tanks...toilet mfrs were recommending all kinds of things that were just fine when all toilets went directly overboard, without any thought for the impact in a tank. Jabsco isn't the only one... For years, SeaLand recommended pouring straight bleach down a VacuFlush. Why? Because the suction splatters waste all over the inside of the hoses and the vacuum tank, but the flush water volume isn't enough to rinse 'em completely...bleach solved the resulting odor problem. But it also eats the duckbill valves in the vacuum pump and breaks down hose, destroying its resistance to odor permeation. But hey--it stopped the complaints from owners who were being knocked off their feet by odor every time they stepped on the flush pedal....problem solved, never mind that it creates worse problems. I'm not saying that you need to take the pump apart again and clean all that Vaseline out of it...once prob'ly isn't gonna do enough damage to matter. But the next time it needs lubricating, use SuperLube or SeaLube instead. Your seals and valves will last much longer.
than to recommend using any petroleum product to lubricate the toilet...petroleum products damage rubber and neoprene seals and valves. Otoh, that does boost their sales of rebuild kits and new heads...so maybe that explains it. Fwiw, NO other toilet mfr recommends using any petroleum product. However, it's not as uncommon as you might think for a mfr to offer a solution to one problem that creates other problems. For one thing, it's usually somebody way down the food chain in the marketing department who writes the owners manuals...they're writers, not engineers, and they prob'ly don't own a boat either. Somebody higher up in the marketing department who isn't an engineer either signs off on it...and in large companies especially, nobody who knows enough to say "bad idea" ever even sees it. And, equipment mfrs tend to think ONLY in terms of that piece of equipment, or solving one particular problem...without any consideration for the fact that it's not "stand alone," but part of a complete system. That was especially true when boats first began to have holding tanks...toilet mfrs were recommending all kinds of things that were just fine when all toilets went directly overboard, without any thought for the impact in a tank. Jabsco isn't the only one... For years, SeaLand recommended pouring straight bleach down a VacuFlush. Why? Because the suction splatters waste all over the inside of the hoses and the vacuum tank, but the flush water volume isn't enough to rinse 'em completely...bleach solved the resulting odor problem. But it also eats the duckbill valves in the vacuum pump and breaks down hose, destroying its resistance to odor permeation. But hey--it stopped the complaints from owners who were being knocked off their feet by odor every time they stepped on the flush pedal....problem solved, never mind that it creates worse problems. I'm not saying that you need to take the pump apart again and clean all that Vaseline out of it...once prob'ly isn't gonna do enough damage to matter. But the next time it needs lubricating, use SuperLube or SeaLube instead. Your seals and valves will last much longer.
Cocktail
Sail magazine once ran an article suggesting a little cocktail of cooking oil and vinegar. For years, I've been doing it once a month in season and had no problems.
Sail magazine once ran an article suggesting a little cocktail of cooking oil and vinegar. For years, I've been doing it once a month in season and had no problems.
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