plumbers helper

[steven f]

Here's a subject that scares the you-know-what out of me. I have an electric head (macerator pump) and I just DREAD the day it stops working. I was wondering if it would be possible to use a simple plunger to get liquid waste past the pump and into the holding tank if the electric pump is not working (I realize the solids need to be removed first). Sometimes I miss the good-ol days of pumping the head. It might have leaked but it always got rid of what I wanted it to.

 

[Peggie Hall/Head Mistress]

Your fear makes a better case for...

...preventive maintenance than all my preaching about it. Preventive maintenance reduces the odds of a failure by 99% (the remaining 1% due to user error). Too many boat owners just assume that all they have to do to the toilet on the boat is use it...after all, that's all they have to do to the one at home. But the one at home doesn't have an electric motor or a pump...parts that can rust...the one on the boat does. A plumbers helper can sometimes clear a clog in a manual toilet, but I seriously doubt if it can in a macerator. So if I were you, I'd take extra pains to insure that you'll never have to test it for yourself. You'll find lots of useful help in the articles in this forum (not the archived posts--although some are quite useful--but the permanent articles you'll see when you log into this forum).