Rartan PHll Superflush Piston 0-Ring Lubrication ? ? ?

Jan 4, 2006
6,444
Hunter 310 West Vancouver, B.C.
Hi Peggie,

In a nutshell, does the piston O-ring in a PHll Superflush require periodic lubrication ?

I recently replaced my old Jabsco with a Superflush and know that piston O-ring lubrication (annually) was a mandatory requirement of the old Jabsco. It was an easy enough task, but for sure the upper pump gasket was guaranteed to leak. Again, again, and again until it didn't.

With the new Superflush, O-ring lubrication may be a bit of a problem with three hoses requiring removal (pump suction, pump discharge, and sewage discharge). The large, stiff 1-1/2" hose always manages to offer a few surprises :puke:.

Thanks for your thoughts on this.
 
Last edited:
Dec 2, 1997
8,709
- - LIttle Rock
The entire pump actually needs to lubrication to keep all the seals, gaskets and o-rings soft and supple....and it doesn't require removing any hoses. Buy a tube of SuperLube thick grease, available from Ace Hardware, Home Depot and other retailers for about $7 USD...it's the same grease in all Raritan manual toilets when they leave the factory and Raritan puts a 1-use tube of it in all their rebuild kits. To use it: remove the 4 screws that hold the pump on the base and lift the pump just high enough to stick the nozzle on the tube into it...give the tube a healthy squirt--about a tablespoon. Re-attach the pump to the base, pump the lever a few times to spread the grease all over the inside of the pump...that should be all the lubrication your toilet will need till next spring...never any need to pour any "head lube" or veggie oil into it. Do this and replace the joker valve annually as part of spring recommissioning...and put a rebuild kit into it every 5-6 years and it'll give you 20+ years of reliable trouble-free service.

--Peggie
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,323
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
@Peggie Hall Is this the good stuff?

 
Nov 18, 2010
2,441
Catalina 310 Hingham, MA
The entire pump actually needs to lubrication to keep all the seals, gaskets and o-rings soft and supple....and it doesn't require removing any hoses. Buy a tube of SuperLube thick grease, available from Ace Hardware, Home Depot and other retailers for about $7 USD...it's the same grease in all Raritan manual toilets when they leave the factory and Raritan puts a 1-use tube of it in all their rebuild kits. To use it: remove the 4 screws that hold the pump on the base and lift the pump just high enough to stick the nozzle on the tube into it...give the tube a healthy squirt--about a tablespoon. Re-attach the pump to the base, pump the lever a few times to spread the grease all over the inside of the pump...that should be all the lubrication your toilet will need till next spring...never any need to pour any "head lube" or veggie oil into it. Do this and replace the joker valve annually as part of spring recommissioning...and put a rebuild kit into it every 5-6 years and it'll give you 20+ years of reliable trouble-free service.

--Peggie
I love this head pump. Way better than the Jabsco and I don't feel the parts are going to break when I do maintenance.

But I think you are underselling the maintenance required. Now granted we are full-time liveaboards so our 6 months may equal 5-6 years for a more casual boat owner. But every 6 months the pump stops moving waste/water in dry mode. You have to turn in to wet mode to get it to "prime" and then switch back to dry mode to get the bowl empty. But it will only pump until the bowl is empty. You can feel and here that the pump is sucking air and not moving waste. That means you can't do the extra 8-10 pumps to clear the hose from the head to the tank. The waste sits in the hose and the joker valves is the only thing preventing a back flow. I believe the issue is related to the flapper valve below the 4 screws you undo to access the Piston. But I have tried changing the flapper and joker valves together and it doesn't fix the issue. Instead you have to do the full rebuild (you might be able to skip replacing the O rings and just regrease with Super Lube, but since you can't buy the flapper valve separate I haven't bothered to try).

Again love the upgrade. But just an issue we have found.
 
Jan 4, 2006
6,444
Hunter 310 West Vancouver, B.C.
To use it: remove the 4 screws that hold the pump on the base and lift the pump just high enough to stick the nozzle on the tube into it...give the tube a healthy squirt--about a tablespoon.
Aha ..................... I see the light. I already have the 400 g. can of Superlube:

SUL.JPG


I also have a small grease gun collecting dust in the back of the shop. Attach a small diameter flex hose to the grease gun and it becomes a walk in the park to slightly lift the pump base and squirt Superlube around the interior of the cylinder. The rest of the fittings and small O-rings on the pump are much easier.

But ................. what if you were to disconnect the piston rod from part #46 and lift assembly #21 up along the rod to where you could insert the small diameter tube of the grease gun into the TOP of the cylinder and inject grease ?



Piston.JPG


Then you could take a stop watch and do a time study to see which method (top or bottom) is more efficient o_O !

And if this miserable wet winter isn't over, and bloody soon, I swear I am going to lose it :banghead: all over the front lawn ! ! ! ! !
 
Dec 2, 1997
8,709
- - LIttle Rock
I'm not underestimating the maintenance required...he asked how to keep it lubricated.

But every 6 months the pump stops moving waste/water in dry mode. You have to turn in to wet mode to get it to "prime" and then switch back to dry mode to get the bowl empty. But it will only pump until the bowl is empty. You can feel and here that the pump is sucking air and not moving waste. That means you can't do the extra 8-10 pumps to clear the hose from the head to the tank.
How often do you replace the joker valve? If, like most people, you think that blocking backflow is its only function, you're wrong...it's actually the most important "degradable" part in any marine toilet (see my article "Joker Valve 101" for an explanation...it's in my book, you can find it in the archives of the "plumbing & sanitation" forum if you don't have or want my book). If 6 mos aboard for you = 5-6 yrs for the average weekend warrior, it should be replaced at least every 6 months to keep the toilet pumping efficiently. And the toilet lubed as I outlined above at least every couple of months.

There's also a possibility the air valve (what looks like a little square nut on the front of the pump, part #1203W) needs cleaning or--depending on the age of your toilet--replacement. There's what Vic Willman (who was tech services manager at Raritan and my guru, now retired after 40 years) called a "little poppet" in it that may be stuck. It's spring-loaded. Straighten a paper clip and poke the wire into the hole and push. You should feel it move in and out when you press the wire in there.

Or your problem could be as simple as sea water mineral buildup somewhere you haven't looked.

If none of the above cures the problem, you might want to give Raritan tech support a call...they're very helpful and know their stuff. 'Cuz you shouldn't have to rebuild the pump that often...there are a LOT liveaboard cruisers who have PHIIs who aren't experiencing any problems with it. 800-352-5630

--Peggie
 
Dec 2, 1997
8,709
- - LIttle Rock
what if you were to disconnect the piston rod from part #46 and lift assembly #21 up along the rod to where you could insert the small diameter tube of the grease gun into the TOP of the cylinder and inject grease ?
Easier to lift the pump off the base once a year...and because that doesn't require disconnecting anything IN the pump, there's no risk of dislodging or disorienting something in the pump.

--Peggie
 
Jan 4, 2006
6,444
Hunter 310 West Vancouver, B.C.
Easier to lift the pump off the base once a year.
The only down side I can see from entering the cylinder form the underside, is any debris which MAY get caught between the top of gasket #39 and the underside of the pump base.

Gaskets.JPG


I'm 100% positive that by the time spring gets here, injecting grease on the top, as opposed to the bottom of the piston, will be the last thing on my mind and I will have been issued a clean bill of mental health for another year.
 
Feb 26, 2004
22,760
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
The only down side I can see from entering the cylinder form the underside, is any debris which MAY get caught between the top of gasket #39 and the underside of the pump base.
True, Ralph, but IIRC that (#39) is the FLAPPER VALVE, which Peggie recommends be replaced, too.
 
Dec 2, 1997
8,709
- - LIttle Rock
True, Ralph, but IIRC that (#39) is the FLAPPER VALVE, which Peggie recommends be replaced, too.
Hi Stu....No...I didn't. The nozzle on the tube should fit easily through the "flap." The method I describe is the way Raritan taught me to do it when I spent a couple of days in their shop.

--Peggie
 
Feb 26, 2004
22,760
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
Hi Stu....No...I didn't. The nozzle on the tube should fit easily through the "flap." The method I describe is the way Raritan taught me to do it when I spent a couple of days in their shop.

--Peggie
Good news, thanks for that necessary correction.
 
Nov 16, 2012
1,037
Catalina 310, 2000, #31 31 Santa Cruz
And if this miserable wet winter isn't over, and bloody soon, I swear I am going to lose it :banghead: all over the front lawn ! ! ! ! !
Ralph, here is Santa Cruz (Central California) it hasn't rained at all in February. Yesterday was in the high 70s and low 80s. Just saying....
 
Jan 4, 2006
6,444
Hunter 310 West Vancouver, B.C.
Yesterday was in the high 70s and low 80s. Just saying....

Here in the Caribbean it's 85 and sunny almost everyday. Just sayin'
Ya might just consider holding back on the "just sayins" until it drys out a little here and we get above 10 deg. C (50 deg. F).

Vancouver, the most beautiful place on earth for both days it's not raining.
 
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