Head does not empty

[tmcnamara58]

Head does not empty
I would appreciate it if someone has some ideas or experience on this front.
Few weeks back the head was filling up faster than it was pushing out the waste pipe. I took the line to the holding tank off checked the joker valve put it all back together same problem. I had the tank pumped even though it was nearly empty I shut off the raw water intake ran the head pump for a little bit and it finally cleared and emptied the bowl. Put everything back together it worked fine for just a little while and now I have the same problem. My question is should I snake the line to the holding tank? Or replace the macerator and pump?
Thanks

 

[Don L]

the hoses do scale up and get clogged, even if freshy water flushed

 

[AquaDestiny]

Check the vent line from the holding tank. Could be clogged.

 

[DavidM]

Rebuild or replace the pump.

David

 

[HeadedToTexas]

All fun jobs. Been there.

 

[ScottC]

I had the exact symptoms you describe last year.
It turned out to be the hose from the toilet to the tank. It was totally blocked with urine stone. Replaced the hose and have since been diligent about using dissolving chemicals. No problems since.

 

[HeadMistress]

A few questions:

Make/model of the toilet? How old?
Approx age of the hoses?

How long is the toilet discharge line to the tank?
Is it a straight line, or are there bends and/or sharp elbows in it?
Does it run uphill to the tank? If so, how steep is the rise?



--Peggie

 

[Lollygag1]

Have you tried to hold the valve of the head open during pump out? We do this and it creates the airflow needed to get a complete pump out

 

[HeadMistress]

That shouldn't be necessary...the tank vent should supply all the air needed. If it doesn't, the vent is at least partially blocked by a critter that's set up housekeeping in it, buildup from overflowing the out the vent, a kink in the line, or isn't a straight line from the tank to the vent thru-hull (I have photo in my files of a vent line that actually has a 360 loop in it!)

There's an easy inexpensive way to prevent most vent blockages: replace the "vent" thru-hull with an open bulkhead, aka "mushroom" fitting. This will allow you to stick a hose nozzle against it to back flush the vent line every time you wash the boat and/or before or after pumpout. However, you cannot do this if there's a vent filter installed because vent filters immediately become "toast" if they get wet...the charcoal swells and blocks the vent. So will overflowing the tank out the vent.

Upgrading the standard 5/8" vent line to a 1" vent and thru-hull is an even better solution because it improves the air exchange in and out the vent (the key to PREVENTING odor from being created in the tank), but requires adding a new fitting to the top of the tank, a fairly easy job if you're handy with a hole saw bit on a power drill, thanks to a li'l doodad called a Uniseal UNISEAL


--Peggie

 

[Comodave]

Or a blockage in a vent filter?

 

[SeaDogAK]

Did you check the macerator and impeller for clogs?

 

[SteveK]

Dual impeller macerator, one for water in and one for bowel out. If the out impeller has failed then flow in/out is not in balance.

 

[High Wire]

Discharge hose plugged almost solid and/or impeller blades broke off. Is this a Jabsco electric head?

 

[C lectric]

Rebuild or replace the pump.

David

I agree that a manual pump could cause this. Rebuild or replace it.
Deposits can hold the valve open so they do not force what has been pulled in to be then forced out.

I have a Jabsco manual unit and I just replaced the entire pump.
It would not pull water in but WOULD pump out.
THe flip valve to choose between pump in and pump out broke while we were out. OOOPS. At least it would pump out so a couple of pans of water sufficed untill we got home.

And I always carry a spare pump.

 

[Gulf Comanche]

Don’t put toilet paper down the head. I have a box of small ziplocks in the head and give everyone instructions to put the used tp in them and throw in the trash. Gross? Maybe, but it keeps the macerater blades from clogging up and things moving along smoothly.

 

[SteveK]

Or you can get TP that quickly disintigrates when wet.

 

[Don L]

Get a better head and you not only can flush TP like it should be, but you can use the good TP.

My Raritan Elegance head has never clogged from TP even though I am using a 1" discharge hose. But it has clogged due to scale even though I am fresh water flush.

 

[Comodave]

Don’t put toilet paper down the head. I have a box of small ziplocks in the head and give everyone instructions to put the used tp in them and throw in the trash. Gross? Maybe, but it keeps the macerater blades from clogging up and things moving along smoothly.

We have a Marine Elegance head in our current boat. I put a bidet attachment on it but my wife doesn’t like the bidet so she still uses TP. It goes down the ME just fine. But the bidet attachment is a solution if you are worried about flushing TP.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08X6TTKLJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[C lectric]

We use T.P. but it is meant for home sanitary systems. I check. Every new bag I check and if there is any question it stays home and I will get a new bag of rolls.

At least in my area there is an easy supply of quick degrading T.P.

 

[Delta Riverat]

I love my bidets. Lot's of positives wrt marine apps.

After you go you spray. This not only washes your butt but adds water to the "mix", which is always a good thing eh?

Then after you only need a "blotter" amount of TP and if there is any brown another spray is done and then the final "blot"

So, you wash yourself clean, use a proper amount of flush water and a minimum amount of paper. No itchy butt and no clogged pipes -

 

[tmcnamara58]

It is a jabsco electric head. I am going to take off the pump now. Because I snaked the hose going to the holding tank and it seemed to go all the way through.
The pump motor runs fine I'm wondering if I should try and find just the macerator and impeller blades or just buy a new pump overall.

 

[SeaDogAK]

I have a Raritan, not a Jabsco, but your problem is exactly what happens when the impeller is clogged on mine. You should be able to access the impeller and clear the clog, if that’s the problem. That’s the first thing I check when it won’t drain.

 

[1971 GB Alaskan]

I had the same problem. Turned out to be a baby wipe in the macerator/pump blades.

 

[Comodave]

I had the same problem. Turned out to be a baby wipe in the macerator/pump blades.

Yup, baby wipes will not go through even a macerator…

 

[High Wire]

It is a jabsco electric head. I am going to take off the pump now. Because I snaked the hose going to the holding tank and it seemed to go all the way through.
The pump motor runs fine I'm wondering if I should try and find just the macerator and impeller blades or just buy a new pump overall.

Your Jabsco has two impellers. One rubber impeller for seawater into the bowl and a rigid one to pump the waste water out through the duck bill check valve to the holding tank. There is a single seal between the two to keep the two fluids separated. Bad things happen when the seal goes! There are readily available rebuild kits. We used to have two of these heads. Now we have none.

 

[Comodave]

Flush a lot of clean water through before you start working on it. And have some vinyl gloves…

 

[JDCAVE]

I had a problem in 2018 with the Techma head plumbed for salt water flush. A guest put a baby wipe in the head and it, of course, clogged the macerator.

So the whole thing had to come apart. It wasn’t just a baby wipe problem. All of the various hoses, hard lines, duckbills, (joker valve?) Y-valves and other fittings were crammed with calcium deposits. I soaked what parts I could in water with a good slug up of muriatic acid. I just replaced the sanitary hose and much of the hard lines.

The head has never worked better and continues to work well. With a saltwater flush, you need to be generous with fills, otherwise calcium builds up.

 

[HeadMistress]

All of the various hoses, hard lines, duckbills, (joker valve?) Y-valves and other fittings were crammed with calcium deposits. I soaked what parts I could in water with a good slug up of muriatic acid. I just replaced the sanitary hose and much of the hard lines.

The head has never worked better and continues to work well. With a saltwater flush, you need to be generous with fills, otherwise calcium builds up.

A cupful or two--no more than that--of undiluted distilled white vinegar flushed all the way through the system every week or so will prevent sea water mineral buildup. Follow the vinegar with at least a quart of clean fresh water after a 45-60 minutes. NEVER leave vinegar sitting in the bowl 'cuz when soft rubber (joker valve) is allowed to sit and soak in vinegar it swells and distorts.


Fwiw, contrary to popular belief, vinegar will also remove sea water mineral buildup, but it's so labor intensive--vinegar must be replaced about hourly (something that those who insist that vinegar won't work overlook)--that it's not worth the effort.



----Peggie

 

[Comodave]

Peggie,

Question, does urine in a freshwater supplied head crystalize like in saltwater? Is it a concern in the discharge hose?

 

[ranger58sb]

A cupful or two--no more than that--of undiluted distilled white vinegar flushed all the way through the system every week or so will prevent sea water mineral buildup. Follow the vinegar with at least a quart of clean fresh water after a 45-60 minutes. NEVER leave vinegar sitting in the bowl 'cuz when soft rubber (joker valve) is allowed to sit and soak in vinegar it swells and distorts.

Fwiw, contrary to popular belief, vinegar will also remove sea water mineral buildup, but it's so labor intensive--vinegar must be replaced about hourly (something that those who insist that vinegar won't work overlook)--that it's not worth the effort.

Peggie, we're still getting used to the Vacu-Flush systems that came with this current boat...

It looks to me like there'd always be some residue in the vacuum generator tank, where the lower two duckbill valves live...

So it'd take some significant flushing the get the vinegar out of that area, yes?

And FWIW... when we had our VF systems rebuilt at the tie while we were taking possession, the repair guys recommended a 1/4 cup of Cascade dishwashing powder (with no additives) every so often, much like your vinegar recommendation. Since the stuff has some sodium percarbonate in there, I'm guess it's maybe similar to a NofFlex treatment...

Peggie,

Question, does urine in a freshwater supplied head crystalize like in saltwater? Is it a concern in the discharge hose?

We had that experience on our previous boat, partly exacerbated (apparently) by leaving the freshwater-flush toilet discharge hose open for a while one time while I was doing something else on the system. The discharge hose was completely clogged, couldn't get a snake through it, etc...

FWIW, I was able to clear the clog with Sew Clean, one of the Trac products made for that. Trac being the Barnacle Buster people. In fact, I actually used Barnacle Buster 'cause I had some on hand at the time. Trac advised to dilute the BB according to SC instructions, but otherwise they said it was mostly the same stuff... just with some additional anti-marine-growth added to the BB. Worked like a champ...

-Chris