My head pump gets stuck and is extremely hard to pump

[peghall]

Originally Posted by Nicks

Just normal olive oil like the other guy wrote. I flushed it straight out and not into the tank. Then afterwards gave it a couple of good flushes with clean water.

Which washed most of the oil out of the pump. Oil, or anything else that's thin enough to pour down the toilet, doesn't last but a few flushes anyway, so keep a bottle handy to use every time the pump STARTS to get stiff again. Buy some plain ol' vegetable oil...it works just well and costs a lot less than olive oil.

However, as I mentioned in an earlier post, all the rubber parts in the pump have to be seriously worn from the friction caused by all the flushing without any lubrication. At best, your toilet can only be working at about 50% efficiency--maybe even less if the PO waited till it was really hard to pump before lubing it...which makes it a lot more vulnerable to clogging on even the slightest overload of solids or TP than a toilet that's working to factory specs. Replacing the pump will only cost you $35 and won't require you to take anything apart...just 4 screws and two hoses...AND it will have enough grease in it to need -0- additional lubrication for at least 6 months if you're living aboard...a year or more if you aren't.

[/QUOTE] Seems like it did the trick for now. I will try and check again next time im on the boat to see if it's still alright. Really don't want to play plumber, but we'll see what happens. [/QUOTE]

I can tell you what will happen: it'll be working just fine the next time you're on the boat and maybe the next time too. Then it's gonna start to get a little "stiff" again, which is telling you it needs more oil. If you hadn't already flushed most of it out, you might have gotten 3 or 4 weekends out of it before you needed more. Veggie oil is available in half gallons, btw.

[Boatyarddog]

If your in salt water, check for salt deposit build up in your discharge lines, a chunk can break off and impede the flow quite easily.


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