New Guy! Needs Help with Toilet (possibly to save marriage!)

[CourageousME]

Well, sort of. Wife wont venture out on our boat without a working head...doh!

In the spirit of transparency and complete honesty- Im TOTALLY new to this. Long time power boat owner but this is our first sailboat...and first boat with a head....so Im doing some major learning. bare with me

Installed by a boat yard hired by the previous owner is a Jabsco 3710 electric head. It was a conversion from the original manual head installed by Pearson when the boat was built.

The macerator/pump is working. I can fill the bowl with sea water - and when I push the black button to flush it down it makes all sorts of noise, and down goes the water. For all of this testing Im discharging overboard until I get it figured out.

My problem is....after it flushes, usually NO water comes back in to the bowl. Sometimes if I hold the button down long enough, a SMALL amount of dark colored water will come down the sides of the bowl but maybe 1/2 cup at most. FWIW, the boat is on a mooring.

Am I missing something obvious? The intake seacock is open as is the discharge seacock........ again, Im new- and learning. Figure you guys and gals are the best resource.

Hugely thankful for any tips or advice!

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, CourageousME.

[CourageousME]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, CourageousME.

Thank you! So happy to be here!

[capngeo]

To the opposite of many here on CF, I am a fan of manual heads.

However, you either have a restriction on the intake line or a bad seawater impeller on the head. Both the fill and empty pumps run on the same shaft, so the motor is fine.

One of my favorite "tricks" is to add a valve to the saltwater wash down system to add water to the bowl for either before or after use.

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by capngeo

To the opposite of many here on CF, I am a fan of manual heads.

However, you either have a restriction on the intake line or a bad seawater impeller on the head. Both the fill and empty pumps run on the same shaft, so the motor is fine.

One of my favorite "tricks" is to add a valve to the saltwater wash down system to add water to the bowl for either before or after use.

[CourageousME]

Originally Posted by capngeo

To the opposite of many here on CF, I am a fan of manual heads.

However, you either have a restriction on the intake line or a bad seawater impeller on the head. Both the fill and empty pumps run on the same shaft, so the motor is fine.

One of my favorite "tricks" is to add a valve to the saltwater wash down system to add water to the bowl for either before or after use.

Do the intake valves get gummed up with seaweed etc since im on a mooring in Maine? I think I know where the intake is....how do I be sure its not blocked? plumbers snake? my finger? something in between LOL?

Also, when we have been offshore and "needed" to use the head, I have filled it with water from the seawater handshower thats just next to the toilet and it works fine. Good trick!

hugely thankful.

[peghall]

The macerator/pump is working. I can fill the bowl with sea water - and when I push the black button to flush it down it makes all sorts of noise, and down goes the water.

I'm a little confused by this. "I can fill the bowl with water"... HOW are you filling the bowl...are you adding with bucket or cup or does pushing the flush button bring in water?

My problem is....after it flushes, usually NO water comes back in to the bowl. Sometimes if I hold the button down long enough, a SMALL amount of dark colored water will come down the sides of the bowl but maybe 1/2 cup at most.

Are you expecting water to rise in the bowl as it does in the toilet at home? Or are you unable to bring in flush water by pushing the button? Fwiw, your toilet isn't designed to hold water like a household toilet...flush water comes in and waste goes out in the same operation.

When I know a bit more I can help you solve the problem--if you have one. If you don't have the owners manual for it you can download one from here: Jabsco 37010 owners manual

Peggie
http://www.amazon.com/New-Get-Rid-Bo...dp/1892399784/
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein

[Terra Nova]

Hire a pro to checkout the system and install a rebuild kit, if necessary. Watch how he does it so you'll have the info you need when it next stops working.

[CourageousME]

Originally Posted by peghall

The macerator/pump is working. I can fill the bowl with sea water - and when I push the black button to flush it down it makes all sorts of noise, and down goes the water.

I'm a little confused by this. "I can fill the bowl with water"... HOW are you filling the bowl...are you adding with bucket or cup or does pushing the flush button bring in water?

My problem is....after it flushes, usually NO water comes back in to the bowl. Sometimes if I hold the button down long enough, a SMALL amount of dark colored water will come down the sides of the bowl but maybe 1/2 cup at most.

Are you expecting water to rise in the bowl as it does in the toilet at home? Or are you unable to bring in flush water by pushing the button? Fwiw, your toilet isn't designed to hold water like a household toilet...flush water comes in and waste goes out in the same operation.

When I know a bit more I can help you solve the problem--if you have one. If you don't have the owners manual for it you can download one from here: Jabsco 37010 owners manual

Peggie
http://www.amazon.com/New-Get-Rid-Bo...dp/1892399784/
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein

Peggie- thank you. I am filling the bowl with sea water from the hand shower nozzle in the bathroom ....basically to simulate that someone has used the head. I then push the button, hear the maserator/pump going and out goes the water.... I guess I am showing my ignorance....am I supposed to get water that cleans the sides of the bowl and a little water in the bottom of the bowl with each flush? also, just put your book in my Amazon cart!

Thanks again

[peghall]

Ok...your toilet isn't bringing in any flush water. Several possible causes:

Are you sure the intake seacock is open? You need to find it, 'cuz it should be closed every time you leave the boat...trace the toilet inlet line (it's the smaller one that connects to the top of pump) to find out.

Sea water mineral buildup in the inlet line and channel in the rim of the bowl. You mentioned a trickle of dirty water, so this is a good possibility. It's a lot easier to just replace the inlet hose than it is to clean it out.

Failed intake impeller. Dry friction heat created by flushing the toilet with a closed thru-hull or an inlet hose so clogged with mineral buildup that no water can go through it will "fry" the intake impeller. Unfortunately Jabsco designed the 37010 toilet to make it necessary to take the whole pump assembly apart to replace it.

[peghall]

Originally Posted by Terra Nova

Hire a pro to checkout the system and install a rebuild kit, if necessary. Watch how he does it so you'll have the info you need when it next stops working.

It wouldn't cost him much more to just replace the entire pump assembly with another "conversion" for what a "pro" would charge him to do that.

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by peghall

It wouldn't cost him much more to just replace the entire pump assembly with another "conversion" for what a "pro" would charge him to do that.

But he still wouldn't know what he was doing.

A man's gotta know his limitations.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by Terra Nova

But he still wouldn't know what he was doing.

A man's gotta know his limitations.

And hiring a pro isn't the way to find those limitations. I look at this as a great way to learn. It doesn't work now, the ultimate replacement cost, should everything go FUBAR is low.....what a better thing to tear into.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[savoir]

If the boat is in Maine then you are going to be hauling out pretty soon. Come to think of it, today is pretty cold in RI - currently 60f.

Get on to fixing the head straight away after you haul out before it gets too cold. Put a day aside during October. Start at the in side through hull and strip it down looking for barnacles which love to grow in there. If the fitting is bronze you could lubricate it while you are in the area. If it is plastic just rinse everything clean and reassemble. Then remove the hose that carries water in from the fitting to the head which hopefully will only be 3-4ft. I would replace that hose because you don't know how old it is. Even if you want to keep the hose it needs to be cleaned. Either way look for goop inside like accumulated salt and dead seaweed.

Think about putting a small Jabsco strainer on the in side. They are cheap, easy to clean and light and will keep the weed out.

The last thing to check is the impeller which is part 27 in the brochure that peghall posted. It is a black rubber paddlewheel and the paddles regularly break. Buy 2 or 3 replacements because they all have a limited life. Getting to suffer a Maine winter sends them brittle because they are cold ( and possibly dry ) for so long. The impellers need regular replacement depending on use - maybe every 2 years? Someone with this model head will know what works.

So these are your main possible culprits
- barnacles in the inlet valve
- goop in the hose
- a crack in the hose
- broken impeller

Hey, at least the in side doesn't smell so bad.

[AJ_n_Audrey]

CourageousMe, congrats on your Pearson - what year & model? I have a Pearson 367 that I am (finally) finishing a refit on. Anyhow, a possibility, which may or may not be acceptable to your wife, is a composting toilet. After re-building my Graco toilet which now needs to be rebuilt again, and then discovering the macerator had given up the ghost, I am done with traditional marine heads, and will be installing a composting head over the winter. My wife is okay with this, I can shut a thru-hull, and I gain more storage where the holding tank used to be.

By the way, my boat also has the shower adjacent to the toilet: great storage place!