Re-commisioning a marine toilet

[TopHat]

Hi,
When I bought my current boat, the plan was to remove the Jabsco Manual head & convert the area to shelved storage (which I never did), but I did glass up the sea water intake to the head.
The head has now not been used in anger for at least 7 years (I guess the age of the head is around 20 years or more).
It would be great to re-commission the head.
I have added fresh water to the bowl & it appears to be flushing really well on testing.
Question is: Should I dismantle the pump & replace (what ever?) seals etc?
Or grease something? Or at least just dismantle it & have a good look around, learning what it looks like inside & how it works?
Another Q: Should I continue to flush only with fresh water?
Another Q: Are there other sources for marine toilet paper?, are some supermarket TP's ok?....maybe the cheaper thinner ones?
I have read through the relevant threads on the last 5 pages here & have learnt a lot. Thanks to all contributors.
Cheers
TH

[peghall]

It's too old to "recommission." It would need a complete rebuild or "service" kit (all the seals, valves, gaskets etc), but Jabsco no longer makes one for a toilet pump that old. Even if they did, it would cost you almost as much as a new pump--which will fit the base. Aside from the toilet, there are the hoses. The average working life of any hose is about 10 years because rubber and plasicizers in 'em dry out over time, causing 'em to become hard, brittle and prone to cracking. So they should be replaced too.

With the exception of the Raritan Fresh Head FRESH_HEAD Promo Sheet no manual toilet should ever be connected to the fresh water system on the boat...it cannot be done without risk of contaminating the potable water supply with e-coli and other bacteria from the bowl. So unless you want to install a new inlet thru-hull for it, your only choice if you want to use fresh water would be to install a flush water tank that's completely separate, including fill hose and vent, from the fresh water system. Some people use the shower head to add water to the bowl, but that's not good for the pump because bowl contents only go through the bottom of the pump, which causes excessive wear to the seals etc at the top of the pump.

Any cheap flimsy TP is fine for use in a marine toilet.

Shameless self promotion alert: I suggest you check out the link in my signature here...the title is a bit misleading. It's actually a comprehensive "marine toilets and holding tanks 101" manual that includes all the information you need to have a trouble free, odor free system.

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

[rwidman]

What she said.

We use the cheapest "Scotts" brand single ply toilet paper and have had no problems.

I was talking to a friend the other day and she buys "marine" toilet paper at West Marine (high priced) and puts it in a bag after use, she doesn't flush it. I'm still trying to figure out the logic here.

[leftbrainstuff]

You'll want to strip it, clean it and replace the seals, hoses and valves.

Thise old delrin plastic heads can develop hairline cracks and tend to absorb crud. It took me several teardowns before I discovered the source of a very small leak.

Our 30+ year old Raritans are still going well. They need the flapper valves and joker valves replaced every 6 months.

They dont look great but they work well. We'll probably replace them with more modern macerator heads next year.

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by rwidman

What she said.

We use the cheapest "Scotts" brand single ply toilet paper and have had no problems.

I was talking to a friend the other day and she buys "marine" toilet paper at West Marine (high priced) and puts it in a bag after use, she doesn't flush it. I'm still trying to figure out the logic here.

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL !!!!!

[peghall]

There's world of difference between a Jabsco toilet and a Raritan toilet. The Raritan PHII--and its predecessor the PH-- has been the top rated toilet in its class for more than 30 years. Jabsco manual toilets are "entry level" compact toilets. The difference in price should tell you the difference in quality. You can still buy a rebuild kit for a 30 yr old PH or PHII because they can last that long. Jabsco discontinued service kits for their older toilets about the time they brought out the "Twist n' Lock" version.
But even if he could get a service kit for a 20 yr old Jabsco, the price is so close to the price of a new pump that it doesn't make sense to take the pump apart to rebuild it, when you only have to remove and replace 4 bolts and two hoses to swap out the pump.