Waste mixed with incoming seawater on jabsco manual toilet

[LifesBetterWhenYoureBeating]

Recently my jabsco manual toilet (post 2007) started mixing waste (with visible chunks even) into the seawater brought in when I pump it in wet bowl mode (notice this is not about backfill from the outlet). I first thought it'd be the o-ring on the piston but that looks fine, so I'm not sure what else could be the cause. Any ideas?

[peghall]

Is your toilet manual or electric? How old? If electric, which model?



--Peggie

[LifesBetterWhenYoureBeating]

It's manual, post 2007

[peghall]

Jabsco manual toilets have fairly short lifespans, so I'd just replace the pump. I know a number of people who replace it annually as "preventive maintenance." Price is very little more than a "service kit" --you can find the pump for $95 from several retailers, service kit is $89--and removing and replacing 4 bolts and two hoses is a whole bunch easier than taking a pump apart to repair it. You'll also need to replace the joker valve...about $15.


Jabsco Manual Twist & Lock owners manual


--Peggie

[LifesBetterWhenYoureBeating]

Thanks, Peggy, but I already have a service kit onboard and would prefer to try and service it rather than buying a new pump

[Shrew]

Significantly more labor to rebuild the manual pump than just replace. Replacing is a couple of bolts, two hose clamps and a new joker valve.

Rebuilding is the exact same steps, with the complete rebuild of the pump sandwiched in between the pump removal and reinstallation.

For roughly $15-25 dollars more, I'd skip the time and mess it takes to rebuild. Remember, one half of that pump is raw water....

[gonesail]

agree and many times the rebuild will not be as good as new. get it from the factory and will be the best you can do.

[Tetepare]

FWIW, I've rebuilt them a bunch of times. Now I just toss the whole toilet and install a new one.

[marcjsmith]

buy a new pump. since you already have the rebuild kit. put that on the old pump. that way you have a spare ready to go. if the old joker valve looks good. clean it and bag it and put it with the new spare pump.


worst case if you never use it, maybe one of your boat/dock buddies could make use of it in a bind and you come out looking like hero...

[ItDepends]

Originally Posted by gsalgado

Recently my jabsco manual toilet (post 2007) started mixing waste (with visible chunks even) into the seawater brought in when I pump it in wet bowl mode (notice this is not about backfill from the outlet). I first thought it'd be the o-ring on the piston but that looks fine, so I'm not sure what else could be the cause. Any ideas?

I don't really buy the "manual Jabsco toilets have a short lifespan" story. We have two that have been in liveaboard use for 25 years. Routine maintenance takes place once a year, usually just replacing rubber parts, but isn't that true of EVERY marine toilet? From a cost/benefit standpoint they are pretty damn impressive.

But... to the OP's problem...
He said that he inspected the o-ring on the piston and it looked in good shape. If the o-ring on the piston looks good, it is very hard to imagine how significant mixing of incoming flush water and outgoing waste can be occurring inside the pump.

I am putting ALL my money on the flapper valve at the base of the pump. This must seal for waste to get pushed out through the joker valve and down the the discharge piping. If this flapper leaks, some, most, or all of the waste comes back into the bowl as you press down on the plunger. Sometimes this happens temporarily when a bit of solid waste lodges there, but sometimes these valves get old and tired, and the flap doesn't come down and seal as it should.

Of course this flapper valve is part of the standard rebuild kit, so if you go through that process it will fix your issue.

[sv_pelagia]

sounds like the "joker" valve (not "flapper"). Easy and cheap to replace. Typically needs to be replaced every 1-2 years on Pelagia ("never leave home without one" (a spare)).

[grantmc]

Originally Posted by gsalgado

Recently my jabsco manual toilet (post 2007) started mixing waste (with visible chunks even) into the seawater brought in when I pump it in wet bowl mode (notice this is not about backfill from the outlet). I first thought it'd be the o-ring on the piston but that looks fine, so I'm not sure what else could be the cause. Any ideas?

Oh good grief way TOO MUCH INFORMATION dude. I was just about to have my breakfast, and now my eyes are burning and my head hurts.

Originally Posted by Tetepare

FWIW, I've rebuilt them a bunch of times. Now I just toss the whole toilet and install a new one.

Tetepare's advice is solid. +1 and I vote electric.

Originally Posted by gsalgado

It's manual, post 2007

True story. I sailed a boat last year, it was a delivery trip, supposedly, but the boat took the form of 'chunks of waste' and we had to turn back, so so many faults developed.

But anyways, the toilet, an electric, was only supplied with fresh water. Another funny thing, there was no way to determine the quantity of water remaining in the single fresh water tank on board.

[peghall]

I don't really buy the "manual Jabsco toilets have a short lifespan" story. We have two that have been in liveaboard use for 25 years.


25 years ago Jabsco built a decent toilet. But 10-12 years ago, ITT spun Jabsco off to a company called Xylem Flow Control, which is a US company that builds nothing in in the US. All their mfring is done is 3 locations --the UK, China and Mexico. Everything Jabsco sells in the US is made in Mexico using materials and components sourced from China and other Asian sources with their main concern being cost. And as a result almost all Jabsco products now have a fairly short lifespan.



--Peggie

[wholybee]

Are you discharging into the tank, or overboard? If overboard, the intake could be intaking the just discharged water.
I had to replace my pump as the walls of the pump wear, and a new ring didn't seal. This can be significant if you don't rebuild often, as the buildup can be like a sanding stone.

[ItDepends]

Originally Posted by sv_pelagia

sounds like the "joker" valve (not "flapper"). Easy and cheap to replace. Typically needs to be replaced every 1-2 years on Pelagia ("never leave home without one" (a spare)).

Actually, not…

a bad joker valve can not allow waste back into the toilet, although it can prevent pumping it out if it gets bad enough. The flapper valve under the pump most certainly will…