Wicox Crittenden Head Maintenance Query

[langdonpierce]

It has come time for me to give old reliable the once over and i am having a bit of difficulty removing some pieces. Anyone out there who has or had a Wilcox Crittenden Skipper II 1550 marine toilet and has gone through routine service, how do i remove the pump handle and or the foot peddle so as to replace the shaft packing? I have disassembled the entire thing but can not figure out how to remove the arms. Am i simply not whacking hard enough? It seems to me the arms are simply friction fit on? so some well placed whacks would do the trick? though i do not want to deform the soft bronze any more the necessary. I have removed all set screws, loosened the piston screws and can find no more attachment points. What a i missing, PLEASE HELP!

[fstbttms]

Let me know if you want a pro to come deal with it and I'll give contact info for the best MSD repair guys in the East Bay.

[langdonpierce]

Thanks for the response! Honestly can't afford a pro, not sure what MSD stands for? I have the whole thing apart, its just the last little bits. Are the arms friction fit on or not? Perhaps a quick call over there wouldn't hurt?

[Marksman]

The flush handle is a clamp fit with a woodruff key, and the flush pedal is a close slip fit with a long bolt/screw that acts like a indexing pin. Once the fasteners are removed the handle and pedal will slide off the shafts. However, if they have been on for a while they can get obstinate. I used a small gear puller to remove mine without any great trouble. I used silicon grease on reasembly to head off any future problems. It's just about time to overhall again so I will see.

Hope this helps.

[Marksman]

http://www.usna.edu/Sailing/newsite/...headrepair.pdf

[langdonpierce]

Amazing information!

In all my searches nothing like this came up. Thank you very much!

Next question... Is there a secret to removing woodruff keys? In this instance with all the soft metal in afraid of breaking something...

[Marksman]

I believe I missled a little. The key for the flush lever is a standard key, and the woodruff Key (cresent shaped) is on the shaft where it drives the connecting rod. For the standard key, I use a drift, as large as will fit in the keyway, and tap it with a mallet at a slight angle away from the shaft untill it moves upward and out of the keyway. If you don't have a replacement you can file away any disfigurement. It may be necessary to remove the shaft first which is outlined in the PDF I linked. The woodruff key can be removed with a small flat screwdriver and simply leverage it out by lifting on one end. Be carefull to keep dammage to a minimum and dress it smooth again before reassembly. A couple of years ago I did a complete dissasembly of my Skipper II, stripped, primered and painted all the exterior components and re assemled with a rebuild kit. I even ran a hone through the cylinder bore. Good as new.

Hope this helps.

[langdonpierce]

Thanks so much for all the help! You sure didnt miss anything it was just my young untrained eye not seeing the difference in keys!!! As soon as it stops raining here i will get back at the head, no need making a crappy job wet and uncomfortable. Though the head is not really in that bad of shape i was thinking of repainting it simply by cleaning it up and then using an automotive primer and spray RustOlium. How did you strip yours, do you think i could get away with not stripping totally and brushing and cleaning all the rough bits before spraying, or will this just be a waste of paint and all peel off in a year? Thanks again for all the great info and tips, really really truly grateful!

Matthew

[Marksman]

Hey Mathew, no propblem.

I used that orange organic stripper, took a while but it worked. Then I chucked up a 6 in. wire wheel in the drill press and brushed all the parts and finished up with a MEK wipe down just prior to primeing, baked in the oven @150 for an hour then paint with another bake. You really don't have to go through all that butt slosh unless you want it to look new again. If your paint is not that bad you could get away with only primer on any exposed metal and an overall paint. You run the risk of the paint not sticking so well on the non preped surfaces but the head is not exposed to wind and weather so I guess it's your choice. Mine had green oxide bleeding through the origianal coating so I went all out, and it was a winter project anyway, only took a week or so. I think I used several coats of "marine" engine enamel, that was about 3 years ago and it still looks new. The toughest part was getting the admiral to let me bake toilet parts in her oven.

[langdonpierce]

Thanks again for all your words of wisdom! They have been extremely helpful and I have been able to get the whole darn thing apart. However, now that it is back together, and painted fire engine red, i dont feel as though i am getting adequate suction from the pump to flll the bowl. How much water should be going through the head? As i pump with the foot peddle down at any given time there isnt much more then a cup of or two of water in the bowl. I have checked all the new valves again, is this a sufficent amount of water for the head to work or am i going to be taking the sucker apart again?

Matthew

[Marksman]

I have a similar malidy. What I noticed was that the replacement pedal shaft supplied in the rebuild kit was drilled differently than the origianal so that the pedal was almost on the floor in its neutral position, not allowing much travel when engaged. You probalbly noticed that the way the raw water pump functions, is the flapper valves controling the pump are both suspended open so when the piston moves up and down the water simply moves in and out both ports wihtout going anywhere else. When the pedal is pressed down, the valves are allowed to seat and pump can function properly. Because the pedal has so little travel the flapper valves don't seat completely and you get very low flow. I have been meaning to rectify this in my head (weld, drill, tap) but haven't gotten around to it yet as it functions marginaly enough that I been just putting up with it. But it's winter now which means projects, projects, projects. It's on the list. Hope this sheds some light.