Shower drain pump and toilet pipe

[PSteward]

Hello,

For our recently purchased boat we are fixing it up and had a couple of questions regarding plumbing!
First question:
When vacuuming out the waste water tank we noticed that it force liquid BACK out of the toilet although it was closed. We have the JPM AquaT Compact and the lever was to the right when it happened.
I also noticed an odd fitting on the pipe, not sure if it's a malfunctioning 1-way valve or something (picture attached). Any ideas?

Second question:
The shower drain is piped to a Jabsco 44010-2000 pump (picture attached) which while the motor still spins seems to not suck any liquid out anymore. In addition while docked the thru hull took on water and it back fed through the pump into the shower...
What would be a good replacement for this pump or just more of the same? It needs to suck about 2 feet and push out 1 foot, may run dry, and is only for the shower drain when we have showers (not often!).

Thanks!

--Phil

[tkeithlu]

1. While it's not quite clear to me from your description, I'm guessing bad joker (or duck bill, same thing) valves on either side of the pump.


1a. I would expect to find a strainer under that round cover, although a flap valve is a possibility. Open it and find out.

2. Sounds like a stripped impeller.

Overall, you've presented a picture of a waste water system that is in bad need of maintenance. Nothing in it is terribly complicated or outside your capability to repair, and it should not cost much. I recommend that you start by tearing down the pumps and looking under that cover. It's going to be messy.

[PSteward]

Hey Tkeithlu,

Thanks for the response. The wastewater system is direct from toilet (manual pump) to tank and from tank to waste thru-hull. The shower system (electric pump issue) is separate and pumps directly out not into the black water tank. So these two issues are completely different although both involve some type of pumping!

Thanks,

--Phil

[peghall]

Re your toilet problem: Not sure what's causing it, but I have a strong suspicion it's caused by a blocked holding tank vent.


All tank vents have two main functions: to provide an escape for air displaced by incoming contents and provide a source of air to replace contents as they're pulled out. When air displaced by incoming waste cannot escape out the vent the tank becomes pressurized, creating increasing back pressure that prevents the toilet from flushing.

Without a source of air to replace contents as they're being sucked out of the tank, the pump will pull a vacuum that'll prevent it from pulling out more than a gallon or two. The pumpout couldn't pull in any air via the vent so it got air wherever it could...in this case, through the toilet.

The two most common locations for a vent blockage are the vent thru-hull and the other end of the vent line--that end of the hose and the vent fitting on the tank. Start by cleaning out the thru-hull...use a screwdriver blade, ice pick--whatever works. If that doesn't result in a spew out the vent, you'll need to relieve the pressure before removing the vent line from the tank to clean them out...so open the deck pumpout fitting VERY CAREFULLY with a hose at the ready. Be sure you're UPwind of it! Scrape out that end of the vent line and the vent fitting on the tank...reconnect the vent line.

As for your toilet....The Aqua T is made by Johnson Pump, a Swedish company owned by SPX...their products are pretty decent quality. They have a US operation and offer support there https://www.spxflow.com/johnson-pump-marine/support/

I was able to find the instruction manual for it online. https://www.spxflow.com/assets/pdf/J...-412-1_R06.pdf


It's in about 8 different languages, pages 9-14 are the English version. You should be able to print just those pages.

--Peggie

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by PSteward

Hello,

For our recently purchased boat we are fixing it up and had a couple of questions regarding plumbing!
First question:
When vacuuming out the waste water tank we noticed that it force liquid BACK out of the toilet although it was closed. We have the JPM AquaT Compact and the lever was to the right when it happened.
I also noticed an odd fitting on the pipe, not sure if it's a malfunctioning 1-way valve or something (picture attached). Any ideas?

Second question:
The shower drain is piped to a Jabsco 44010-2000 pump (picture attached) which while the motor still spins seems to not suck any liquid out anymore. In addition while docked the thru hull took on water and it back fed through the pump into the shower...
What would be a good replacement for this pump or just more of the same? It needs to suck about 2 feet and push out 1 foot, may run dry, and is only for the shower drain when we have showers (not often!).

Thanks!

--Phil

I think that PAR is just a water pressure pump like used for your water pressure system. They do not have impellors rather is a diaphragm pump. You can probably get a new head for it. but , MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A SMALL STRAINER BEFORE THE PUMP TO TRAP THE HAIR ETC..
Check it out for hair before you buy a new one.

[Tom_F]

I can't help with the head issue, but I recently had similar problems with the shower sump.

I replaced my old pump with a Jabsco 37202-2012 pump (https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?id=85077#). Somewhere in the drain line between the shower sump and the pump you should find an in-line strainer. Mine looks like this https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?id=4072340. If you unscrew the cover (in mine, it's clear plastic), you'll find a mesh screen that keeps debris from getting to the pump. Mine was so packed tight with the previous owner's hair and other debris (it was absolutely gross) that nothing was able to pass through the screen, which means nothing could be expelled by the pump. Open up your strainer and clean or replace the screen. You may have to disconnect the strainer from the lines and use something to clean out the drain line leading to the pump if it is as badly packed as mine was. Once you clean or replace the screen, try running the pump again to see if it is working. You may have to clean the screen a few times in short order. After that, cleaning that should be part of your routine maintenance with the interval being determined by use.

Do not try removing the screen and running the pump as you will likely damage or clog your pump and that's a much harder fix. Also, replacing the pump without cleaning the strainer will probably not solve the problem.

Tom

[waterman46]

These diaphragm pumps are (usually!) easy to rebuild - take it apart to see how that goes, look at the diaphragm and if anything is broken you can get a rebuild kit. Maybe less than half the cost of new pump.And yes do put a strainer on the pump's intake, somewhere it is easy to service.