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Old 27-01-2023, 18:32   #1
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Vacuflush toilet problem

Hi all,
I have a 2001 boat with a Sealand / Dometic vacuflush toilet system. I am not liveaboard, but the toilet gets weekly/fortnightly use.
Recently, the vacuum pump was cycling on and off; usually giving the toilet another flush with more water would stop the vacuum pump.

I decided to change out the 4 duckbill valves. I did that without much fuss and reassembled the pump and it is now not holding its vacuum, shutting down for ~30 seconds then restarting.
So I replaced the vacuum pump bellows and 2 'O' rings on the pump body, as well as the 2 rubber seals under the toilet bowl. I have also tightened all hose connections at the tank end and silicone sealed the hose going from the toilet into the vacuum tank. I pulled the duckbills and reinstalled them - couldn't see any distortion. I used silicone grease on all threads and O Rings when re-assembling.
The toilet bowl is not losing water.

However, I have not solved the problem - the vacuum pump is still starting and stopping frequently (~30 seconds before it restarts).
I put in an isolating switch on the vacuum pump and can now control the situation manually. The toilet flushes normally when the vacuum tank has vacuum.

I have put a stethascope onto the toilet-to-tank hose and it seems to be silent. However, there seems to be lots of air/liquid noise across the pump inlet/body/outlet.

Any pearls of wisdom out there? It appears to be a vacuum leak around the pump / vacuum tank. And yes, I have read the manual and done what is suggested there.

Ash
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Old 27-01-2023, 18:36   #2
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Re: Vacuflush toilet problem

This is the VG2 vacuflush system
https://marinesan.com/vacuflush/vacu...ams/vg2-12-24/

Ash
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Old 27-01-2023, 18:40   #3
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Re: Vacuflush toilet problem

You may want to look at the vacuum switch.
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Old 27-01-2023, 18:53   #4
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Re: Vacuflush toilet problem

How much flush water are you using? How long do you keep the pedal down for urine only and for solid waste? Do you ease the pedal back up after flushing, or just let it go to spring back into place?


I've written a piece I call "VacuFlush 101" that I'll be glad to send you if you'd like to send me a PM that includes your email address (no way to attach anything to a PM).

Fwiw, VF was the toilet on my last two boats and I was a dealer/distributor for nearly 10 years


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Old 27-01-2023, 18:55   #5
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Re: Vacuflush toilet problem

If this was working OK, then you changed the joker valves, and immediately afterwards it is not working... that is THE place to look. You have a leak. It is almost surely in one of the hoses and fittings you manipulated to change the joker valves.

A leak big enough to cause the pump to run every 30 seconds is a BIG leak. You ought to be able to hear that hissing.
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Old 27-01-2023, 19:44   #6
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Re: Vacuflush toilet problem

Vacuum breaker would be a minor leak, I had a cracked plastic seat base, also slow leak.
If you worked on the bellows and didn't put it back together right it would be a bigger leak, fitting at vacuum tank holding duck bills could leak.
I'm happy if can go 24hrs without the vacuum pump going off, currently one of my 2 systems goes at least a week.
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Old 01-02-2023, 21:01   #7
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Re: Vacuflush toilet problem

A postscript to this thread :

Thanks for the suggestions to all that replied.

A local marine plumbing expert advised that there should be no silicone grease or teflon tape on the rigid pipe threads, so that was removed. He also advised to only do up the threads 'hand tight'.
I had another set of duckbill valves, a bit more 'harder' than the set I first put in, so changed those at the same time.

I put it all back together and no more vacuum leak. Yay
However, a slight fluid leak either side of the vacuum pump so I tightened the pipe threads around the duckbills a bit more (now more than hand tight) which stopped the fluid leak. Vacuum still holding good.

All that I can think is that the first set of new duckbills were just not up to the job. I got them off EBay so unsure if they are Sealand/Dometic originals or a copy part.

Ash
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