dealing with Jabsco poor quality control

[Seapig]

I recently purchased a replacement Jabsco macerator assembly that came with an O-ring. The groove on the housing is very small and thus the tolerances are tight. The supplied O-ring was too big. I contacted the seller who used the Jabsco washer kit on some of his stock and confirmed that those O-rings were also too big and would not seat in the grove.

The seller contacted Jabsco rep who said "these were the same O-rings they had always used" and just "use some grease to seat them".
Aside from being moderately insulting this points out that Jabsco has no intention of addressing this problem. Amazon reviews also mention this as a problem so my situation is not unique. In my case I have two Japsco washer / replacement kits, a O-ring specific kit and two old toilets. So a total of 6 O-rings. Not one of them is exactly the same size. Fortunately one of the O-rings from the old toilet fit so I am happily flushing again.



So the question is how are other people dealing with this? Does everyone keep buying washer kits until they find the one that fits?

[Benz]

I buy other brands and only use hand pumps that don't have O-rings in their inward parts.

[Seapig]

Benz, you are much smarter than me, but the boat came with Jabsco and my dear little wife likes electric so I am sort of stuck. I seriously considered replacing the unit with a different brand but that is 300 dollars more so I am putting up with Jabsco for the moment.

[Ruso]

I eliminating any Jabsco connectors which using O-rings one by one on leak detected with permanent clamp based connectors.

[CaptTom]

Timely post. I just noticed that the O-ring on the base of my 6-year-old Jabsco head is leaking a little. I've been wondering for years why there was sometimes a small wet spot under the head. I figured it was users who "missed." Nope. I confirmed it was leaking out at the seal between the base and the bowl.

First of all, the whole toilet has to be removed from the sole to get at the bolts holding the bowl to the base. Hoses have to be removed. I had a hard time finding the O-ring part, and ended up buying from eBay as "new old stock." When it arrived, in the unopened Jabsco package, it looked exactly the same size as the old one. I lubed it up and re-installed everything.

Nope. Still leaking. The problem was never the O-ring, but the bowl or base casting. The groove for the O-ring is deeper than the O-ring itself.

I've always liked the simplicity of the basic Jabsco hand-pumped head, but this has shaken my faith.

[Stewie12]

Capt Tom. Can you use 2 0 rings ?

[Stewie12]

Capt Tom. Can you use 2 0 rings ?

[vpbarkley]

I've had several problems with Jabsco quality control myself - a number of their failed products and their "dead fish" response.

I recommend downloading the Parker O-Ring Handbook:

https://www.parker.com/Literature/O-...ORD%205700.pdf

Take a while to familiarize yourself with it. You should be able to specify the correct o-ring size and material you need.

[sinnerman]

One word:

RARITAN

Much better product.

[Tetepare]

Jabsco is now owned by ITT, and both the quality and customer service has gone down the toilet.

I've recently installed and/or worked on several brand new Jabsco manual toilets- which has been made since 1970s at least, and each one operated different concerning how it flushed, how picky the wet/dry selector was, etc. That's zero QC.

[Sailnav]

When two out of the four threaded rods that held the macerator pump and motor together failed and leaked, I looked to replace the unit.
But then I found that Jabsco sold an “upgrade” package: for Stainless rods! So the factory Knew the tendency to corrode!
Raritan offers a perfect swap.

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by Stewie12

Capt Tom. Can you use 2 0 rings ?

I was thinking the same thing. My concern is that the base and bowl wouldn't join tightly together, and with the weight of a person rocking it back and forth, things could get worse.

Originally Posted by vpbarkley

I recommend downloading the Parker O-Ring Handbook:

Looks like I have some not-so-light reading to do!

Originally Posted by Tetepare

Jabsco is now owned by ITT, and both the quality and customer service has gone down the toilet.

I see what you did there

Originally Posted by Sailnav

Raritan offers a perfect swap.

And Peggy always raves about their "Elegance" model. Too bad it's come to this. The Jabsco head used to be well engineered and well built. Easy to use, easy to fix. Makes you wonder if the MBA's running these big companies have any clue about the world outside their corporate offices.

[Bowdrie]

Originally Posted by Sailnav

When two out of the four threaded rods that held the macerator pump and motor together failed and leaked, I looked to replace the unit.

Yes, when I was doing comparisons between brands the almost universal complaint among users of the Jabsco pump was the corrosion/failure of the housing bolts.
Interestingly, none of the leading makers of macerating pumps managed to get over a 2.5 out of 5 stars in the customer comments/reviews.
And, another almost universal comment was the poor operating lifespan of ANY of the pumps.
It seems that no one knows, (or has any idea,) of how to make a macerating pump that will actually "do the job" for more than a short time, (if at all).

[Bowdrie]

Originally Posted by Tetepare

Jabsco is now owned by ITT, and both the quality and customer service has gone down the toilet.

Of course, what the #%*^ would an International Telephone and Telegraph company know about marine sewage pumps?

[carlosproa]

Originally Posted by Bowdrie

Yes, when I was doing comparisons between brands

Interestingly, none of the leading makers of macerating pumps managed to get over a 2.5 out of 5 stars in the customer comments/reviews.

And, another almost universal comment was the poor operating lifespan of ANY of the pumps.

It seems that no one knows, (or has any idea,) of how to make a macerating pump that will actually "do the job" for more than a short time, (if at all).

Those a really sh*tty rankings [emoji23] goes with the territory.
LAVAC baby! Easy peasy