blocked heads

[Guest]

Being new to 'Scuttlebut' may I first thank all who offered solutions to my 'Two questions'. Problem(s) solved.
Now.... my mate brought his young daughter down recently and contrary to the usual 'Briefing' she used a load of paper in the heads and this has blocked iether the pump or the pipe. (I can feel the vacuum effect on the pump handle)
Unfortunately the nuts & bolts are behind a panel and it will take ages to get to them. Any suggestions which MIGHT just work to remove the obsruction without spending hours with screwdriver & spanners ?

 

[Guest]

What type of loo is it ?
if the obstruction is on the outlet side of the pump your best bet is to go overboard with long piece of wire poke it up the outlet and ~ it about, keeping your face well clear. Otherwise the only solution is to dismantle the pump on the move the obstruction
if anybody else has any better ideas I would like them to share them with us, I have been down this road a good few times when we have had guests visiting ,so I know your problem.
best of luck
Dave


Dave

 

[Guest]

My sympathies!
If you have time enough, just let the water get at the blockage for a day or two. Try some hot water. As the blockage is mainly paper it may break up by itself enough to enable you to flush it away.
Otherwise get out the spanners.

 

[robp]

Try mving the flushing switch. Where just emptying can seem blocked, (resulting in pressure on the pump handle), opening the seawater inlet sometimes will allow flushing through.

If it was just toilet paper and not "wet strength" paper it might indeed breakdown with hot water. If she used Wet-Wipes it's definitely spanner time.

Good luck

 

[peterb]

Caution

Be very careful in pushing up a piece of wire.

One boat I know of had exactly this problem whilst in the middle of the Bay of Biscay en route from UK to Portugal. They pushed a piece of wire in to try to break up the blockage. The wire penetrated the plastic pipe, allowing sea water to come in. So they tried to shut the sea cock. Unfortunately the sea cock had not been properly exercised, and wouldn't move. So someone took a piece of metal tube and used it to extend the operating lever and allow the cock to turn. After a little more effort the cock did turn; not to shut the water off but to shear off its retaining bolts.

So as a result of insufficient maintenance they were left with a 1 inch diameter hole in the bottom of the boat while more than 100 miles from land. As I said, be very careful with that bit of wire.

 

[jamesjermain]

I had an old Lavac (excellent piece of kit) which blocked from time to time, usually with a terrifying build up of pressure in the outlet pipe. I found that operating the seacock lever a few times invariably cleared the blockage. When it did clear it did so explosively with a thump that shook the whole boat. It probably stunned sea-life for a cable in all directions.

JJ

 

[chas]

If the blockage is in the pipe, it sometimes helps to take the pipe off at the bog end and straighten it. If you have a method of applying pressure (you can blow down the end if desperate) that may shift it. Of course, it goes without saying that if the cock is open, keep the open end above sea level!