Cure for 'bubbling heads'

[terry.mcneill]

My hand-pumped Jabsco sea toilet is sucking in air from somewhere. The effectiveness of pumping is inconsistent: sometimes it works fine (and no bubbles), others there are periods of inneffective pumping (oo-err missus) rewarded only by impressively vigorous bubbling in the pan. Obviously air getting sucked in somewhere, but no liquid leaking out anywhere. Any suggestions on possible cause/remedy? Standard set-u, no swan neck, no holding tank.

 

[pvb]

My hand-pumped Jabsco sea toilet is sucking in air from somewhere. The effectiveness of pumping is inconsistent: sometimes it works fine (and no bubbles), others there are periods of inneffective pumping (oo-err missus) rewarded only by impressively vigorous bubbling in the pan. Obviously air getting sucked in somewhere, but no liquid leaking out anywhere. Any suggestions on possible cause/remedy? Standard set-u, no swan neck, no holding tank.

Maybe time to renew the seal sheet at the top of the pump.

 

[RupertW]

I agree - seal sheet likely - probably no more than cleaning the crud off the two medal discs so they make a tight seal again. Then carefully screwing the top down again so it doesn't leak

 

[richardsn9]

You can buy the seal as a separate unit by itself, rather than the full spare parts kit, which is quite expensive.

I finally got fed up with mine not pumping properly, and having tried new seals unsuccessfully, looked at the replacement cost of a new loo. Instead, I fitted a small urchin hand pump on the outlet side which empties the bowl much better than the built in pump at a third of the cost of a new loo. I flush it using fresh water anyway, (pretentious I know) but it is sweet smelling with none of the stale eggy smell.