Heads keep filling up?

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paul

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Despite fitting a complet new Jabasc seal kit my heads insist on refilling (upto waterline level) each time I pump the toilet dry. After a minute or two bubbling noises come from the pump unit and the bowl fills up again. Any ideas about how I stop this? Thanks
 
Are the hoses taken above the waterline? If not the bowl will possibly fill and if the top is below the waterline overflow fill the boat. There are siphon breakers etc. to prevent this.
 
Re: Remember Murphy\'s Law

"If something can be fitted the wrong way round, it will be!" I suggest you look back at the instructions if you still have them and make sure you have all the valves in the right way round. If you do not have the instructions you will have to work it out by water flow, but I guess this to be the likely cause since it did not happen before you fitted the new pump kit.

Chris Stannard
 
Agree with Ken here - it used to happen to us on the last boat and turning off the seacock was how we stopped it - just remember to open it when you start to pump out!!
 
You should close the seacocks after evry use of the toilet, but it shouldn't happen anyway, a siphon break in the inlet should do the job, I doubt you have fitted the valves the wrong way, as it wouldn't pupm out.
 
Paul,

Agree with your suggestion the oulet pipe must after leaving the toilet loop up higher than the sea water level by at least 1 ft then down to the sea cock. After flushing the pipe should drain down and not be able to syphon back. Most heads will back fill when sailing hard due to back pressure and with the boat heeled over. Hence it is recommended to close the seacocks certainly when at sea.
As said if you had fitted something in the pump section and oulet wrong it would not pump out, you would get the same effect as pumping out with the seacock shut.
Lets hope this turns out to be a case of heads you win!
Otherwise you could get covered in ......
Hope this gives you something to go on?
All the best
Trevor
 
Does your head have a small lever near the pump marked "flush" and "dry" - or words/symbols to that effect? If you do, of course you return it to dry for the last few pumps don't you? Does pumping nearly empty the bowl in that position? If it does - leave it there when finished. If it doesn't - perhaps the innards are stuck on flush in which case water can enter through the inlet seacock.

As others have said, best practice is to turn sea cocks off in any case. The top of the bowl is below the waterline in my boat and I woke up early one morning to see a flipflop surfing past about six inches above the cabin sole. Took me over an hour to pump out - I've had a thing about turning off sea cocks ever since.

Hope this helps.
 
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