help toilet jammed and fuse gone! How do i mend it?

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learneronaboat

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Embarassing I know but I flushed a dettol cleaning wipe down the toilet (sea pump) and its now blown the fuse on the panel. I have NO IDEA how to mend this??? My partner tried to get his hand down and pull out the offending item but the next fuse just blew again. Do we need a new toilet or do we need to get the boat out of the water or anything before we proceed?
Please feel to treat me like the complete beginner i am as Ive only had my boat for 2 months and was never gonna make sailor of the year anyhow!!!! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Thanks for your patience and I look forward to receiving any replies.

P.S Sorry if this is in wrong section!

Janet the northerner xxxx
 
Welcome to this forum. It is the right one /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

A contributor called "Headmistress", her name is Peggie, will almost certainly answer your query when she next signs on - she is probably the top expert on marine toilets.

I suggest that you post the fullest possible details, make, model etc of your heads (toilet) to help her.

Good luck - you will learn a lot here.

Bob
 
Thank you Bob, its my first time on here and i really am a little nervous about asking obvious questions but being that my partner hasn't done anything more than try the fuse, Im thinking it may be an idea to help him. After all its not up to the men of this world to do everything is it? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Although it helps! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif xx
 
Unpleasant subject, unpleasant answer

Things labelled 'flushable' for domestic use really mean 'will go down the pipe then it's someone else's problem'.

Anything that doesn't disintegrate easily in water can easily block pumps, valves, macerators etc. Apart from the usual culprits you should always avoid 'wet strength' paper, e.g. kitchen towels. Also large quantities of the normal substances - if the contents of a pump are less than 50% water you'll get a blackage. Without wanting to put anyone off their lunch, the first 24 hours afloat tend to disrupt the digestive processes resulting in a large volume thereafter for the pumps to cope with. The moral here is 'pump as you go', don't wait till it's all over.

OK, that's the lecture, now to the immediate problem- the offending fabric has jammed the vanes/blades of the pump so that the motor is stalled. An electric motor draws much more current while stationary that while running which is what blows the fuse. Once in a while it is sufficient to leave it to dissolve but for the other 99% of cases it's a question of stripping the pump down so you can extract the foreign material. Sorry but there is no other way.

Speaking as one who has more than once had to dismantle a pump blocked solid with someone else's ****, all I can advise is to lift the whole thing out and do the job on deck on a windy day.
 
Not what I would choose to do on a summer\'s afternoon but..

It isn't too repugnant a job, especially on an electric (is it a Jabsco?) when the "foreign object" is still visible.

If a Jabsco, after making sure that the seacocks are both closed AND THAT THE POWER IS DISCONNECTED, you'll need to remove the white plastic motor cover from the lower rear of the bowl and then undo the four screws which hold the macerator pump into the toilet base assembly. You should then see your "quarry" wrapped around the "chopper plate". Be careful. it has sharp edges but be sure to remove the towel completely.

Before re-assembly, it might be a good idea to replace the "O" ring seals by purchasing a service kit from your local chandler. Check also that the nut in the middle of the chopper plate hasn't been loosened by the towel- not very likely as you seem to have caught it early.

Perhaps youy should do pennance by liberally sprinkling your most expensive perfume around afterwards to kill the pong!

Good luck

Steve Cronin
 
Re: Not what I would choose to do on a summer\'s afternoon but..

Welcome to the happy and sometimes disgusting world of boats.






And the moral of the story.....
Dont flush anything you havent eaten first
 
What is the make/model of your toilet? Do you still have the instruction manual for it? (If not, you may be able to pull one off the web) 'Cuz that will include a diagram that shows you the innards of your toilet.

Steve has already given you good advice, however. I'm off to a meeting now, but will be back later in the day to see what if anything more I can contribute.
 
Dont forget to disconnect the electrics before playing with the pump!, have plenty of disinfectent and a clothes peg for the nose! old clothes and a shower afterwards will also be useful!

Nothing but nothing really should be put through the loo unless it has passed through the body first. You can get away with some dissolvable loo paper, , but the slow dissolving type can also cause a jam.

This is the time when you discover that the seacock works (or not). It is also a good time to check whether the pipes need to be replaced, or whether those supposedly stainless fittings were really only zinc plated!
 
excellent advice below. It does need dismantling. Its only low voltaged so you won't electrocute yerself. The "macerator" is the small motrish thing to which the lecky fuse connects and its the non-motor part of that which needs unblocking. It's not hard, just fiddy and a bit gut wrenching.

You can reduce the repugnancy by blocking your nose with small rolls of bogpaper.

To increase the amuement factor (hey, it's supposed to leisure time!) another good larf is to smear your face with bits of mars bar towards the end of the task which makes other peopel a bit horrified when you pick the bits off and nonchanlantly puttem in you mouth...
 
"To increase the amuement factor (hey, it's supposed to leisure time!) another good larf is to smear your face with bits of mars bar towards the end of the task which makes other peopel a bit horrified when you pick the bits off and nonchanlantly puttem in you mouth... "


b4 or after washing your hands /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Y'all are TERRIBLE! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

In what is prob'ly a hopeless attempt to restore at least a little dignity to this thread /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif ...

A bit of Vicks Salve smeared under the nose will help to make any odor bearable and won't result in your name being crossed off every crew list and dinner guest list forever!
 
[ QUOTE ]
To increase the amuement factor (hey, it's supposed to leisure time!) another good larf is to smear your face with bits of mars bar towards the end of the task which makes other peopel a bit horrified when you pick the bits off and nonchanlantly puttem in you mouth...

[/ QUOTE ]

L.O.L!!!!
 
Thank you all SO much for this wonderful and helpful advice. You are a smashing lot, cheers. We went to boat today and peter has managed to repair it all with help from your advice, thank you SO much!.

P.S I LURVE Steve's suggestion with the chocolate. That made us laugh out loud! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif ;D

Cheers again folks, see you around, Janet the Northerner xxx
 
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