Jabasco Instruction required!

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cliffb

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After a near disaster in the Firth of Clyde this weekend I'm holding up my hand and am looking for the combined wisdom of you guys and gals on the correct usage of a Jabasco heads.
I had guests on-board and, in hindsight, failed to give them proper instruction on the use of this essential piece of equipment; consequently a severe blockage ensued. You'll all be relieved I know, to hear that after more than a little persuasion on my part I was able to free the offending ...erm... solid. So, if you don't mind, we'll skip the wise-guys who will be compelled to bring this down to toilet humour and move straight onto the action AFTER the bowel/bladder movement.
There's a 'toggle' switch on the Jabasco pump. So is the sequence, 1/ switch to left & flush, 2/ switch to right & empty, 3/ switch to left and flush again? Or is it empty first, then switch to left and flush?
I have a feeling they were emptying first and then flushing, and that this caused (or exacerbated) the problem... but am I right?
Oh...and in case you ask... the use of paper is strictly limited...and only we only have the (burgger... can't think of the name...) you know...the quick dissolving stuff.
Thanks to all
 
"You'll all be relieved I know, to hear that after more than a little persuasion on my part I was able to free the offending ...erm... solid."

That's not surprising, if nothing was flushed except what's been eaten and the quick-dissolve TP...'cuz solid waste is 75% water to start with and is broken up by going through the pump--so it dissolves fairly quickly...and quick dissolve TP almost dissolves in your hand when it gets wet. So unless something was flushed that shouldn't have been, most clogs dissolve by themselves in an hour or less.

Now to your question..."manual marine toilet flushing 101" (not only Jabsco toilets--ALL manual marine toilets):

If the flush is going directly overboard:

1. Ahead of use: Pump the toilet a couple of times in the wet mode to wet the bowl--or, Or, since manual marine toilets are not designed to bring water into the bowl and hold it but to move at least as much out with each pump as is brought in, add a cupful or two of water from the sink ahead of solids.

2. After use: In the wet mode, pump the toilet enough times to move the bowl contents ALL the way out the thru-hull--or at least enough times to get it all the way over the top of the vented loop, and also enough times to rinse out the hose behind the bowl contents. Then switch to the dry mode to push the remaining flush water over the top of the vented loop.

But if flushing into a tank, using the wet mode almost exclusively fills up the tank very quickly. So here's the way to do it, using an average of only about 2 liters of flush water/flush:

1. Same as #1 above.

After use:

1. Pump the toilet in the DRY mode enough times to move the bowl contents all the way to the tank--or at least enough times to move it all the way over the top of any vented loop in the line from the toilet to the tank (you'll have to count the number of times it takes to do this on your boat)...unless line from the toilet to the top of the loop or to the tank is considerably longer than 6', any manual marine toilet that's working anywhere near factory specs will have no trouble moving waste that far in the dry mode.

2. Switch to wet mode for only 2-4 pumps--only enough to rinse the bowl and bring in enough flush water to rinse out the hose behind the bowl contents.

3. Back to the dry mode to move the "rinse water" to the tank or over the top of the loop.

I suggest that you post the above instructions (after you've determined the # of pump strokes required) in the head and ask your guests to read them--AND to ask any questions if they're not clear.

When the boat is to sit for several days or longer, after you've closed the intake seacock, put about a liter of clean fresh water in the bowl and flush that all the way through the system. Follow that with a cupful or two undiluted white vinegar, also flushed all the way through...to prevent sea water mineral buildup in the hose. Do NOT leave vinegar sitting in the bowl...for one thing, it does no good in the bowl...more importantly, soft rubber left to soak in vinegar will swell up and distort.

And there you have it, class..."marine toilet flushing 101"...any questions? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
The instruction sticker that came with my Jabsco shows:
1. empty.
2. flush.
3. empty.
4. shut seacocks.

So 1 is a dry empty with waste products,
2 is a flush empty with inlet flush water,
and 3 is a dry empty with (hopefully) only water.

As a safety precaution from ITT-Jabsco, 4 states to close seacocks.

And it works!!
 
Two questions if I may. What grease should be used in the pump? Mines getting a little stiff. The instructions mention a smear of vasoline but I seem to recall you suggesting silicone - or was it teflon grease? Is waterproof grease any good as I already have this to hand?

For a quick fix is it okay just to remove the top six screws and pull out the plunger or do you have to remove the four lower screws first. It will be treated to full service durning the winter. It's a manual Jabasco.

Thanks

Mark
 
I'll let Headmistress answer your lub questions. I just want to let you know that when you replace any of the screws make sure you locate them in the correct threads first. You should be able to screw them in finger tight first, and then screw them all the way down with no effort. If you have to apply force, you are making a new thread and can strip the screw hole.

This goes for all the screw holes in the pump and connecting base. If you strip the top cover screw holes, it is a devil of a job to seal, as you will have to drill out the screw holes to take long thin screws with nuts underneath.

This happened on our old Jabsco pump by the previous owners, and as a temp measure I had to fit bolts and nuts. I have now fitted a new pump complete.

You can get spares and complete replacement units from
http://snipurl.com/fvc8
 
[ QUOTE ]
The instruction sticker that came with my Jabsco shows:
1. empty.
2. flush.
3. empty.
4. shut seacocks.

So 1 is a dry empty with waste products,
2 is a flush empty with inlet flush water,
and 3 is a dry empty with (hopefully) only water.

[/ QUOTE ]

That may work fine for men and urine only...However, solid waste makes less of a mess in the bowl if a cupful or two of water is added to the bowl first.

Jabsco's instructions leave a bit to be desired...they warn against using any petroleum products (petroleum is damaging to rubber), then recommend Vaseline...and their winterizing instructions make NO sense: "...use only ethylene glycol antifreeze. To use petroleum based antifreeze can cause damage to the internal rubber toilet parts." Ethylene glycol IS petroleum based!

As for lubing a Jabsco toilet...it's only necessary to remove the top, which depending on it's age, either requires removing 6 screws or loosening a the hex nut. Put a healthy squirt of synthetic teflon grease into the pump...pump a few times to spread it all over the inside of the cylinder wall..repeat if you didn't succeed in really slathering it with grease the first time. Put the top back on...you're done. Once a year as part of spring recommissioning should be enough to keep the pump pumping smoothly all season. In a crunch, a tablespoon of mineral oil down the toilet will work for a week or two...till it's washed out.

As Philip mentioned, be careful when replacing the screws--and the hex nut too. Not only can you strip the threads in the pump, but over-tightening can crack the pump housing. Jabsco's instructions aren't the only thing that's a bit on the weak side.
 
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