Jabsco Heads blocked - Headmistress - Help -URGENT

  • Thread starter Thread starter bob_tyler
  • Start date Start date
B

bob_tyler

Guest
As I came to the end of a trip yesterday my Jabsco Manual Compact Bowl toilet blocked. Ugh!

Can I use a rubber cup plunger in order to attempt to remove or break up the blockage?

All the blockage material has left the bowl and it only has liquid in it now.

If I can try this should the change-over lever be in the expel only position or in the flush with new water position? Should the pump be at the top of the stroke or pushed down?

If this might work it could save the unpleasant task of dismantling.

Can anyone advise please? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
Would be surprised if the plunger shifts it - do let us know if it does!

Others may correct but I think the position of the change over lever is immaterial as is the pump position for the job you have in hand (possibly not the best terminology!).
 
It depends on your setup but I suggest that you try your plunger with the outlet open and the changeover lever to "dry bowl" ie without new water coming in. Pump handle position "in", although this probably matters less.

Good luck - its a long shot!
 
So that I can unblock the can when I go aboard tomorrow if possible.
 
I have had some success with putting lever to pump out only, and then pumping really hard and fast for a couple of minutes. There does need to be some water in the bowl, but trying this with the lever in the other position is risking a flood or a back blast.
 
I can do that over the side but it's the cork up my a*** I'm worried about. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
 
Betya......

.. It's a paper blockage.

If you're lucky it will be at the sphincter valve end of the outlet pipe which just means un-doing the two twin thread screws holding the white plastic elbow to the pump, and withdrawing the black sphincter valve which will reveal the paper blockage which you will need to remove. Of course do all this with the seacocks turned off.

If you're UN lucky then it will be at the outlet end and will require the flexible pipe to be removed which after removal of the twin jubilee clips (you do have 2 on each union don't you?) which due to the inflexibility of the hose can be a bit of a pig - I use a hairdryer to soften the pipe first. This again should reveal the blockage which again needs manual removal but if you've been forcing water through it for a while will be surprisingly clean.

Whilst the pipe is off, inspect the interior of it to see if there is a build up of calcification. The pipe on my aft heads, the one my wife uses most and very often leaves open at anchor, had it's diameter severely reduced which involved removing it completely and bashing it against the edge of the pontoon to remove the scaling - you could of course invest in a new pipe but I'm mean.
The forward heads which i tend to use most had only a slight build up but then I always dry pump the system and shut the cocks after every use.

We had a friend manage to block both heads in the same day last month but I put that down to our being forced to use ordinary domestic toilet paper. We nbormally try to get the dissolving type supplied by the Thetford company & Elsan made especially for chemical toilets. When we use this we never get any blockages but it isn't readily available in Greece

Steve Cronin
 
I like your style!

My wife's screensaver says:-

" Most problems solve themselves if sufficient time is applied" or words to thateffect!

Problem is though that nobody wants to leave their heads open to the sea if they're leaving the boat to go home for the week. Not to mention that sometimes a very dense paper fibre plug is generated, particularly if people force water through it by hard & slow pumping.

Steve Cronin
 
Re: Betya......

Many thanks for your comprehensive reply Steve.

As I am using the Thetford paper (or rather was!) I may be lucky with it dissolving after a couple of days! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

I'm pleased to say that my personal sphincter valve seems to be in good condition /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Re: Betya......

Don't plumbers pour something down blocked drains which speeds up the dissolving process?

Have you got a plunger on board that might shift it a bit to allow you to pump it through.

The one time our bog blocked I could see the paper block in the pipe at the entrance to the sea cock, this is a venerable spot as you have the rim of bronze inside the pipe. I was able to push a stick up from outside in the dinghy which dislodged it enough to get it flowing again.

Just some thoughts....
 
Re: Betya......

Thanks for the idea of inserting a stick up the valve from the dinghy, I hadn't thought of that.

As it is a Blakes bronze valve I'm not sure that it might not have to turn a corner but could try the plunger over the hole from outside. I will report back when the problem is solved to help others.
 
Re: Betya......

I've successfully cleared a blocked Jabsco in the past by connecting the inlet of a manual bilge pump hose to the outlet of the loo and using the bilge pump to 'suck'. It also works if the blockage is in fact at the seacock: join the bilge pump inlet pipe to the loo outlet pipe and pump the blockage back up..

Of course it depends on the location of heads and bilge pump as to how easy this would be. The results in our case were spectacular, particularly as the bilge pump outlet was on the transom in that boat. A few pumps to build up sufficient pressure, then Kerboom!!
 
Unless somebody flushed something they shouldn't have, most clogs will dissolve on their own...'cuz solid waste is 75% water to begin with--and broken up as it goes through the pump and joker valve, and quick-dissolve TP "melts" almost as soon as it gets wet. So an "overload" of solids and/or TP should break up enough to be pumped through within an hour. So if it's really true that nothing except waste and "marine" TP has gone down it, I think you'll find that you can push the clog through by the time you come back to the boat.

If not, it most likely means that mineral buildup in the discharge hose has reduced the diameter significantly--an issue that needs to be dealt with to prevent repeated clogs. It's especially important if the head is a Jabsco because Jabsco uses a 1" discharge instead of the standard 1.5"...so it doesn't take much buildup to block the hose almost completely. A cupful of white vinegar flushed through the discharge hose once a week will prevent it.

Do NOT use a plunger in any marine toilet. Unlike a household toilet, the discharge from a marine toilet is not a straight shot from the bowl out the discharge pipe...waste is pulled through the bottom 1/3 of pump and pushed out. The action of the plunger can dislodge or damage rubber seals and o-rings in the pump and/or turn the joker valve inside out. If the clog hasn't dissolved on its own by now, I'm afraid that you won't have much choice but to take hoses off to find it and clear it.

The wet/dry valve only blocks or allows water to come into the pump through intake line...it has nothing to do with what goes out. So whether the pump is in the wet or dry mode is immaterial in moving anything OUT of the toilet and through the discharge...only in whether any flush water is added to it.
 
Peggie, many thanks for that reply. It is most comforting to get an expert opinion which could save me damaging the system. I was hoping that you would see the query.

Thanks to everyone else as well for their prompt replies, most appreciated. I would hate, however, to turn my sphincter valve inside out /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

I will report back what has happened.

Bob
 
There is a device called a Pela Oil extractor for removing engine oil from the engine sump through the dipstick . it works with a bicycle pump type attachment on a spherical bottle . You create a vacuum and stick the dip pipe of the 5 litre bottle in the appropriate hole . I have used it to clean up oil spills so why not for removing liquid [no thanks] from a heads bowl . There is a bigger version if you have a bigger problem
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top