jabsco problem

baldyash

baldyash

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Water comes in but small leaver wont go across to pump into tank and piston handle wont push down .do I need to put a repair kit on also wondering because incoming water from crouch is full of weed wondering if it could have blocked pump valves. Lots of algae comes in with incoming water as well
 
The piston handle won't push down if the lever is not fully across. Take the top of the pump, clean out anything that is blocking it, make sure the rubber flap-valve is clean and re-assemble. It's pretty simple. The cost of a service kit is better spent on a whole new pump.
 
Thanks for that. I'll have a look at the w/e. ---I used to have an Achilles 24 399 in Swansea, (in another life) its origin.It had a purple hull,so I called it Purple Haze,& yes it was hazy!(but I also liked the song!) I think it went to Angle Bay & I heard it was wrecked, but I never found out for definate
 
It's worth getting some silicone grease from a plumbers shop and greasing the pump after cleaning it. Last year my heads started smelling of rotten eggs when first pumped each time I went out. Then the pump also got stiff. I stripped it down, cleaned and greased the pump. No more smell and it now works nice and smoothly. I read somewhere that the smell is caused when the foul water is able to contaminate the flushing water in the pump. I was obviously fortunate that the washer in the pump was still in good condition and had just got crudded up.
 
A good tip for keeping the pump smooth is a couple of teaspoons of veggie oil in the pan every couple of weeks. Most of the rotten eggs smell is due to decaying marine matter in the inlet pipe, rather than anything else, give it a good shake and bend if possible, limescale from seawater builds up and all the bugs inhabit that, then when they die and rot, you get the smell....
 
We have one of those in line treatment things fitted to inlet pipe just behind the pump and also use the Jabsco toilet cleaner every time we leave the boat after a w/e's use , a minimum of 15 flushes is my rule for clearing waste and so far after 2 seasons since fitting new bog there is no smells at all ..
 
Bad smell is hydrogen sulfide (H2S), which is a function of the salt water trapped in the inlet side breaking down.

Regular flushing with freah water will reduce the problem but there will still be salt water in the inlet pipe so the perfect solution is regular trips back into fresh water (not always realistic). You could also close the inlet sea-cock, disconnect the inlet pipe & back flush but a lot of hassle!;)

An allied subject - calcitrate build up blocking the outlet pipe is again a chemical action between sea water & urine so flushing with fresh water will again slow the build up.:D:

Unfortunately, flushing with fresh water doesn't resolve the problem of blockage by foreign objects:(

When reincarnated, I intend to take a degree in marine toilets - never out of work & after all I already have a head start:rolleyes:
 
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I seem to have started the debate again about what causes the rotten eggs (hydrogen sulphide) smell. My previous boat suffered from it every time and I never managed to get rid of it. When I bought the Fulmar, for the first season no smell at all. Towards the end of the 2nd season the smell started, then the pump went stiff. I stripped the pump down and gave it a good clean and greased it with silicon grease. To date there has been no smell. I haven't done anything else to it, never really counted the number of flushes or used it in fresh water. The problem I had seems to have been contamination between the 2 chambers of the pump caused by the pump washer sticking, which was another theory I read on one of the forum threads.
 
I have a T diverter valve from the sink in the heads, which tees into the heads inlet pipe.

Before leaving the boat, close the heads inlet cock.
Divert the T divertervalve so waste water goes down into the heads inlet.
Run water down the sink until it comes into the sink.
Pump the heads inlet, the water in the sink will enter the heads inlet pipe.
Shut the Sink T diverter valve.
There is now fresh water in your inlet pipe and the bowl of your heads.

Go home.:)
 
We have a similar arrangement, although in our case the heads inlet and sink drain share the same seacock. So prior to leaving the boat we just close the inlet/drain seacock, fill sink with water, pump through and then close seacock. We can also use this route to put cleaning/disinfectant agents through the system.
 
Our inlet pipe is a long way away from the outlet pipe...
We never get a smelly loo..

Most instalations both pipes are close together... So it is easy for the inlet pipe to be contaminated with poo as one pipe is pumping out whilst the other is sucking... only takes a little bit to introduce lots of bugs ...
 
Having been through various issues surrounding on board 'facilities' we have come across a lot of myths and several truths.
Essentially, when talking about the smells associated with the inlet side, the answer nortada gave is correct. Even if you only use the loo for 'liquids', you will get the smell.
Using the loo regularly will sort out the problem but for folks who don't go to the boat regularly and/or pump the loo regularly enough the first few pumps through will always bring out the the sulphurous smell. If you are lucky enough to liveaboard :cool:, even not using the loo for a few days will still result in 'the smell'. :mad:
If you fit a kit of what ever type to try and disperse this, the best place to put it is as near to the inlet pipe through hull fitting as possible as it will then treat the entire length if the inlet pipe. However, this has the major disadvantage of putting another potential fail point under the waterline :eek:. Putting it above the waterline is OK as long as the stuff you use to treat the water is sufficiently strong to mask the smell of the foul water that is between it and the inlet.
We have found that regular use and pumping enough water through to completely clear the inlet side does help a lot. It is easier with an electric loo pump as it takes about three cycles of our pump to do this properly, which would be about 40 pumps manually!!
 
Thanks chaps, a very timely thread. My Jabsco, on Nutmeg, had become so hard to pump one had to kneel on the floor and heave the thing up and down.

So I spent the day removing said Jabsco, cleaning it, and reassembling it with lots of silicone on all moving parts.

Now works like a new one!

Brilliant. Thanks again all

Steve
 
I'm surprised that servicing the heads is not part of the yachtmaster exams since it is such an essential part of sailing. Although the Jabsco is often best left alone, any owner should be familiar with its innards. Many people seem to tolerate loos that are an effort to use, when a normal Jabsco should be workable by a small child.

My only advice to add to the above is to be wary of over-tightening the screws, which can easily crack the plastic, which is what was done by the Norsemen who assembled my boat.
 
Also had a smelly heads for some years until I found a hairline crack in the exit pipe (from the pump). No further problems now. Its well worth a careful check. And as Moody Sabre says, some oil down the pipe every day, we use baby oil 'cos it don't smell like chips, is well worth it
 
For not a lot more than a servicing kit you can buy a new pump, fit that, fettle the old one and keep as spare. It only takes a few minutes to change them over.
 
having left the boat for two weeks whilst we went away in the caravan i pumped out the lavac with the lid open. we had been having slight leaks from the outlet and i thought it was cured but still decided to pump out excess water. on return first flush pulled in some awful brown sludge (evern brwner and sludgier than normal Crouch water!) absolutley alive with shrimps. even then there was no smell so maybe once you have the bacteria resident you've got it - if you see what I mean.

incidentally having just refurnished the pump is it me or is it almost impossible to tighten the two parts of the body together as the nuts rotate between the plastic flanges? even long nose pliers didn't help much in the case of the two nearest the handle as you just couldn't get them in position. and - rant continues - the outlet valve screws on with self tappers that grip small metal washers 'lost' in the neoprene and i defy anyone not to strip the thread leaving the screw rotating freely but not tightening
 
I've got an issue with the heads on my new yawl, hence looking back at old threads. I've also noticed that Jabsco has uploaded some video content to YouTube last week. It's worth at look at them. Here's one...

 
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