Jabsco Toilet - How Hard?

[SimonP85]

We have a standard manual Jabsco toilet and I have a suspicion the outlet hose is badly blocked with deposits and operating with a far reduced effective diameter.

How hard would people say it is with an ideal/new setup to operate the pump? With your little finger? Ease? Ours needs I would say notable effort and certainly not a light touch.

Wondering if the time has come to brave renewing the hose!

 

[pvb]

It should pump very easily, especially if you periodically put some silicone grease on the piston.

 

[Norman_E]

I had one that became hard to pump and sometimes squeaky because the rubber 0 ring in the piston was either swollen, or the wrong size initially. A new O ring cured it.

 

[Old Harry]

I had one that became hard to pump and sometimes squeaky because the rubber 0 ring in the piston was either swollen, or the wrong size initially. A new O ring cured it.

as post 2
O rings dry out & need occasional silicone lube

 

[thinwater]

Most have found the best cure is to replace the pump unit rather than spend money on overhaul kits. The pump is a 5-minute swap and gives you a new head.

Yes, something is blocked, probably the hose. It is probably old enough to need replacing while you are at it.

 

[johnalison]

Yes, it should be very easy. Mine requires a little more pressure since I fitted a syphon break on the inlet side, requiring a lift of a foot or two, but this hasn't been commented on by others using it.

 

[Uricanejack]

Easy but not fun.
The replacement pump is about the same price as parts. replace the pump and the discharge hose to the o'board sea cock.
its probably full of hard lime scale

 

[simonfraser]

if the pump is old and the hose blocked you're looking at a total replacement of toilet and hoses i'd say.
most setups i have seen it's easier to take the bowl out to sort the hoses. if you are gonna take the bowl out do yourself a favor and replace the whole toilet. not major money. you don' want a leaky toilet after having replaced the other bits.

b4 you rip it apart and replace, tip some bleach down it (not good for the rubbers long tern), pump a bit, let it soak in, empty it out.
makes the job slightly less unpleasant.

 

[laika]

We have a standard manual Jabsco toilet and I have a suspicion the outlet hose is badly blocked with deposits and operating with a far reduced effective diameter.

This happened to me about 6 years after installing. I service the pump relatively regularly. I think you know when it's "pressure" rather than the plungery thingy needing greasing. It really was quite remarkable how it had become clogged solid. You may only have one section of piping blocked but in my case it was all sections: toilet to vented loop, vented loop, loop to seacock. Take the hose off (heat with heat gun/hair dryer to ease removal). If you're replacing it then replace it. You may have to remove the plastic loop and hack at it with a screwdriver. In my case I have expensive vetus hose and there was nowhere near me at the time to buy more so I went to plan B: Take hose onto pontoon. Whack with hammer (this might not work so well for hose that isn't the thick wire-bound stuff), shake out what comes out. repeat as necessary. Re-install once you have clear hose again. Vow to always flush at least 15 times after having a pee in future.

 

[KellysEye]

>outlet hose is badly blocked with deposits and operating with a far reduced effective diameter.

Take it off and smash it on the edge of the pontoon or equivalent and that will remove the calcium deposits, start at one end and work along the hose. That's what I did.

 

[PhilipH]

>outlet hose is badly blocked with deposits and operating with a far reduced effective diameter.

Take it off and smash it on the edge of the pontoon or equivalent and that will remove the calcium deposits, start at one end and work along the hose. That's what I did.

Yes easier than fitting a new hose as the existing hose is already bent in the right places. The 'pisscrete' dislodged easily - you can bash it with a hammer or whack it on a pontoon for example

 

[Graham376]

First test is to pump some cooking oil through. If it's still hard to pump then replace the hose, it's not worth messing around trying to clean it out.

 

[Norman_E]

as post 2
O rings dry out & need occasional silicone lube

I tried silicone grease, but I think that it had swollen up because the grease only stopped the squeak, but it still needed a firm push and pull, and the outlet hose was new. A new O ring sorted the problem.

 

[Heckler]

Most have found the best cure is to replace the pump unit rather than spend money on overhaul kits. The pump is a 5-minute swap and gives you a new head.

Yes, something is blocked, probably the hose. It is probably old enough to need replacing while you are at it.

I disagree, stiffness is cured by lubing the cylinder and the plunger rod, a five minute job of undoing the big plastic nut on the top of the piston chamber. Leaking back is caused by TWO things, the joker valve, aptly named! they never seal after about two minutes use, and the flap valve at the base of the piston pump assembly that you have to take off to replace! So if you are going to take off then just replace the flap valve at minimal cost instead of £60 ish for a new assembly!

 

[Laysula]

And after you have done all that and replaced hoses etc, make sure that you pump more water through when flushing. The calcium deposits are from the mix of urine and seawater so make sure it is flushed throuh properly every time.

 

[Daydream believer]

I replaced all my hoses a couple of years ago with proper ( non wired) sanitation hose. This means that i can squeeze sections with some adjustable grips to help break up any calcium blockages.
The section between black water tank & stop valve is where past paper blockages have occurred so I have fitted clear braided hose to that section so that I can see into it & squeeze it to remove blockages . I purchased some patio magic from aldi ( forget price but extremely cheap inc postage) & filled the pipe between tank & pump & left it for a week then i flushed out. I also pumped some more into the final pipe & bottom of the tank & left that for a week as well. Some Telford blue dye showed where it was in the final pipe. A change of valves will complete the process.
Everything now runs smooth.

 

[PetiteFleur]

On a friends boat a few weeks ago and as it was a problem to pump out we replaced the complete pump assembly and it now works really well. As said, easy to refit and reading the instructions you have to pump 7 complete strokes per metre of outlet hose, so much more than we usually did...

 

[LittleSister]

reading the instructions you have to pump 7 complete strokes per metre of outlet hose, so much more than we usually did...

That's 7 pump strokes per metre of outlet hose, on top of however many pumps it takes to clear the bowl, the tube between bowl and pump, and the pump itself.

 

[Graham376]

That's 7 pump strokes per metre of outlet hose, on top of however many pumps it takes to clear the bowl, the tube between bowl and pump, and the pump itself.

Fat chance of that on our boat, one 5m run, the other 6m. Will just replace the pipe every few years.

 

[Vladis]

Yes easier than fitting a new hose as the existing hose is already bent in the right places. The 'pisscrete' dislodged easily - you can bash it with a hammer or whack it on a pontoon for example

Hello,
Using muriatic acid (or hydrochloric acid or "água fuerte" in Spanish) and a hammer, the cleaning is perfect. Be careful.

Regards Luis