Problem wih jabsco toilet

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Oscarpop

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Advice please as I'm sure this happens to a lot of people with jabsco toilets.

When both our toilets were new there was no problem with them. However first one and now the other have developed the same problem..

When you have the switch to the left ie to flush seawater through the bowl, no problem at all.

However when the switch is to the right, ie to empty the bowl there is great resistance to pumping , unless you do it very slowly. A vacuum or airlock seems to occur somewhere within the pump housing .

He problem can be alleviated somewhat by making sure that you hold the switch over far right, so that here is no play in it whatsoever.

I have taken the unit apart and replaced everything within the unit with a service kit. To no avail.

Any ideas or solutions?
 
I also had this problem this year so took out the plunger and silicon-greased both the plunger and the handle stem seal. This fixed it although I've no idea why and I wasn't expecting it to. You might well find that Steve's cooking oil suggestion works.

Richard
 
Have tried both the cooking oil thing as well as the Vaseline trick. Makes the action smoother, but I am still " compressing air" if I try to pump too fast .

I think from what I recall, the valve sheet can only be fitted one way .

Also I can't work out why the problem is lesser if I physically hold the switch all he way over, rather than just moving it over and leaving it to the right.
 
My diagrams of toilet operation are at http://coxengineering.sharepoint.com/Pages/Toilets.aspx You want diagram 3 and look at the suction and discharge valves at the top of the piston. When the lever is pushed to the right on most toilets it holds the discharge valve closed and the suction valve open. I suspect that in your case due to wear or some misalignment it is not holding the suction valve open. You could mimic this by closing the inlet seacock, which should have the same effect. When you push the piston down it is unable to fill the space above due to the valves being closed.
 
Mine do this. You will probably find its the changeover valve not going fully across. If you push it firmly in place and hold it there whilst pumping and it works then I fix mine by dismantling it, re seating the valve assembly and it works (oh for at least a week or so!). I just tell guests to push the lever whilst pumping.
 
pvb said:
I think you're not reading it right! What do you think "flush seawater through the bowl" means?
Click to expand...

What do you think "However when the switch is to the right, ie to empty the bowl there is great resistance to pumping , unless you do it very slowly. A vacuum or airlock seems to occur somewhere within the pump housing " means?
 
Steve Clayton said:
What do you think "However when the switch is to the right, ie to empty the bowl there is great resistance to pumping , unless you do it very slowly. A vacuum or airlock seems to occur somewhere within the pump housing " means?
Click to expand...

With the lever to the left, pumping results in both the addition of seawater to the bowl, and the removal of a similar quantity of waste from the bowl. If the OP could do that easily, then there's no problem with the items you suggested (joker valve or blockage in outlet pipe).
 
When this happened to us, I attributed it to some weed getting in and stopping the mechanism. We also found that pushing the knob firmly would overcome the problem, but as it put itself right after a week or so I never got to find the real cause. I'm surprised that dismantling the pump and replacing parts didn't help. Maybe the curly bit that pushes the flap up has worn down or become damaged.
 
I have had a similar problem at times. When you push to the right the lever should go with a definite click. Sometimes it feels a bit stiff and stops perhaps not quite all the way over. It is then that there is strong resistance to pumping. Pushing it very firmly to the right will sometimes get it to work.

Dismantling and cleaning may fix the problem, but it may come back again. There seems to be no obvious "problem" which can be demonstrated. Interestingly I never noticed this with the earlier model pump which I replaced with the "Twist & Lock" type a couple of years ago. Is there a subtle difference in the design? All the service parts in the top of the pump are identical I think?
 
Leighb said:
Interestingly I never noticed this with the earlier model pump which I replaced with the "Twist & Lock" type a couple of years ago. Is there a subtle difference in the design? All the service parts in the top of the pump are identical I think?
Click to expand...

I don't think the later versions are identical. The Twist n' Lock type has a spring on one of the little valves, I believe.
 
Just to clarify, moving the switch to the right and holding it in place on the right makes less than 1 mm of difference in the position of the switch. However it makes a huge difference to being able to empty the bowl.

For further clarification, there is no problem at all in pumping water through the bowl with he switch on the left
 
Having messed about with these things for several years in a variety of ways, for about £50 for a new pump bit, I replaced both of mine with twist and lock, and they worked fine till sold a few years later.

The self tapping nature of the various screws means bits can be refitted slightly out of line, and you won't know. I think this is a contributor.

If I had problems with a Jabsco toilet again, I'd buy a new pump bit.
 
We have exactly the same on ours. If the lever is to the right and it moves ever so slightly, pumping becomes impossible. Pressing and holding the lever to the right solves the problem, althought it does not move more than a millimeter.
 
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