toilet trouble!

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taormina

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Evening all, went out for first trip in our new to us Bavaria on Sat, weather was great, tides were good, engines ran well ( thanks Volvo Paul). The day was a great success, but the manual jabsco failed to work ! Seems to pump out OK, but when you switch to draw water in for the flush no water is drawn, just air moving round. The sea cock is defnitely open (tried in both positions) - what could be the problem ? Thanks
 
Always keep some cooking oil in the bog, throw a table spoon or so down, if it causes trouble. If that dont work after a few goes, get a kit from most swindlers and change the valves.. Costs about a fiver, maybe tenner. Replace the valves, takes about five minutes.

Just make sure you get the right kit for your bog, some parts are different and the labeling is a bit iffy.

Theres not much to it and not as mucky as you think.
 
hlb said:
Always keep some cooking oil in the bog, throw a table spoon or so down, if it causes trouble. If that dont work after a few goes, get a kit from most swindlers and change the valves.. Costs about a fiver, maybe tenner. Replace the valves, takes about five minutes.

Just make sure you get the right kit for your bog, some parts are different and the labeling is a bit iffy.

Theres not much to it and not as mucky as you think.
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Dont you be giving bog advice!!! Look what happened last time you messed with a bog!! I dread to think!! hehehehe
 
taormina said:
Evening all, went out for first trip in our new to us Bavaria on Sat, weather was great, tides were good, engines ran well ( thanks Volvo Paul). The day was a great success, but the manual jabsco failed to work ! Seems to pump out OK, but when you switch to draw water in for the flush no water is drawn, just air moving round. The sea cock is defnitely open (tried in both positions) - what could be the problem ? Thanks
Click to expand...

Sometimes if not used for a long time they just require priming, well ours does anyway. I just re-fill the bowl back up with water (if your shower reaches use that, or a bucket of water). Then pump toilet on flush setting and I bet it starts drawing in water fine.


Some other toilet tips for all, when leaving the boat always flush toilet out with fresh water, and leave fresh water in the bowl, stops that rotten egg smell (as that smell is decomposing organisms in the sea water). Second tip is 2 cups of olive oil down the bowl and flush out every season to make pump action as smooth as silk. Its not that I'm an expert on toilets or anything... just tips I've picked up that work! :o
 
When I bought my boat this happened too. I was going to buy a rebuild kit, but just ended up buying a whole new pump for about 100euro. For the sake of convenience it was worth it to me.

However, i've found that the problem you describe above does still happen every so often, and it's nothing more than an air-lock. So try the following method before paying any money for new bits:

On the top of the pump, pull off the white hose that goes into the top of the bowl (the flusher). Now, I can't remember if it's pull or push the handle, but, put your thumb on the hole that is now present on the top back of the pump (where you just pulled the pipe from). If you feel air pushing against you, take your thumb off and complete this pushing momentum (so the pump will either be fully pulled up or pushed down) and put your thumb back on the hole. Now either push/pull the handle. Water should now be sucked up and if it's just an air-lock problem solved! If this doesn't work then you may need to buy new bits.

Hope this helps
 
I had this with our "new" boat. We needed the seal kit as it hadn't been used for a while and a rubber flappy valve thingy had curled up. Rather than fix it i purchased an electric conversion kit, very easy to fit and very popular with SWMBO. As has already been mentioned, they do need priming sometimes too, our still needs a prime sometimes after being on the plane.
 
I was told it's always go practice to leave the flush selector lever pushed into the left hand position, when not in use, (i.e to the left if looking at the pump from the front), as this helps stop the rubber components inside from deforming.
 
We had the some of the problems mentioned above with a manual Jabsco, so I'm not adding anything other than reinforcing the points.

If it won't flush, take the clip off the inlet hose at the back of the toilet (behind the seat hinges). We didn't ever replace the clip as it isn't under much pressure anyway. Pull the hose off and put your thumb over the open end of the hose, then pump to fill the bowl. You will feel the pressure build on your thumb and as you remove it the water starts to flow out of the hose. While the hose is full of water quickly push it back on to its fitting and now it will work. We had to do this every couple of weeks.

When leaving the boat we filled the bowl with fresh water from the shower, then pumped most of it through to flush the hose, remembering the hose could be quite long. Then we poured a glug of cooking oil into the remaining water and pumped it out, leaving a little in the bottom. This seemed to stop the smell and make the manual pump run smoothly.
 
kcrane said:
We had the some of the problems mentioned above with a manual Jabsco, so I'm not adding anything other than reinforcing the points.

If it won't flush, take the clip off the inlet hose at the back of the toilet (behind the seat hinges). We didn't ever replace the clip as it isn't under much pressure anyway. Pull the hose off and put your thumb over the open end of the hose, then pump to fill the bowl. You will feel the pressure build on your thumb and as you remove it the water starts to flow out of the hose. While the hose is full of water quickly push it back on to its fitting and now it will work. We had to do this every couple of weeks.

When leaving the boat we filled the bowl with fresh water from the shower, then pumped most of it through to flush the hose, remembering the hose could be quite long. Then we poured a glug of cooking oil into the remaining water and pumped it out, leaving a little in the bottom. This seemed to stop the smell and make the manual pump run smoothly.
Click to expand...

mine used to do that but e-mailed Jabsco and they sent me a free service kit as a batch had been made without the spring under the weight on the top flap
not one problem since fitting the kit with the spring
 
Himself spent the weekend installing an electric bog in our forward loo.

Bliss,:) all pipes, motors etc hidden away under the very nice pedestal so no grotty cleaning jobs. Best of all will be not having to explain to visitors six times over how to pump out the loos :eek:

I shall feel like a queen sat upon that throne:D

May
xx
 
JKay said:
mine used to do that but e-mailed Jabsco and they sent me a free service kit as a batch had been made without the spring under the weight on the top flap
not one problem since fitting the kit with the spring
Click to expand...

Good point, I'd forgotten about that. I also fitted the corrected rubber gasket thing and the problem stopped.
 
A quick question - after putting the cooking oil into the bowl, do you flush it directly out (sea) or via the holding tank ? Aside from the eco issue I'm just concerned about oil sitting in the holding tank .

Cheers Alan
 
Alan H (snow) said:
A quick question - after putting the cooking oil into the bowl, do you flush it directly out (sea) or via the holding tank ? Aside from the eco issue I'm just concerned about oil sitting in the holding tank .

Cheers Alan
Click to expand...

I try to put the oil in after the flush, then just flush a little, so hopefully it's hanging round the valves. Some times you have to put the oil in sooner, just to get some action. I would not worry about a bit of cooking oil in the holding tank, it has seen far worse.. About an egg cup full will do the job. It also might help the valves and maserator lower down.

Maybe you'd be better going for EXTRA VIRGIN.:D
 
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