Chase 273 Holding Tank and Toilet Issue

[Billy273]

I have a 2008 Chase 273 that has the Jabsco Electric head with a holding tank. The tank can either overboard discharge or be pumped out. I knew that the Macerator pump was not operational and that the overboard discharge would not work. I went to get the tank pumped out and it did not work. The man at the marina tried filling the tank from the outlet in the side of the boat to get it to prime but I could hear the water running out in the hull of the boat. Now nothing works. The toilet wont flush and the handle on the top does nothing now. It it the round type to the right of the commode.

Question - Is there a vent on the tank that could have gone bad? , Am I missing a valve somewhere. In the pie plate access there are only 2 valves that I can see. See Photo One is labeled Head discharge and I have no idea what the other one does.

Any Ideas on how to go about fixing this issue without taking it somewhere and spending untold sums of money?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Legend]

The other valve is the water inlet valve for the head. If you are getting no power there is a fuse, or a bad motor in the electric flush. Sound like you might also have an issue with the macerator on the holding tank. The round one on the head is just a flush and macerator. The holding tank has a macerator and pump that pumps the waste out. Both motors have fuses.

 

[Billy273]

Thank You. The lady at Grady Customer Care was able to find me a schematic of the construction and the location of the tank etc. Hopefully I can find the fuse locations in the owners manual that came with the boat?

 

[DennisG01]

" I could hear the water running out in the hull of the boat." <<< That sentence isn't very clear. But, it sounds like you are saying the pump-out hose has a leak or is not attached to the tank and the water that was being poured into the hose was leaking out of the hose and inside the boat? Also, when doing a pump out, no "priming" is needed. There is no pump involved in this process located on your boat. The only pump is the pump-out pump on the dock. Yes, a vent/vent line could be clogged - easy enough to check.

Two quick notes... that head discharge seacock handle should ALWAYS be in the closed position (and locked somehow) until you are in a legal discharge zone. I'm assuming you're taking the pictures while back at the dock. Second, those hoses should be double clamped, ideally with the worm gears rotated 180* to each other.

EDIT: Thinking more about this - just in case I'm not fully understanding what you're trying to say... Does your holding tank have level sensors (or at least full sensor)? If so, it may not be flushing if it's full - some systems will electrically disable things when the tank gets full to avoid overfilling. As I mentioned, it sounds like you are saying that the water being poured into the hose is leaking out into the boat... but if that is not the case, then the water poured in could have filled the tank.

 

[Billy273]

I moved the valves only to take the picture. The one labeled discharge has always stayed closed. The tank has the Jabsco control piece located on the bulkhead inside the console that you can determine the level with as well as push the button to discharge. That panel is not working as the pump does not work. I think that the hose from the discharge port on the gunnel has a leak somewhere near the tank or either is not attached.

It sounds like I am going to have a fun weekend pulling out batteries and trays to access the top of the tank to better determine what is going on.

 

[Legend]

Ok, Sounds like you have 3 issues. One the liquid flowing into the bilge, the electric head no power and not flushing, the macerator no pump out.
The bilge issue is like you said - digging until you find it.

The electric flush, I had to replace my 2004 2 years ago - easy fix either the pump is gone, there is something jammed in the macerator blades or the fuse is blown. If there is something jammed in the blades that will blow the fuse. I replaced my electric flush 2 years ago and it was a simple process. Last year my electric flush stopped working and it kept blowing fuses. I took the Jabsco unit off and I could see a couple of coins jammed in the macerator blades. Dismantled the lower housing, removed 2 coins and back in business.

4 years ago I had the macerator discharge issue. The first thing I did trouble shooting was to check power to the switch, that was good so bypassed the switch by touch the two wires from the switch to each other the macerator fired up. Easy fix with a new switch.
Good luck. Let us know what you find.

 

[DennisG01]

Although pulling batteries and such isn't a huge deal, before you do that... Can you reach your cell phone in there? Put it on video mode. Or, tape it to a stick so you get it up in there further.