GW Freedom 307 Marine Head

[davlaw625]

What is the purpose of the center lever? I realize I don't fully understand the marine head in my 2021 GW 307. I am fairly certain I burned up an impeller in the Jabsco electric marine flush pump by operating the head without sea water. The head flushes but won't draw water from the sea. So am going to replace the flush pump in hope that it will enable me to use the head properly.

 

[JJF]

It appears to be a latch to keep the hatch closed.

 

[JJF]

BTW, if you send me an email address, I can send well written instructions that you can post for guests to follow for using the head. You might need to modify some of the language depending on your setup.

 

[Fishtales]

Instructions are aood idea for novices that may be on your boat. Basic instructions for the seacocks are:

Discharge Lever - Always closed unless discharging overboard. If so, pull lever (up) and engage macerator to expel the waste. Shut down macerator and close (down) the valve after discharge.
Inlet Lever - Closed when not using the toilet. Prior to using the toilet, pull the lever to allow raw water to be used to fill the bowl. There should be a pump on the toilet to manually fill the bowl and a lever to flush.

I'd keep the Inlet Lever open when underway so guests can use the toilet and always close at the end of the day.

 

[seasick]

Instructions are aood idea for novices that may be on your boat. Basic instructions for the seacocks are:

Discharge Lever - Always closed unless discharging overboard. If so, pull lever (up) and engage macerator to expel the waste. Shut down macerator and close (down) the valve after discharge.
Inlet Lever - Closed when not using the toilet. Prior to using the toilet, pull the lever to allow raw water to be used to fill the bowl. There should be a pump on the toilet to manually fill the bowl and a lever to flush.

I'd keep the Inlet Lever open when underway so guests can use the toilet and always close at the end of the day.

You skipped the Holding Tank Discharge Seacock lever' If has to be open when actually performing an overboard discharge of the holding tank. As mentioned The Discharge lever also has to be set t overboard mode.
The Discharge seacock should be closed at all times other than when actually discharging the tank.
Finally, there should be someway to lock out overboard discharge except when discharging in legal waters. That can be a lock or a zip tie on the selector valve ( don't know how you get to that) or a key switch for the macerator. The key should not be left in the switch to comply with USCG regs and only used in the appropriate waters.

 

[Fishtales]

Agree with the positive lock feature. Those keys are small and easy to lose. Ensure you have spares!!

 

[moklodge01]

You skipped the Holding Tank Discharge Seacock lever' If has to be open when actually performing an overboard discharge of the holding tank. As mentioned The Discharge lever also has to be set t overboard mode.
The Discharge seacock should be closed at all times other than when actually discharging the tank.
Finally, there should be someway to lock out overboard discharge except when discharging in legal waters. That can be a lock or a zip tie on the selector valve ( don't know how you get to that) or a key switch for the macerator. The key should not be left in the switch to comply with USCG regs and only used in the appropriate waters.

There is no discharge lever that needs to be "set to overboard mode" on that system. That lever only applies to porta potties that have a macerated overboard discharge feature. The raw water head system's holding tank is plumbed for dockside discharge and overboard without any need to select one or the other.

 

[seasick]

My MSD is raw water electric and it also has a macerator for discharge. There is a selector lever to direct the tank 'drain' to either the pump out deck fitting or to the overboard discharge thru-hull with seacock.

 

[moklodge01]

My MSD is raw water electric and it also has a macerator for discharge. There is a selector lever to direct the tank 'drain' to either the pump out deck fitting or to the overboard discharge thru-hull with seacock.

Then you have a plumbed porta potti, not a raw water porcelain head system. Or someone has replumbed the system. Or your boat is much older than the one we're speaking of.

 

[seasick]

Then you have a plumbed porta potti, not a raw water porcelain head system. Or someone has replumbed the system. Or your boat is much older than the one we're speaking of.

Its the original MSD; porcelain Jabsco. 2006 37010 model . It uses raw water for operation

 

[moklodge01]

Its the original MSD; porcelain Jabsco. 2006 37010 model . It uses raw water for operation

That's really odd because G/W has never plumbed the marine heads that way. At least not in the past 20 years or so. Did you buy the boat new? That system may have been adapted by the original owner for Great Lakes use or something like that. The marine head systems have always been plumbed to go straight to the holding tank and the holding tank then has two outlets - one to the dockside pumpout and one to the macerator for overboard discharge. No direction valve needed or even installed from the factory.

 

[moklodge01]

And the OPs boat, most definitely, does not have a direction valve. That's 100% certain.

 

[Beyond A Wake]

I never had a directional valve on my boats. Just a lock out valve for the macerator for use on lakes and inshore. On my current GW there is only the discharge valve into the sea that is closed except when emptying through macerator. The dockside emptying is just by vacuuming out.
Mine does, however, use fresh water for flushing, no connection to sea water intakes. Mine is a vacuflush not a jabsco like my old boat had.

h

 

[seasick]

That's really odd because G/W has never plumbed the marine heads that way. At least not in the past 20 years or so. Did you buy the boat new? That system may have been adapted by the original owner for Great Lakes use or something like that. The marine head systems have always been plumbed to go straight to the holding tank and the holding tank then has two outlets - one to the dockside pumpout and one to the macerator for overboard discharge. No direction valve needed or even installed from the factory.

I kinda misled you. I have multiple boats and the one I am talking about is not a Grady ( mea culpa, mea culpa) . It is the boat I call MyOtherBoat