Vacu-Flush Head

[WATASH II]

The head on my 330 Express stopped working. The vacuum pump begins to pump, strains a bit, the lights go dim and then the circuit breaker pops. It's definitely clogged with something. Short of taking this damn thing apart, is there a quick fix that anyone knows of??

Thx.

 

[BobP]

Looks like no one picked this one up for you, I'll give it a shot -

I hope you do avoid the messy job it could be, nonetheless -

Is your waste tank full? I'm not sure if it is one integral unit or separate waste storage tank on your model.

Who flushed what down the bowl? Find out what it was. Do you know who uses the bowl?

Go to vacuflush and remove the 1.5 inch inlet line coming from the head, and run it again, does it run or not?

Now do same on oulet line 1.5 inch if seperate waste storage tank.

Make sure you protect the area very well with tarps or the like, rolls of scotttwoeks unfruled totally, etc, once that smelly stuff gets loose, smell likes to linger on even after cleaned up.

The basic design is very simple and therefore very reliable ie. using rubber duckie "duckbill" valves and a bellows rebuildable pump by a DIYer readily, no special tools. Been there done that myself.

I would also suggest FIRST you go to Dometic website and ask the question at the customer support line/email, and/or call a local guy (look on website who is local rep) and ask what to do, state symptons.
The website also has troubleshooting items in back of manuals, find your model manual on site.

Of course local rep will come to boat and figure it out for you at a charge, they are fully set to do everything incl. new installations and maintenance /repairs.

 

[WATASH II]

Thanks for help. I've learned more about vacuum pumps, holding tanks and duck-bills in the last few days than I ever thought I would.

The holding tank is empty. We were unable to discharge it overboard, because although the discharge pump is a separate motor, and runs on a separate breaker, you still have to turn on the "Head" circuit breaker to power the control panel to activate the overboard discharge. That breaker kept popping, so we were stuck.

We got to the nearest pump out station and emptied the tank which wasn't even half full, but we still had the same problem. I let it sit for a day or two, and then I took a plunger to it.

Lo and behold, that worked! But only intermittently....for now. The pump still seems to struggle and it takes at least three times longer to come up to vacuum after I flush---probably takes at least 30 seconds, where it used to take 5 or 10. In addition, it still pops the circuit breaker occasionally. I haven't put anything down there except fresh water since this happened.

My next step is to open it up and change out the duck-bills. I've got a buddy of mine that's done it before...he's gonna do it actually. I heard that sometimes those duck-bills can get turned inside out. Does that sound feasible?

BTW... after doing some investigating, it turns out it was a pon that went down there. I knew it had to be. I use the expensive Sealand toilet paper and everything.

 

[Gman25]

The duck bills are used when discharging overboard.Not when flushing the head. If one turned inside out all you would get is the pump working with no discharge. It wont trip a breaker.Mine turned inside out once(AND ONLY ONCE!!)when i went to discharge with the seacock closed. :-|

'05 300 Marlin F250's

 

[HMBJack]

The above Poster (GMan) is correct. Your circuit breaker tripping has nothing to do with the Duck Bill valves. Assuming you have a clear path in your plumbing, I'd focus on the motor - it might need to be replaced or at least checked by someone to determine it's condition.

As to the duck bills, someone on this site offered a good idea which I now follow. That is to put the head discharge key looped onto your closed sea cock discharge valve. Then, when it's time to empty the tank (at sea), you'll always remember to first OPEN the sea cock BEFORE activating the discharge pump. If you fail to do this in this sequence, you will likely invert your duck bills causing for a messy job. Believe me - I know!

Good luck there with the pump issue.

 

[georgemjr]

Sounds like a few problems. I had a clogged vent line. This made it take much longer to build up a vacuum after a flush or two, since there was pressure building in the tank. It is easy to check, pump out at a station and see if you get good suction from the vent on the side of the boat, if not, pull the vent line and clear it. The pump seems like it might be struggling due to what was flushed. Hopefully it will break down, if not you'll bead to get in there. I also had one of my orings come loose and this prevented the vacuum pump from creating good suction in a short period of time...

 

[BobP]

So, if there is differnt pump for pumping out, then remove it and check the inlet entrance, all it takes is something wrapped around the chopper blade and it will do the same. Previous owner on my boat flushed a scott towel down drain, but it was the reusable type which is reinforced, no way the chopper blade could break thru it, so pump would run spinning it around, sometimes, other times sit stalled, in either case would trip breaker.

If vent line is suspected as clogged just measure off and replace it with new length.

Go to vent on outside of hull, and hit it good up close with dock hose nozzle right up into opening.