How reliable are Sealand Vacuflush's ?

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Pilotpak

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Took delivery of a brand new boat last week-end - a Meridian 341 fitted with a Vacuflush head. (All my previous boats have had Jabsco electric heads)

We headed out on a planned 4 day trip with guests, and the head worked with liquid flushes on the first day. I was a bit worried about how the Vacuflush would handle solids, the suction on liquids didn't seem much more than a person sucking on the end of a one-and-a-half inch pipe.

You guessed it ... the very first solid's flush she blocked up.

How reliable are these things ? The hole at the bottom of the ball valve doesn't seem too big. I wonder if the vacuum generator was never giving me enough pressure ?

Wayne
2007 Meridian 341
 
Your vacuum generator must not be working properly. Mine works great very powerful flush.
 
My 11-year old Vacuflush has no problems with solids - the vacuum pull is almost explosive. Have the unit looked at ASAP - you probably have a leak somewhere.
 
I am on my 2nd season where we upgraded to VacuFlush. I had a minor problem with the vacuum generator would run and run but that was fixed quickly and I haven't had a problem with it since the installation. In fact it works great and I would never go back now. I really like the extended times between pump outs because of the low water usage. We do put more water in when flushing solids.
Bill
 
they are very reliable and used on many large boats too. very few moving parts, simple pump, etc...

i have 3 and had one before on my prev. boat. the hole at the bottom is failry small but it's like a ventury... stuff accelerates thru and gets macerated on the process. When you flush, you should hear a strong woosh...

the way it works is simple... teh vac pump builds a vacuum and when enough is built in the tank as vac switch turns the pump off. if you don't have enough vac. gthe pump would go on and on...

if you flush before vac. has built up, then stuff can get stuck at the bottom... dig it with a wire hanger or something...
 
they are very reliable and used on many large boats too. very few moving parts, simple pump, etc...

i have 3 and had one before on my prev. boat. the hole at the bottom is failry small but it's like a ventury... stuff accelerates thru and gets macerated on the process. When you flush, you should hear a strong woosh...

the way it works is simple... teh vac pump builds a vacuum and when enough is built in the tank as vac switch turns the pump off. if you don't have enough vac. gthe pump would go on and on...

if you flush before vac. has built up, then stuff can get stuck at the bottom... dig it with a wire hanger or something...
 
As long as my 13yo (at the time) daughter doesn't flush her tampons down there....very reliable. Make sure people know what can and can't go in it. Try to avoid solids if possible, when I am in a marina I always use the public toilet.

Oh and back to the daughter incident, over the course of a weekend she flushed 8 of them and the strings wrap around the duckbills in the unit. I had to take it apart, which is very easy to do. Easy but smelly and messy fix!!!
 
Pilotpak, can you hear the vaccuum generator running after you flush? Many boats put a "run/night" switch in the system to turn the generator off during the night as to not wake people if someone flushes. It sounds to me as your pump isn't running and the toilet is just draining.
 
Ramsport, The Vacuum pump does work,.. If I crack open the inlet line on top of the vacuum generator, I can hear the air flowing into the pump box, and after 4 or 5 seconds the pump will start.

I can completely undo the inlet hose, the pump will start and contimues to run. When I reconnect the inlet pipe the pump cycles off after about 15 seconds.

The pump is very quite and can't be heard in the cabin. I'm guessing the piston is running about 60 RPM.

Also guessing that the vacuum is about 3PSI. Does anyone know what PSI the vacuum should be ? Maybe the sensor is cutting out too at too low a pressure (I mean to say "cutting out BEFORE the correct pressure is reached")

I'm pretty sure the duck-bills are OK, because the pump does not cycle on "uncommanded" - thus indicating to me that there's no vacuum leaks.

Also, water left inside the head bowl will stay there over a long period.

Wayne
 
Since this is a new boat I assume that the dealer is taking care of any problems.

If you need to get any help from Sealand, the people there are very helpful and easy to talk to.

G
 
then turn off the water pump, hold the pedal down to open the ball valve and look at the elbow/venuri at the bottom to make sure nothing is stuck in there.

vac isn't adjustable, sealand sells a tool to check actual vacuum but you shoudl be able to tell by the amouunt of air coming in when you flush. also, pressing the spring on the vac switch with your finger tells you how charged the tank is. if' it takes a lot of pressure to make the switch click, the tank is not under vacuum. if very little pressure trigers the switch, it's almost recharged.

if the bottom of the head is fine, and you're still not getting vaccum in the head but do at the vac tank, then something is stuck in the line, which is odd.

VF handle solics just fine, just use a little more water (flush for a couple more seconds...)
 
Very reliable. Mine are original 1980 and the most reliable system I've ever owned.

It does sound like what happens when the pump is turned off (obviously yours are "on", but the symptems are very similar). Which is what makes me think that you have something "stuck" in the line somewhere (thus the pump shuts down because it is actually pulling a sufficient vacuum.

I have never tried, but have heard mention previously the suggestion to actually use a plunger on a vacuflush. I won't recomment it, but WILL recommend to research it!

Finally, I would like to take a moment to take issue with the frequent advice on the sanitation forums to avoid solids. I can't disagree enough. The equipment being produced is up to the task, especially a vacuflush. The sky is not falling and this is a basic need. The most basic! The goal of these forums is to learn and pass on knowlege on how to engineer, maintain and improve our boats systems, not to make recomendations to not use them.

bp
 
Something has to be wrong with your Vacuflush. Hopefully your dealer can resolve the issue.

We have a Vacuflush on our boat. The wife, 2 daughters, and I spend 40+- nights on the boat a year and the Vacuflush has never failed me. We tell guests that the only thing that goes in the head other than the obvious is the marine/RV toilet paper. Our flush is also VERY powerful. Love the Vacuflush and it handles solids just fine....
 
I think Pascal is on the right track - if you have good vacuum at the source but the head doesn't reflect that, then there is probably a line blockage or a major kink/collapse. Since it's new, send in the dealer!
 
No problems with my 1983 Vacuflush.

There is an adjustment on mine for the amount of vacuum, in other words, an adjustment that tells the pump when to turn on. I bought a new mini plunger when I got the boat and keep it under the sink in the head. That plunger has NEVER been pressed into service.

After replacing 2 failed macerators, I installed a second vacuflush pump instead.

I keep 2 spare duckbills on board, never had to replace them either.

RWS
 
This should not be applicable in the case that you are describing, but remember that most of these vacuum heads have a "safety" switch that shuts off the system if the holding tank is full. I guess that it is possible that this switch is faulty and it is trying to shut down the system.

G
 
VacuFlush toilets are as good as you'll find out there; as good as any, and better than many others. But you must remember that they aren't household toilets that flush by gravity; they are fairly complex machines that operate totally different from a household toilet.

There are two tricks when using a VacuFlush toilet:

1) Before flushing, raise the foot pedal with your toe and hold it up until the bowl is approximately half full of water. Then step on the pedal to flush it.

2) When you step on the pedal to flush it, hold it down for a full 3 seconds (One Chicago, two Chicago...), then let the pedal snap back up - don't ease it back up with your foot. And forget about the water usage and filling up your holding tank(s) too quickly. Would you rather have an extra pumpout per month - or would you rather be tearing the toilet system all apart, trying to unclog it? It's your call...

In order to keep a VacuFlush from clogging, you must have water in the bowl, to carry the effluent off to the vacuum chamber. If there isn't enough water to carry it away, it'll clog up. Don't believe that propaganda out there about it only taking a half a pint of water to flush one. Sure, that may be true if you're only taking a whiz, but for #2, it takes a fair amount of water to carry it away. Holding the pedal down for a full 3 seconds gives it adequate time to get the contents of the bowl to the vacuum chamber. And after flushing it,let the pedal snap back up - it was designed to be operated that way. If you just ease it back up with your foot, wet toilet paper (and other stuff) can "catch" in the ball valve at the bottom of the toilet and stop the ball valve from sealing properly.
 
Thanks guys,

Dealer is going to look at it.

Now, here's the rub,.... There's a blockage now, and obviously they will clear that,.. but,

I know that the unit processed liquid for about a dozen flushes, then, blocked on the first No 2. I have a gut feeling that there's a kink or crush in the line.

Apart from the obvious way, how can I test this afterwards to make sure that it works - i.e. how I can test the ability of the VF to pass a solid without waiting for the call of nature ?

I really don't risk another "real" blockage - it WASN'T pleasant ! [:-yuck]

Wayne
2007 Meridian 341
 
try it a few times with toilet paper... it's really what's going to cause the problem.... the "rest" will get vaporized in the venturi at the bottom.
 
You should find someone with another vacuflush that you know is working properly so you can hear what the "whooosh" is supposed to sound like. Its almost violent when released compared to other heads. I have a feeling you weren't getting full suction when you thought you were "processing liquids fine" , and were kind of gravity draining the bowl because of the restriction. When they are flushing correctly -- you know it.
 
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