Vacuflush Odor

T

TedS

Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2013
RO Number
33291
Messages
2
My Vacuflush system has developed an odor problem immediately after a flush. I have changed the vent filter with no improvement. there is no odor if you flush with stored vacuum with the pump turned off. then, if the pump is turned on, the odor appears when the pump runs. Is this one of the duckbill valves or somrthing else? Thanks
 
A with any type of head odor after a flush is usually air from the tank coming out. I the smell outside or inside the boat? If your net hose is tight, then check the top of the tank, I ve seen air leaks at fittings, especially any gauge sensor.

If th smell is outside, then it s coming out the vent, which should not happen with a new filter.

I don't get why it only happen when the pump is running. How old is the pump? On old pumps (10+ years) the bellow can crack and throw black water out, but when that happens it is VERY obvious
 
What head treatment are you using? There should be very little odor from your tank. I have changed from odorless to Healthy Boater because of cost and effectivenss. I
have had no odors. Americashealthyboater.com has info on odors.
 
The odor is in the cockpit, but doesnt seem to be outside near the vent. The system is 5 years old, in a 2007 Four Wins 318 cruiser. The tank / pump are mounted in the engine compartment aft undr the cockpit. This plus the smell only being after pump run makes me suspicious of a pump issue, but not sure what.
 
Check your vent line. It may be clogged at the fitting coming from the vent line. If you can disconnect the line from the tank, try to run some compressed air to the exit thru hole. You will probably need to disconnect your in line filter too.
 
If it s outside check the vent line. If there was a problem with th pump you d smell it in the compartment where the pump is installed. With a VF the only pressure is downstream of the vac pump which eliminates most of the system when troubleshooting odors.

Is your pump out cap closed? Air can come out thru that fitting if not closed.

Personally I don't like vent filter... They clog if the tank gets full and then cause a bunch of issues. Th only time they re needed is if the vent is near an area where hang out
 
quote:
Originally posted by TedS

Click to expand...
sounds like you have a cracked bellow on the pump. it doesn't take much of a crack to shed just a little bit of air in the pumping process into the engine room. pretty easy fix if you can get to the pump and replace it. if the fit is tight, its worth the effort to take the hole vacuum pump out and put it on a bench to work on.
 
I had a similar problem and found a small crack in the Y-valve down stream of the vac pump.
 
Depending on the type and quality of sanitation hoses you could have some hose permiation.
Have you ever treated the system with anything like Odorlos?
I personally wonder why there are so many threads with VacuFlush problems?
It's either the best selling marine head or like the system I had nothing but problems.
Bill
 
quote:
Originally posted by Billylll

I personally wonder why there are so many threads with VacuFlush problems?
It's either the best selling marine head or like the system I had nothing but problems.
Bill

Click to expand...


I'd say its because they are common, a lot off builders do a poor job of installing them correctly and most people do little or no preventative maintenance to them.
 
They are most common head on mid size boats so obviously you are going to hear people having problems....

I have 3 on my own boat and we have 4 on Charmer (they are the electronic model with motor activated ball valve) . Believe me when I say that they see a lot of use like When we have 12 charter guests on board and they are being used all day long, by non boaters They rarely cause any issue... Except recently for a guest emptying his drink in one and couple of lime wedges got stuck at the base and two tampons over the past couple of years (some girls obviously have more silicon than brains...)

But what I like is that they will usually get you home... Sure they may cycle, or not build enough vacuum but you can turn them off manually and back on to use. Maintenance is limited to $20 of duckbill every 5 years, takes 10 minutes... And the bellow envy 10 years (takes 30')

No expensive parts to keep on board...
 
That's been my experience too, except for the price of duckbills. Have they spiked lately? I had to open my fwd system recently. Foreign objects typically lodge and distort the upstream set, hence my supply of 2 instead of 4. I thought it was about time to replace all four, so I went shopping. I don't remember them costing $29/pair last time... I eventually found them for $10 ea, but after shipping, I barely came out ahead of Worst Marine's price.

I'm less of a V-F fan knowing that a couple of wet-wipes in the system can cost me 60 bucks.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Shake n Bake

Is there any way to convert the foot lever flush to an electric flush?

Click to expand...

Not that I have ever heard of....
Bill
 
I don't think so.. First you would need somewhere to house the board which is under a cover behind the head, kind of like in a mini tank. But the hardest issue would be to be able to fit the a actuator motor for the ball valve. I guess it could be done but I don't really see the point. I like how the flush handle looks and feels like a regular flusher but I ve always felt the electronic adds a potential failure point.

I will not say that we hasn't had an issue with the board in 5 years because I d be jinxing myself...
 
The best conversion I would recommend would be called a Raritan Marine Elegance.
Bill
 
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