Vacuflush question

K

king5899

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I was winterizing today when I found a problem with the toilet. I usually put a couple of gallons int he fresh water tank and pump it through all outlets. The last one I doi is the toilet and I allow all remaining pink to go into the toilet. Today I did this and filled the bowl once and it flushed away. The second time the bowl drained but it is all still sitting under the toilet in the bowl. The vacum pump just keeps going and going. It sounds like a small dog barking. It seems to never stop trying to pump and it never build up any vacum. Any ideas what is wrong with the pump?

Somebody on another board mentioned a plunger freed their duck valves, but not really sure about that.

MJK
 
No clue what they are, but I'll take a look around. Sounds like a $hitty job. Luckily the pipe is new with only antifreeze in it.

MJK
 
If you don't have the manuals that came with the heads go to Dometic's web site and download them. You can find a parts breakdown there as well that will show you what and were the duck valves are. In most cases it really is not that dirty a job.
 
the Duck vales are #10 in this Fig. there are 4 of them
Your pump may be laid out A little differently

Vacpump.jpg


They are # 5 in this Fig.

vacGEN.jpg
 
Great info. The funny thing is the vacum tank is what I thought was the pump. I guess the pump is under that. After the storm passes I'll have to take a look and locate the pump. Looks like an easy repair.

MJK
 
Duckbills rarely fail suddenly, usually the failure mode is cycling, not complete loss of pumping

The barking dog sound could indicate the DB have flipped, rare though

If they are original to the boat, get some new ones and replace them while you re at it. 5 to 8 years is usually about what you ll get

A plunger cant hurt at this point, somtimes it clears the probelm
 
I assume they are originals, as I have owned the boat 4 of the 9 years it has been around. The pump has sounded a bit noisy over the last season, so maybe they were starting to go.

More updates when I get back down there.

Thanks,
MJK
 
Others are right, do duck bills first (not cheap). When you take your old ones out, you will immediately tell if they were the problem or not. They are easy to do, but when you put back together, make sure you do not over tighten things. Parts may look like standard PVC stuff you can buy at Lowes/Home Depot, but they are not. If it is not the duck bill, then the little set screw that holds the bellows may have come loose. It fits into a litle detent, so you want to make sure it is lined up. Need an Allen wrench. Be careful not to drop it into the bellows, as it is very hard to get back out. Last, the bellows could have cracked, but not likely. The "strange" noise makes me believe that it could be the set screw. It is easy to tell because when you take the cover off, you will be able to see the bellows going up/down. Folks are right, go to the site and get the parts list, etc. It is easy to work on the pump. Now, since your's is that old, I recommend that you buy the service kits for your toilet and replace the seals, etc. Not hard to do either. Good luck
 
Thank you, hopefully this weekend will be a bit calmer and I can get to this.
 
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