Vacuflush poo emergency - it's everywhere

K

k9medic

Active Member
Mar 27, 2013
597
Florida
Boat Info
1998 420 Aft Cabin
Engines
twin 3116 CATs
I'm in the Bahamas right now and have a craptastrophy.

The Vacuflush pump on my forward head has been (unknown to me) freely spewing "yuck" for the past few days every time it's flushed.

I was able to wash a good portion of it away to where I could see the canister at least but when you flush about 15% of the yuck comes out of the top near that vacuume motor.

Any thoughts on where to start - seal maybe went bad? No loss of vacuum though which I thought was odd.
 
Sounds like your vacuum tank is caked solid and can’t discharge into bigger holding tank so it’s “backfiring.” Take the vacuum generator off it and remove the vacuum tank and start blasting it out with water (off the boat). A guy in my marina took his to the car wash this past weekend - that’s not an option for you in the islands.
 
If you are leaking at the top of the pump, you bellows have a hole in it. Ask me how I know, same issue 2 weeks ago. I replaced the pump instead of rebuilding.
 
We need pictures! (or maybe not in this case...) My first guess would be perhaps a cracked bellows. You'll need to take some stuff off the tank and see what broke. I don't think it will be a loose clamp or fitting. The other thing I would look for is the output line of the vacuum tank going into the holding tank. It might have split or become dislodged.
Things I would do include: Hose off what you can. Pour some diluted bleach in there to help with the smell. Wear clothes you can throw away. Get a shop vac and start sucking up the goo. Throw the shop vac out when you are finished. Sorry you have a mess for sure...
 
if you happen to use Noflex for waste treatment you can make a solution in water with the Noflex and spray it around the 'mess'.....that will eliminate the smell fairly quickly.....

other liquid waste treatments may also work the same way...

cliff
 
I have had the exact same problem. It was a damaged bellow that also managed to get misaligned somehow. It would still create and hold the vacuum.
 
I was leaning towards the bellows too.

No other apparent leaks anywhere else and I’m almost positive there is not a bellows kit in the Abaco’s.
 
I wasn’t aware you could build a vacuum with cracked bellows...
 
I feel for you. We had our own poo-explosion issue last summer when a vendor installed our overboard discharge pump *backwards*! Our holding tank was full to bursting after we'd tried to run the pump and couldn't figure out why our tank level indicator kept going up instead of down. We were on the hook up in Canada with limited water which just made the issue so much worse.

I second the recommendation to use No-Flex or other enzyme treatment in your bilge to control the odor as quickly as possible. Pouring some bilge cleaner once you have most of the mess removed would be good for a final cleanup. I hope you're able to identify the issue soon. There is nothing, nothing like that smell, especially in hot weather. I think I'm still traumatized from having to re-do the plumbing for our pump and this is one year later. Good luck!!
 
I’ll be replacing my pump and the entire toilet base tomorrow night.

Got tired of replacing small parts only to replace more small parts.

Worst job there is, but the whole base cost less than the individual parts.

Change your bellows and O rings, hose it out and enjoy the rest of the summer.

:)
 
sandydlc said:
I feel for you. We had our own poo-explosion issue last summer when a vendor installed our overboard discharge pump *backwards*!.....We were on the hook up in Canada with limited water which just made the issue so much worse.
Click to expand...

Normally you have to be 3 miles offshore to discharge a holding tank. Wasn’t aware you are allowed to do it while at anchor in Canada?
 
Soulshine said:
Me too.

It’s pretty much all I’ve done all year and i still have a few odds and ends to do.

House plumbing isn’t much better.
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House plumbing is worse.... Stranger plumbing is worse than that.... I do it ...just because I won't pay to have it done because I would hate it even more...
 
I have cleaned up as much of the mess as I can with the supplies that I have on hand. Thankfully no more smell.

As I reflect back on the past few days I am realizing that the smell actually started WAAAY back on July 2nd. I stopped in Ft. Myers to get some fuel and smelled the dreaded smell. I asked the dock hand if that was we and he said no, it was the pump out (which I was parked next to) so that made sense.

It has gradually gotten worse until I decided to go into the engine room yesterday. Since we have been in the Bahamas since the 5th, I had no real reason to go in there and that was my mistake.

I'll check with Environmental marine but they are in Nassau. I'm up on Green Turtle until the 20th so it might make better sense to wait until I get back to the States. I like the idea of just pulling the entire pump.

I'm now having to endure the kids using "my" bathroom. (I know third world problems...)
 
k9medic said:
I'll check with Environmental marine but they are in Nassau. I'm up on Green Turtle until the 20th so it might make better sense to wait until I get back to the States.
Click to expand...

You are not too far from my friend's property in the Abacos. They grew up on Man-o-War Cay and own a house there. I sent him a note asking if he knows of any place in the Abacos where you might be able to source the parts.
 
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