Toilet

I have a 05 340. The toilet pump will run for about 5 seconds every minute or two. Just changed all 4 duckbills. The water in the bowl doesn’t drop. Any suggestions?

Vacuum leak some where below the toilet-check all your fittings for the leak while it cycles-maybe spray some soapy water see if can see any air escaping - good luck

Agree with the above. Leaking somewhere downstream of the toilet... hoses (hopefully not!), vac tank, holding tank. It could still be the duckbills - improperly installed, something caught in them, etc.

If it's leaking as fast as you say, it should be easy enough to find just by listening closely.

Was doing same thing before I changed the duckbills. I’ll try to listen for something again. Was in there yesterday and couldn’t hear anything

Do it when there isn't much ambinet noise, as well. And... depending on your age... you may want to get a younger set of ears to listen. Our ears tend to not work as well as they used to when we were younger! Besides a 10 or 12 year old can climb around down there much easier, too!

Edit: You can get a vac tester where you insert it into various parts of the system to narrow down the search areas, too. Soapy water (bubbles) would work on the downstream side of the vac tank as everything thing is then under pressue. But it may not work between the toilet and the vac tank. Although, the soapy water MAY change the sound a bit as it's being sucked into the system and make it easier to find.

Be sure to check the pressure switch.

How can I check the pressure switch

Better hope that it is not the vacuum switch ... they are not cheap. Mine was able to be adjusted. Check for air leaks around it too.

Don't forget to pay close attention to the pedal shaft, where it enters the toilet base. the O-rings in there tend to leak and that is below the ball so it is under suction.

remove the decorative base cover and spray with water around the shaft seals to possibly hear the hiss.

So I pulled the toilet and put a rubber plug over the hole and it stopped cycling every couple minutes. So since water stays in the bowl I’m assuming it has to be the base seal. Anyone agree?

I'm about to address the same situation. I replaced my ball valve seals over the winter as my heads were NOT holding water. Now the water level is maintained, but the day-head cycles every 15-20 minutes.

Sublimetime has offered a great suggestion. It will be the first thing that I check when I get back to the boat. Much easier than tackling the duckbill job first.

I just drew out a diagram of the system. There are two important things to remember: 1. In nature, flow goes from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure. 2. Nature abhors a vacuum.

The purpose of the vacuum tank is to provide a place to "store" the vacuum. It is what provides the whoosh when the foot pedal is actuated. So you see we go from atmospheric pressure in the bowl, to a vacuum between the ball seal and the bellows in the pump. To a slight positive pressure to push the waste into the holding tank, and then back to atmospheric pressure in the holding tank. Thinking about it more, the two duckbill valves downstream of the "pump", are more like a check valve to keep the liquid from just flowing back and forth in the pipe. The two duckbills before the pump are doing the work of holding the vacuum, in my view.

So, short of a hole or crack in the vacuum tank, or a broken or leaky pipe/hose, there are a limited number of points where we can lose vacuum:

1. Ball Valve Seal
2. Foot Pedal O-ring
3. Deformed Duckbill Valves before the pump
4. Cracked/broken bellows in the pump, bad O-ring in pump housing.

So, if the bowl holds water, while still losing vacuum, it can only be #2, #3, or #4. Thanks again to sublimetime for the clue.

Hope this is helpful.

Jaybeaux

One of my friends had to have his lines replaced on a 2009 310. The lines we cracked in two different places. That bill for the labor was not cheep.

Blw7916 said:

So I pulled the toilet and put a rubber plug over the hole and it stopped cycling every couple minutes. So since water stays in the bowl I’m assuming it has to be the base seal. Anyone agree?

Click to expand...

Not necessarily. A big thumbs up to Jaybeau’s post #10 above. I chased a toilet vacuum leak in the fall of 2017 and you and I have essentially the same boat. I replaced the base seal and the ball valve seal. I still had a vacuum leak. The culprit was a very small amount of sand fouling the foot pedal o-ring. A work of caution when taking the foot pedal apart - the spring mechanism comes out as one whole cartridge - don’t try and take it apart, you’ll end up buying a new one (trust me, I know now).
Good luck.
Tim

i ordered the base seal. I’ll take the foot pedal shaft out while I’m waiting for the seal and change the o rings. Thanks everyone

Let us know how you make out!