Vacuflush temporary fix?

Q

QT1

Active Member
Oct 20, 2016
648
Belair, MD
Boat Info
1990 350 Sundancer, "Quality Time II".
Engines
454 Mercruisers, performance parts modified by PO.
Is there such a thing? Hate to ruin the wife's weekend on the boat. Water breaker is on, bowl fills up upon pressing pedal, but no sound or action from the head system vacuum pump or accumulator tank. Is there a way to temporarily bypass to get toilet to flush? Thanks.
 
QT1 said:
Is there such a thing? Hate to ruin the wife's weekend on the boat. Water breaker is on, bowl fills up upon pressing pedal, but no sound or action from the vacuum pump or waste pump. Is there a way to temporarily bypass to get toilet to flush? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Your problem may be the vacuum switch on the accumulator. If so, you can jump the terminals to get the pump to function temporarily to clear the bowl. Make sure not to over pressurize.
 
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It may be a clog. The pump may not be kicking on because it is already at vacuum. I reached into the ER and manually pulled the spring to overcome it and my pump kicked on. We found a piece of plastic covering the hole right in the commode. My unit has an overflow switch that runs a relay to keep the vacuum pump from running. You could pull that and see if you hear the relay click on and off.
 
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Do you keep your boat at a full service marina?

If you do, it might be time to give them a call and ask if there's a way they can fit you into their schedule to fix this.

I had mine malfunction a few years ago before a big 4th of July weekend and I had no time to dig into it myself so I asked nicely and they sent a tech to fix the same day. Duck valves replaced and I was back in business.
 
Stee6043 said:
If it came down to saving a boating holiday weekend - use a 5 gallon bucket and a toilet seat :):)
Click to expand...
And we are back to the toilet seat attached to the swim deck idea. smh laughing.
 
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Kwik said:
It may be a clog. The pump may not be kicking on because it is already at vacuum. I reached into the ER and manually pulled the spring to overcome it and my pump kicked on. We found a piece of plastic covering the hole right in the commode. My unit has an overflow switch that runs a relay to keep the vacuum pump from running. You could pull that and see if you hear the relay click on and off.
Click to expand...
I will try pulling the spring today. Thanks
 
Little Ducky said:
Do you keep your boat at a full service marina?

If you do, it might be time to give them a call and ask if there's a way they can fit you into their schedule to fix this.

I had mine malfunction a few years ago before a big 4th of July weekend and I had no time to dig into it myself so I asked nicely and they sent a tech to fix the same day. Duck valves replaced and I was back in business.
Click to expand...
I pulled the hoses and checked the duckbill valves. There were in good condition. our marina is on government property, not full service.
 
QT1 said:
I pulled the hoses and checked the duckbill valves. There were in good condition. our marina is on government property, not full service.
Click to expand...


After pulling the hoses, any and all vacuum would be gone from the system, so if it was a clog upstream I would expect the pump to kick on to at least clear the section around the pump. I assume that didn't happen?

Then you may have a blown switch or the pump itself. The good news is they are easy to replace. The bad news is that you won't likely get the parts by the weekend.
 
There is a separate switch for power to the HEAD SYSTEM. Double dog check that. They don't go silent unless they have lost power, or the pump is frozen. Might be worth putting your hand on the pump to see if it's hot.
 
Problem solved: The Butt hole that sold me the boat did something behind the distribution panel, broke off the head system switch and just left it dangling behind the panel....
 
Two things you can try that worked for us in the past. Tap the top of the pump with something, it may be stuck.

If the pump won’t turn on (check power with a voltmeter at the leads) and you have a macerator or overboard dishcjarge you can swap the pump from there to get through the weekend. Good luck !
 
QT1 said:
Problem solved: The Butt hole that sold me the boat did something behind the distribution panel, broke off the head system switch and just left it dangling behind the panel....
Click to expand...

I was late on the reply. Glad it’s fixed!
 
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