Vacuflush Vacuum Leak Repair success

Team PCBeach

Team PCBeach

Active Member
Oct 12, 2010
183
Boat Info
360 Sundancer 2003, SIMRAD 3G Radar, Raymarine Autopilot
Engines
Twin 8.1L Horizon
Just wanted to post my repair so others that might be in the same position don't have spend the time reading lots of old threads.

2003 Sundancer 360, vacuum pump started running every 3 minutes. Toilet holds water unless we are away from the boat for a couple of weeks. Vacuflush is new to us, so started searching.

Fix attempt 1 - replaced all 4 duckbills and bellows: no luck pump still cycles every 3 minutes.

Fix attempt 2 - read a post about needing to use silicone grease when doing duckbills. By this time the motor had failed also (probably from running so much). Pulled everything apart, reinstalled with grease and stole motor from macerator since we don't use it.: no joy still cycles every 3 minutes

Fix attempt 3 - Saw a post about isolating the tank side from the toilet site by using saran wrap. Removed the waste hose from the tank, covered that opening with triple layer of saran wrap, reinstalled hose and fired up the system. Vacuum holds! Now I know the leak is on the toilet side. Even though I am not losing water, replace toilet seals. Also bought new motor which came with new bellows so replaced them again also.: no joy still cycles every 3min, but new motor is new design that is 50% quieter!

Fix attempt 4 - After more searching saw a tip about the seals leaking at the bowl ball shaft. Replaced bowl ball, shaft and cartridge.: Success, no vacuum leak!

All of this was a pain in the butt since I am nearly 60 and am 6' 4"/260lb and all of these fixes were tight spaces. One tip if you are in a bind and need parts quickly is to go to RV stores that have a parts department. These are the same toilets that are in most RVs so all the maintenance parts are usually in stock.

Hope this helps someone in the future.
 
Great work! It is a nasty job to take them apart and put them back together. The key to yours was the bowl water not leaking down but the pressure did. Unless something else is amiss....that points to the shaft cartridge or the toilet base seal leaking.

Given that the boat is 19 years old......you probably won't have to do that job again!

I have always been impressed with the vacuflush engineering. Household toilets never make more than 5 years without the valve and flapper needing replacement.
 
Thanks for the timely write up! Mine has been doing the same thing since I bought the boat late last fall. I've been procrastinating the icky job of replacing the duck bill valves. You've given me something else to try first!
 
Jimmy Buoy said:
Thanks for the timely write up! Mine has been doing the same thing since I bought the boat late last fall. I've been procrastinating the icky job of replacing the duck bill valves. You've given me something else to try first!
Click to expand...
Jimmy
It’s not that bad, I have a weak stomache and really, it’s no big deal to do the duckbills
 
Last edited:
Excellent write-up, thank you so much. Replaced the duck bills and head seal in mind, still cycles for about 7 seconds every hour or so.
 
mrsrobinson said:
Excellent write-up, thank you so much. Replaced the duck bills and head seal in mind, still cycles for about 7 seconds every hour or so.
Click to expand...
Ended up being cracks in the hoses on mine (original 2006); in the process of retrofitting all of the hoses now. Much bigger job than I thought....
 
ttmott said:
Ended up being cracks in the hoses on mine (original 2006); in the process of retrofitting all of the hoses now. Much bigger job than I thought....
Click to expand...

That is a PITA...... I'm really surprised the hoses cracked.
 
ttmott said:
Yea, there were tight bends and every one had cracks showing. When I was pulling some of them out they were very hard and brittle and pretty smelly on the outside. I am posting my progress here - http://clubsearay.com/index.php?threads/sanitation-system-updates-and-maintenance.110492/
Yesterday I pulled the port head's hose out and it was also failing.
Click to expand...

I blame you.

This past weekend.....my vacuflush pump would not shut off. The vacuum tester showed -10 at the pump and -4 at the toilet.
It also showed -10 at the intake to the accumulator. That leaves the line to the toilet as the issue. This line runs behind the galley cabinets and was clearly installed before they were.

No hope for using PVC on this one. The only positive is that pulling the refrigerator will give me access to 1/2 of the galley area.

Arrrgggg.
 
Cracked hose on mine as well this summer….. paid to replace ….. you need to be super cheap for that diy project
 
Hoses were cracked but the real culprit turned out to be the pressure switch on the accumulator tank.

The tester showed 10+ inches of vacuum at the pump but only 5 inches at the port that connects to the head.

I removed the accumulator tank to make sure there were no cracks and hooked it up to a small shop vac to test for leaks. Sure enough the diaphragm on the pressure switch had failed.

BAA2CE6E-CC01-4898-BEAA-289970278B2C.jpeg
06FD85CD-B21A-48B1-A62C-C493A96EC840.jpeg
 
Is there a way to know if the bowl ball shaft seals are leaking other than to swap them out? How hard of a job is it to replace these seals?
 
Greg Weingart said:
Is there a way to know if the bowl ball shaft seals are leaking other than to swap them out? How hard of a job is it to replace these seals?
Click to expand...

The hardest part of the job is getting the hoses off the head. The job of replacing the seals is actually pretty easy but you have to pull the head to do it. YouTube has videos on the process.

If you have a stethoscope you might be able to hear air hissing at the shaft seals but if the seals are 20 years old....you can bet they need to be replaced along with the pump seals.
 
My mechanic stated my 280 sundancer toilet was leaking during winterizing. This spring i tested the vaccuflush and made several attempts to identify any leaks around the bowl without success.
Any advice is appreciated.
 
PlayDate said:
The hardest part of the job is getting the hoses off the head. The job of replacing the seals is actually pretty easy but you have to pull the head to do it. YouTube has videos on the process.

If you have a stethoscope you might be able to hear air hissing at the shaft seals but if the seals are 20 years old....you can bet they need to be replaced along with the pump seals.
Click to expand...

It’s an ‘03, so your 20 yr old comment is spot-on-LOL! I have the problem of the cracked hose as well (like others have reported)…I could hear the hissing. Wrapped the hose in tape and that fixed that part. However, pump still runs for ~ 10 seconds every minute or two, like it’s losing pressure somewhere. (Before wrapping hose, ran for ~ 30 seconds of every minute) ‍♂️
 
The trick to isolating the head from the pump/hose/accumulator is to put a stopper in the suction orifice beneath the plastic cover that opens when you flush the toilet.

Putting a stopper in that orifice will isolate the head from the rest of the system. If the system stops cycling and stays off.....you know you need to rebuild the head. If it continues to cycle, the problem is closer to the pump.

Turn off the fresh water pump before you put the stopper in place.:)
 
PlayDate said:
The trick to isolating the head from the pump/hose/accumulator is to put a stopper in the suction orifice beneath the plastic cover that opens when you flush the toilet.

Putting a stopper in that orifice will isolate the head from the rest of the system. If the system stops cycling and stays off.....you know you need to rebuild the head. If it continues to cycle, the problem is closer to the pump.

Turn off the fresh water pump before you put the stopper in place.:)
Click to expand...
Thank you for the info/ideas/suggestion…sorry about all the questions-but what is a stopper? Homemade or something I need to buy? :)
 
techmitch said:
https://marinesan.com/vacuflush/
https://marinesan.com/vacuflush-trouble-shooting/
Hope these help. Welcome to CSR.
Click to expand...


The problem is those links really are for someone who has worked on their systems. A simple flowchart would be far more useful. You should do that in your spare time! :)

Putting a rubber stopper in the suction orifice should at least point him in the right direction. At least then.....if the pump stops cycling you know to rebuild the head. If it keeps cycling......then it is one of these: pump o-rings, duck valves, pressure switch and/or the hoses.

This device works great and accomplishes the same thing. I like it because I can check various hose points for vacuum .....comes with its own rubber stopper.

https://www.environmentalmarine.com...g7XyUlt4aGqoD0-56mQz3_rR_UDUe3qhoCwA0QAvD_BwE

IMG_0002l_2__69951.1671554515.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,114
Messages
1,426,315
Members
61,027
Latest member
NeilS
Back
Top