Vaccuflush Issues. Switch?

Bop

Bop

Active Member
Sep 3, 2013
300
Georgian Bay/Lake Huron
Boat Info
2001 410 Express, Highfield DL350 w/40hp Yamaha
Engines
Cat 3126
Need an opinion. My dad's 2012 390 DA has a vacuuflush system that is cycling for pressure every 5 minutes or so. It had never had the duckbills replaced so I did that for him figuring that was the likely culprit and either way would need replaced. That didn't fix the issue.

I know that a leak is a possible cause but I've traced and tightened all the connections including removing the entire toilet to ensure there are no obvious leaks. It's possible but very unlikely the waste hose is leaking somewhere between the toilet and the tank but again, very unlikely.

I removed the switch and visually it was quite covered (in you know what) which I cleaned. Once I installed it and hooked everything back up, the lights as shown in the pic are lit both green and red at the same time. The red never goes off, but the green does when you flush. This issue did not exist prior to removal and reinstall.I don't have these lights on my boat but I assume green means vacuum is good and red means do not flush no vacuum or tank full?

I am making the assumption based on both lights on it's not a leak and is most likely a bad switch? Opinions?

Edit: water does stay in bowl eliminating seal at bowl
 

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I know when I had a leak at my toilet I could hear it. The toilet bowl seal needed to be replaced and all was well.

Does the water stay in the bowl?
 
It needs a new seal. I would buy the kit, change the seal and the ball. In the future keep some water on the bowl. Seal dont like to be dry. If you google vaccuflush + seal you'll find the part.
 
yv1 said:
It needs a new seal. I would buy the kit, change the seal and the ball. In the future keep some water on the bowl. Seal dont like to be dry. If you google vaccuflush + seal you'll find the part.
Click to expand...

I should have added. Water stays in bowl.
 
I’m having same issue after replacing vacuum switch...following. I could hear the leak on the vacuum switch when I installed. I repositioned, and retightened, and it got better, but now cycling every 5 minutes too. I was going to get some more grease for the orings and retighten...see if that helps.

I’ve been told that water in bowl does not guarantee no vacuum leaks at the toilet it’s self.

I suspect the hose on mine...it’s 18 years old, never changed and showing it’s age. Not sure how difficult to drag that hose all the way up front, but going to start troubleshoot and see what need to be done.
 
The shaft seal on the pedal may be bad also. I replaced mine last year. Easy to do.
 
If water stays in the bowl, it is likely as Hottoddie wrote: The shaft seal on the pedal may be bad also. I replaced mine last year. Easy to do.
 
Look at your accumulator tank for a pipe entering it with a seal that looks like the link below. It may be white or black.

https://www.oceanlinkinc.com/product/2-uniseal/

I had the same issue with my boat and replaced everything I could replace on the bowl side. Everyone then told me it was the hoses or hose connections. I checked all of those thoroughly but they seemed fine. Once I delved into the workings of the system more it seemed that this connection could cause the issue and sure enough $15 and 15 minutes later the problem was resolved.
 
Any tips and/or tricks to finding vacuum leaks? Soapy water for pressure connections (air/gas) works, but cant think of an easy way to find vacuum on this system.
 
I just talked with marine sanitation and they recommended disconnecting the waste pipe (at the tank) coming from the toilet and plugging it for obvious reasons. Then plug the inlet into to vacuum tank and see if it holds a vacuum. If it does then your problem is upstream and if it doesn't then the problem lies right there, duckbills, o-rings, grommets etc. We have fought the vacuflush in our masterhead for 11 years (cycling) and the aft one has never had an issue.
 
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The Bill Collector said:
I just talked marine sanitation and they recommended disconnecting the waste pipe (at the tank) coming from the toilet and plugging it for obvious reasons. Then plug the inlet into to vacuum tank and see if it holds a vacuum. If it does then your problem is upstream and if it doesn't then the problem lies right there, duckbills, o-rings, grommets etc. We have fought the vacuflush in our masterhead for 11 years (cycling) and the aft one has never had an issue.
Click to expand...

Thanks Mark. I'll try this, at least see where I need to look. I hate to just throw parts at this. But the main head is kind of important!! We have been flipping the breaker between uses. I guess the good news is the vacuum generator pulls great vacuum.
 
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