another Vacuflush question

L

lark

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Jun 20, 2007
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26900
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This is my second boat with VF and I've fixed a bunch of stuff before, but this has me stumped.

The boat is two year old and has a VF system with a head, vacuum generator and holding tank. The head stopped flushing after working sluggishly for a while. After troubleshooting all the usual stuff, I found the vacuum generator tank filled with toilet paper. Wads and wads of paper packed the tank.

What could cause this? I did switch brands of paper but it is marine paper. Could anything else cause this?

My previous boat had the setup with the pump onto of the holding tank and no vacuum tank. That seems like a better design. This vacuum tank seems like just another place to get a clog.
 
If it was me, I'd take the VF system off the boat, keep the holding tank, put a Crown Head in. Why make it so involved with a VF, as an engineer I look at VF as the hard way to get a simple thing done. Can't see a good thing about it.
 
the good thing about it is very few moving parts among other things, like using less water. I have 3 on my own boat, 4 on the one i run and are all trouble free, requiring an occasional duck bill change every 5 to 7 years.

back to Lark's question... all VF have a vac tank, you can't have a VF without a vac tank since it's that vac charge that flushes things out. Tehre are two types of VF system... most of them have a vac tank with the vac pump attached on top, which is what they call a vac generator. Others have a cylindrical tank and the Vac pump mounted separately.

I dont' see how TP could have piled up in there... brand is irrelevant, I use non marine paper on mine, like Charmin and never had this issue. the only guess would be that someone regularly used a lot of TP with very little water. While VF indeed use less water, if you're going to have to flush a lot of solid (incl. a lot of TP) then you'd better add some water to the bowl first.
 
I’m on my third boat with VF and like Pascal said very little problems, duck bills, loose hose clamp etc.
But soon after getting our current boat (used) one of the heads started giving me intermittent problems. Ultimately I found a ball of TP in one of the Vac Generators the size of a softball. Once it was removed we have no issues anymore and it’s been 4+ years. I don’t know what the first owner of the boat was doing to cause it but I make a habit of flushing a lot of water thru the system right before I pump out and while at a pump out station I typical flush more water thru the systems and pump that as well.
 
quote:
Originally posted by JimPend

If it was me, I'd take the VF system off the boat, keep the holding tank, put a Crown Head in. Why make it so involved with a VF, as an engineer I look at VF as the hard way to get a simple thing done. Can't see a good thing about it.

Click to expand...


Had my VF system now for 8 years on a boatthat is now 27 years old.

No problems whatsoever.

It's probably time to change the duckbills....

RWS
 
Pascal, my last boat had the compact unit with the vac pump and the holding tank all in one unit. I just looked at their website, I never realized that there was two tanks, a vac tank and a waste tank.

Maybe I need to use more water. The duckbills look brand new, it's pulling a strong vacuum. I guess I'll put it back together and see what happens.
 
That's what happens when you fall for Vacu-Flush's propaganda about being able to flush with as little as a pint of water. Sure you can - for a while. Then unpleasant things start to happen. You've gotta have enough water to carry everything off to the vacuum tank. Vacuum by itself, won't do it. When flushing the toilet with solids and paper, hold the valve up with your toe until the bowl is at least 1/2 full. Then step on the pedal and hold it down for a full 3 seconds (one thousand, two thousand, three thousand). Then let go of the pedal and let it snap back up. Don't simply ease it up; it is meant to snap up - that's why it's spring-loaded.
 
Lark,

Make sure the vacuum tank isn't installed upside down. It won't work well in that position. I know this for a fact.

Nancy
 
I'm done with this subject, but I will not have one of those. The people in the marina that do, put a shut off switch in the head, it's turn the switch on when you use the head, because the vac runs all night, like every 20 seconds.
 
well, that's another thing about VF... they will still work even though the duck bills can be almost solid with minerals, the vac switch shot or the bowl seal leaking. But because they will still manage to flush, some people dont fix them...
 
quote:
Had my VF system now for 8 years on a boatthat is now 27 years old.

No problems whatsoever.

It's probably time to change the duckbills....
Click to expand...


The duckbills in my aft head were installed at the factory 13 years ago! I maintain the system properly, so it NEVER cycles on its own.

The fwd head is on its 3rd or 4th set, having fallen victim to cotton-tailed mice, indestructable handy wipes and what I suspect was a paper towel...

My point RWS, is that if I were you, I'd keep them in there until something other than the calendar says otherwise. The next few times you flush, time the cycle of the pump and make note of the average. (I'm always suprised how close the times are)

Periodically time it in the future and look for increased duration or closed-system cycling.

When you have reason to suspect that the duckbills are beginning to wear, then send lots of water through and change them asap.
 
quote:
Originally posted by JimPend

I'm done with this subject, but I will not have one of those. The people in the marina that do, put a shut off switch in the head, it's turn the switch on when you use the head, because the vac runs all night, like every 20 seconds.

Click to expand...


Apparently the people in your marine don't have a clue on how to maintain their VF's. Can't really blame the units.
 
I too find these very reliable. We live on board full time and the heads (we have 3), after 18 months, have required less maintenance than our toilets did at home. It is true that the more water you flush through them the better. I count to 8 when flushing solids. I can't imagine having anything else, other than Headhunters, especially seeing what people go through servicing clogged heads of other design. Fresh water, not much of it, no smells, easy to maintain, life is good.

George
Hatteras 56MY
 
I'm reviving the topic because it did it again. Now I stumped. Maybe someone new has advice.

We use plenty of water, very little sealand brand paper ($5 for four rolls) and like clockwork the vacuum chamber is full of 3 or 4 rolls of toilet paper. So three season, and three disassemblies and clean outs. It's like a time bomb, because everything works for months, put in the back of my mind I know that paper is building up, can't see, can't check it. This is the JW vacuum pump,you have to remove around 20 screws to get in the chamber.

Other people tell me just don't flush paper, that's the temporary plan. I'm also writing/calling sealand and hoping they can help.
 
The JW unit is well above (18"+) the holding tank. The JW pump is in the engine room and the holding tank is under the sole of the cabin.
 
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