Need help troubleshooting vacu-flush ??
 

I have a SeaLand J-Series (VG4) vacu-flush on my 47 Fountain. When I run the freshwater pump and turn the vacuflush on, the only thing that happens when I press the flush lever is the bowl fills up with water. It does not generate any vacuum and the bowl will not empty at all. I can hear the vacuflush pump running when I turn it on, so I know it's getting power, but nothing happens. How do I trouble shoot this ? What should I try next? Thanks!!

There could be a few issues. It looks like you have the vacuum tank and motor separate from the toilet from the pics online. So, most likely if it is not draining there is a clog in the line between the toilet and the vacuum tank. Now, if the toilet has not been used, this is the easiest thing to check. Pull the hose off the top of the tank, turn the water off to the toilet, and flush the toilet. The water should flow freely down and drain the bowl. This is not a fun job if the toilet has been used. If the toilet drains and the line is clear, I usually pull the whole vacuum tank and start on the dock. I would first pull the vacuum sender, it usually looks like a disk held in the tank with a hose clamp and has two wires going to it. From there you can empty the tank and make sure there is nothing stuck in there. You would be amazed at what I have pulled out of one of those tanks. If that does not fix it, it could be something stuck in one of the various duck bills, they are little rubber one way valves that are sandwiched in between PVC fittings, and if those are clear the last option is The actual plunger under the pump that creates the vacuum. I have had to replace those before because there was a small crack that was not allowing the system to create and hold vacuum.

This is usually how I go about diagnosing the problems, however this is on a 53 carver, so the tank is pretty easily accessible for one of the heads as it is under the main stairs going down to the bedrooms. Pulling the whole unit and working on the dock is the best option. usually they are only held in with 4 screws, two hoses and two wires.

Thanks Perlmudder. That's very helpful. Yes, the vacuum tank / motor are separate and in the engine compartment outboard of the starboard engine. Pretty easy to get to. There is also an access panel behind the head so I should also be able to get to some of the components there. I will try your suggestions. The previous owner of the boat claims he never used the head, but the fact that the bowl won't drain at all supports the clog theory. I am not looking forward to disconnecting that line at all.

Yeah, I can tell you if the previous owner used it, it will not be pretty, it will probably be downright disgusting. I have had the unfortunately circumstances to have to dive into these toilets about 50 times over the past 6 summers of running the boat. They are really only made for boat people, randoms like to throw things down them and they think it will be fine. Also be sure to buy the special toilet paper at west marine, it dissolves a lot easier then regular toilet paper. I was fortunate enough to have a company near me that deals with these all the time. So the first time this happened I had no idea what to do, and was able to watch him take the whole thing apart. Once you get it out, you can usually disassemble the whole things and reinstall it in under 30 minutes. Another thing to note, is that if the pump is running for more than 60 seconds, something is wrong, it is either not making or holding vacuum.

I'm not sure "dive into" is something I'd like to do...LOL... I'm going to hope it's just clogged and I can clear it..

I had the same problem when I got my boat. there is a thread on it somewhere.

But as its been covered, hose from actual toilet goes to vacuum genny/ so if its running and no vacuum you clogged most likely..... Mine was a clog at the vacuum genny tank. where the hose coming from toilet connected its got a hard pipe that goes into the tank, and it slid down to far into the tank, so things flushed could not escape the tube, and be free in the tank.. So, some adjusting this tube, and digging nastiness out of the clogged tube, fixed my issues. I used a Hose clam to keep the tube from sliding that far down into the tank again as well.

Thanks mittens. I generally love working on anything on my boat, but I am SOOOO not looking forward to working on this...

its a ****ty job. haha and once you have been in there, you learn alot. I wont go back in mine with out new parts, the duck bills are cheap.. so if your taking that apart just replace them. so you dont have to go back in there for just that later.

Once you have it all working, it works really good. I poo with out fear. BUT I am also a natzi, and stingy with it. and also flush LOTS of times probalby takes me 5-10 flushed per ****. that way each flush only has a few small peacies of paper. or turds haha. but this also keeps the pipes flowing good, water rinsed good, and everything clean and no blockages.

Since the boat is new to me and I have no idea of what's in that tank, I'm thinking I'd like to get some sanitizer / deoderizer in there before I have to open that thing up. Since the toilet itself isn't working, is it possible to pour that stuff in from the waste pump out port on the side of the boat?

you can put it int he holding tank. from the pump out port. BUT that does not get it into the vaccume genny/ tank. and if your clogged where I was (between vaccum and head) then getting chimicals there with out taking it apart is going to be a problem.

flow diagrame:

Head ---- vacuum genny tank------ vacuum pump----- holding tank----------- out side pump port.

With every flush the "load" in the toilet will move one stage.
So say you have a turd in the bowl. you flush once. The turd gets sucked to the vacuum tank buy the already built up vacuum, not the holding tank..... so now the bowl is clean, turd is in the vacuum genny tank (this is where the vaccum is built up)..

Next flush you wipe your butt a few times.... and then flush.... again toilet is clean now, paper and water are moved to vacuum tank, and while all that is sucked from the head to there, the stuff in the vaccume tank (your turd) is being sucked into the vacuum pumps intake tube, and you will hear the pump go from making its normal noises, to it squishing the turd up, and pumping it into the holding tank....

Stuff does not flow backwards. (or its not supposed to) but thats the cycle. and every flush moves things from one stage to the next. so 2-3 flushes of clean water will move everything to the holding tank where MOST of your chemicals are. try not to leave things in the vacuum tank. as that tank is open to the head when the ball valve is open (flushing/ or letting water flow down stream)... so you want that tank clean and not smelly. you want it to just hold a vacuum with nothing nasty in there if possible.

When I pump out, I put chemicals in the holding tank, as well as the vacuum tank. this way if by off chance something is still in that tank, its got chimicals too. but once you flush it a few times its all in the holding tank again anyway... but i pump out every time the boat is used even for just pee. and put chemicals in both tanks so its fresh every time.

Before I put the boat up for ling times (few weeks I know I am gone, or winter) I put a hose in the head, and leave the ball valve open..... and let the vacuum pump run, then flushed the whole system wit hnothing but clean water. the head, the pipes, the vacuum tank, the vacuum pump, and the holding tank.... so its a clean system. then chimicals, or anti freeze depending.

Thanks mittens. Worked on this over the weekend, the good news is the vacuum tank was empty at least. Here's what I did. I held the toilet ball valve open for a while and plunged like crazy. For a short period of time, I was able to get some of the water in the bowl to drain. I ran the vacuum pump for a while and could hear it running, but I never got the "whoosh" and the water in the bowl just kind of fizzled down rather than get sucked out by vacuum. I tried a few more times and the water just seemed to build up in the bowl again without going down. I then disconnected the line that runs from the head to the vacuum tank, placed the open end into a bucket and plunged some more. There was very little water/antifreeze in the bucket which leads me to believe that the line between the head and the vacuum tank is clogged. I forgot to bring a snake with me, so I couldn't try that but that's next. Also, when I removed the lines from the vacuum tank after running the pump, I expected to hear some sort of hiss from the vacuum being released, but I didn't so I think I have a few things going on. I think the line is clogged and the vacuum generator is probably not working properly either. And I'm not certain if the holding tank is empty although the indicator in my cabin says it is.

I've ordered a new pump, bellows assembly and duck bill valves. I'm going to replace all of those, try to snake the line and see what happens..

good luck man. I know If i have to replace my lines, I am going to be screwed,, so be carefull with the snake, its not hard PVC like a house. just hard rubber hoses.

A bit of an update. I completely rebuilt the pump assembly.. new bellows, new duckbill valves, new O-rings, and new pump. Re-installed, ran and still cannot get the toilet to drain. I disconnected the inlet hose, plugged the inlet tightly and ran the vacuum pump which shut off after about 60 seconds, so I now know the vacuum is working. However, when I reconnected the inlet hose, I could hear a hiss when the pump was running which suggests there is a vacuum leak at the inlet fitting. I replaced that O-ring as well, tightened as much as I could and still hear the hiss. So not sure if the line between the toilet and vacuum tank is clogged or is it just the vacuum leak and if the latter, how can I fix that?

Replaced the inlet fitting, swivel lock nut and o-ring.. Mission accomplished!!!

Where is the swivel lock nut & o-ring you mentioned? I'm having the same problem in my 35 Lightening. Marcerator runs but no flush. Getting ready to tare into it. Thankks.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]524137[/ATTACH]

It's the elbow fitting attached to the corner of the tank. See parts (1), (3) and (14) in this diagram. When the pump runs, it should shut off after around 90 seconds.. If it doesn't or you hear hissing, there is a vacuum leak. The way to isolate it is to remove the inlet hose (from toilet to vacuum tank); plug the inlet port on the tank with a 1 1/2" rubber cap / hose clamp and run the pump. If the pump stops running, its holding vacuum and the leak is in the inlet fitting. If not, then the leak is in the pump housing and is most likely the duckbill valves or the bellows. Any other questions, let me know.. I've become an expert on this in the last two weeks...LOL

[ATTACH=CONFIG]524142[/ATTACH]Thanks for the help. My system looks different than the diagram but same idea. I started by pulling my pump of & ran it. No suction at all. When I pulled it apart it looked like a science project inside. My guess is the previous owner filled the tank & pulled some stuff thru into the pump if that's possible. I cleaned everything & put it black in. Toilet flushes now but the pump wont kick off. I can press the pressure switch next to the pump & it then shuts off. I ordered a rebuild kit for the pump. If that doesn't work I will be doing the duck bills next.

Fortunately, the head in my boat had rarely been used if ever, so wasn't too bad working on it but it's nasty business no matter what..