VacuFlush - Perpetual Clogging

And your own booze.

The spoon I use goes in a special bag to be taken home and run through the dishwasher before it goes back to the boat. I've only had to do that once and before learning those tricks (squirt gun and spoon) it was a much messier and difficult task to clear the bowl.
 
All I can say is if you guys have to resort to using your silverware or even screwdrivers to keep your Vacuflush systems working properly, you need to do some serious crew training (or manual reading)!

I've owned Vacuflush systems since 1989 and have never once had one to clog up or fail to work properly. My current systems have their original duckbills and bellows and the boat is 17 years old. Am I just lucky?
 
My aft duckbills are original and my boat was 18 years old last month. The fwd ones have fallen victim to many "training issues" however.
 
fwebster said:
All I can say is if you guys have to resort to using your silverware or even screwdrivers to keep your Vacuflush systems working properly, you need to do some serious crew training (or manual reading)!

I've owned Vacuflush systems since 1989 and have never once had one to clog up or fail to work properly. My current systems have their original duckbills and bellows and the boat is 17 years old. Am I just lucky?
Click to expand...

Mine are 8 years old and so far no problems at all and my head get's used almost every single week year round.

Frank I was wondering if your suggestion of a gallon of vinegar done at this point (after 8 years) might dislodge something and cause other problems. Do you have any thoughts on this? Also do you pour it down the toilet with the pump on or off? Do you have to let it sit for awhile before using the system again?

Thanks.

Dave
 
If there's anything in there to be dislodged, you're better off letting vinegar soften or dissolve it before it makes it's own way to the pump.
 
Knocking on wood. Our boat has the originals too. We clean with a 1/8 cup of Tide and water after each pump out and as Frank mentioned some vinegar periodically. The PO hardly ever used the head, so that hopefully saved my a few years. I have spare duckbills on board just in case.
 
Dave S said:
Frank I was wondering if your suggestion of a gallon of vinegar done at this point (after 8 years) might dislodge something and cause other problems. Do you have any thoughts on this? Also do you pour it down the toilet with the pump on or off? Do you have to let it sit for awhile before using the system again?

Thanks.

Dave
Click to expand...



Dave,

The hard stuff that forms inside the lines and valves on a Vacuflush system are calcium deposits from hard water or mineral content in the water. When the deposit forms it slows down the passage of water and waste thru the system and among other things causes the odor of sewage in the cabin areas. A regular dose of an acid like vinegar keeps the calcium deposit to a minimum and the system flowing with minimum interference. Since the vinegar dissolves the calcium using it can do nothing but help the system. Even if you have some waste accumulated due to the deposits, cleaning the system with vinegar will most likely break loose the deposits and let them pass on to the holding tank where you can deal with them. I'm not worried about dislodging deposits because you are going to have to deal with them sooner of later is your system is in that bad of condition. When I do the vinegar thing, I do it right before leaving the boat and I leave the head system breaker on and a flush the head to evacuate all the water in it, then I fill the bowl completely with vinegar. I flush the bowl full of vinegar and it just about won't handle the volume of liquid. That leaves vinegar throughout the system. I then turn off the system and leave the boat. The next day, I pump out after using the Tornados I have installed in my holding tanks to scour the internal walls and bottom. Then I add head treatment , flush a little ODO-Ban down the system and I never have objectional odors.

Hope that answers your questions..........
 
^^^exactly what I was wondering... I only get three years if I'm lucky... I will start doing the vinegar treatment and see how it goes. Thanks Frank!
 
I am a first time owner of vacuflush, it worked flawlessly for months till this Labor Day weekend. It would not flush and kept filling with water. I turned off water pump and tried to flush again to remove what was in the bowl and it didn't budge :(. My waste tank was very low and I check all wiring. Since there wasn't a pump out station within 25 miles, I went offshore and dumped, while turning the key I held the pedal down on the vacuflush to remove what was in the bowl. After I did all of this it worked great. So my question is what went wrong and what do I do to prevent this from happening again?.


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I've only had a couple minor plugs so far. I've pin pointed the cause to be users that don't follow instructions...mainly they don't add enough water to the bowl expecting a whole roll of tp and 5lbs of crap to be sucked up dry...they don't hold the pedal down long enough when flushing so the goodies can be sucked through along with some rinse water. They flush it like they're at home, trip the lever and let it go...if done too quickly vacum will impede the flow of goodies, I suspect that's contributing to one of the earlier posters problem on the head that has the longest run from holding tank. Eventually you get stuff laying in the hose that shouldn't be which even contributes to easier blockages from future flushes.
 
How hard is the Vinegar on the seals in the head bowl? Reading the various information on the system those seals seem very frail.
 
All of the vacuflush experts I could use some quick help but u don't want to hi-jack this thread. I went to change my duckbills and could only locate 1,,, I know there are 4 so where are the other 3?? Only doing 25% of the job didn't fix my problem.
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So to update everyone, a few weeks ago I had someone take apart the pump and the duckbills and bellows were shot. We replaced everything and have had no clogs since. However, the vacuum pump now runs occasionally but I don't think it is a result of not putting the pump together properly. I was up late reading while everyone else was asleep last weekend and the pump ran for about 10 seconds exactly 33 minutes apart three times. The next morning while sitting on the can, I noticed a very faint air sounding noise. I recalled hearing this noise before (even last year), and never gave it much thought because it was so subtle. I sounds as if it is coming from the base of the head where it meets the floor. Moreover, when I sit on the very front of the head, it stops. I'm assuming there is some gasket/seal down there that probably needs to be replaced. Is this an easy task that someone has done before?
 
THJeff said:
So to update everyone, a few weeks ago I had someone take apart the pump and the duckbills and bellows were shot. We replaced everything and have had no clogs since. However, the vacuum pump now runs occasionally but I don't think it is a result of not putting the pump together properly. I was up late reading while everyone else was asleep last weekend and the pump ran for about 10 seconds exactly 33 minutes apart three times. The next morning while sitting on the can, I noticed a very faint air sounding noise. I recalled hearing this noise before (even last year), and never gave it much thought because it was so subtle. I sounds as if it is coming from the base of the head where it meets the floor. Moreover, when I sit on the very front of the head, it stops. I'm assuming there is some gasket/seal down there that probably needs to be replaced. Is this an easy task that someone has done before?
Click to expand...

Are you holding water in the bowl?
 
We have owned several vacuflush heads and one of the first manuals recommended cleaning the lines with regular (no bleach) Tide laundry detergent. The recommendation was to use a laundromat sized box of Tide in a bowl full of water. When the toilet bowl is filled to the top with clean water, flush it and hold the pedal down for one minute. Then do a pump out. We do this once a month and have never had a failure. Our head is all original and has never needed any parts after ten years. It gets a lot of use as we live on the boat for several weeks at time. The vinegar idea sounds good as well. I may add that to our PM routine. The spoon idea is gross. An easier throwaway tool is to use a metal coat hanger and push it into the small hole at the bottom of the bowl. Almost always fixes the problem, and then toss it in the dumpster.
 
THJeff said:
So to update everyone, a few weeks ago I had someone take apart the pump and the duckbills and bellows were shot. We replaced everything and have had no clogs since. However, the vacuum pump now runs occasionally but I don't think it is a result of not putting the pump together properly. I was up late reading while everyone else was asleep last weekend and the pump ran for about 10 seconds exactly 33 minutes apart three times. The next morning while sitting on the can, I noticed a very faint air sounding noise. I recalled hearing this noise before (even last year), and never gave it much thought because it was so subtle. I sounds as if it is coming from the base of the head where it meets the floor. Moreover, when I sit on the very front of the head, it stops. I'm assuming there is some gasket/seal down there that probably needs to be replaced. Is this an easy task that someone has done before?
Click to expand...

The base of the head is secured by "T" bolts and it sounds like one of yours is broken. I had exactly the same issue and that is what fixed it. Pretty simple and not a dirty job.

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