Clogged Vaccuflush Toilet

K

KeyManR

New Member
Apr 27, 2023
6
Boat Info
2006 Sea Ray 340DA
Engines
2 x 8.1 Horizon
Hi all - we have a 2006 SR 340DA that we bought new. We've babied it and had very good luck with everything over the years. The toilet has always worked perfectly but on a cruise this past Saturday we had a boat load of people and our guess is that too many people used too much marine grade toilet paper and the toilet won't flush anymore. The bowl holds water when the peddle is pressed down although the ball value opens and we can hear the vacuum pump going. It appears that the line to the holding tank is plugged and is holding water as well. We just pumped out the tank so that's empty. Our repair guy told us to call a plumber but my guess is they would just try to snake the clog. This seems like something I can do myself? I have a 10 foot springy metal pipe snake I could run down it. I can duct tape the pedal down so it stays open during this operation. Is this the way to go on this or should I do something else? Thank you!!
 
In my 2000 340DA I used one of these. I hooked the hose to dock "city" water with a valve on the end before the "Drain King" unit , turned the vacuflush on pressed the foot pedal and open the hose valve for a few seconds after the Drain King expanded. Worked great.

upload_2023-4-27_11-55-57.png
 
You can try a snake and see if it unclogs it. I wouldn't use Drain-O or other chemicals as that might screw up the "biology" working in your holding depending on what treatments you use.

The clog is likely at the duck bills and that likely requires a disassemble and physical removal of the offending contraband! If your going that far, might as well install new duckbills 9if you dont know when they were last changed).
Everything should come apart and go back together hand tight.
 
Steve S said:
In my 2000 340DA I used one of these. I hooked the hose to dock "city" water with a valve on the end before the "Drain King" unit , turned the vacuflush on pressed the foot pedal and open the hose valve for a few seconds after the Drain King expanded. Worked great.

View attachment 143486
Click to expand...
Hey thanks very much for the tip! I just ordered one to give it a try. Figure worst case it doesn't work but I can use it at home. I was wondering if running a snake down the toilet would hurt any delicate parts along the way? I'm not familiar with what all is in the line between the bowl valve and holding tank. If nothing too soft and sensitive seems a pipe snake should work?
 
dtfeld said:
You can try a snake and see if it unclogs it. I wouldn't use Drain-O or other chemicals as that might screw up the "biology" working in your holding depending on what treatments you use.

The clog is likely at the duck bills and that likely requires a disassemble and physical removal of the offending contraband! If your going that far, might as well install new duckbills 9if you dont know when they were last changed).
Everything should come apart and go back together hand tight.
Click to expand...

Okay thank you! I'm guessing there are a zillion youtube videos on dissassembly and getting to the duckbills? I have no idea what I'm doing or what those are. Do you know what kind of toilt I probably have so I'd watch the correct video or are they pretty much all the same?
 
There are a bunch on youtube. BoatingwithBuggaboo is probably as good as any. Verify your duckbill size before ordering. Choices are 1.5" and 2"

 
If you use a snake, just make sure there is nothing that is going to snag/hook into the hose - you don't have hard piping like at home.

Yes, vacuflushes are all pretty much the same. The duckbills are inside the adapters where the hose attaches to your pump. You should have 1-1/2" duckbills. But you could check your parts manual to be sure. At 17 years old - it's time to replace them, anyways. It's pretty straight forward.
 
Lazy Daze said:
If you use a snake, just make sure there is nothing that is going to snag/hook into the hose - you don't have hard piping like at home.

Yes, vacuflushes are all pretty much the same. The duckbills are inside the adapters where the hose attaches to your pump. You should have 1-1/2" duckbills. But you could check your parts manual to be sure. At 17 years old - it's time to replace them, anyways. It's pretty straight forward.
Click to expand...


Thank you SO much!!
 
Lazy Daze said:
If you use a snake, just make sure there is nothing that is going to snag/hook into the hose - you don't have hard piping like at home.

Yes, vacuflushes are all pretty much the same. The duckbills are inside the adapters where the hose attaches to your pump. You should have 1-1/2" duckbills. But you could check your parts manual to be sure. At 17 years old - it's time to replace them, anyways. It's pretty straight forward.
Click to expand...


Thank kyou very much! Yeah I may avoid using the snake as I'm guessing its a duckbill problem with eithr them being old and unable to create vacuum anymore or they are plugged and it seems by running a snake thru I might either get it hung up or hurt something rubber and soft. I'm surprised my boat repair guy suggested I call a plumber as I would guess very few if any work on boat toilets.
 
All toilet paper and anything else goes in garbage pail in bathroom. Been that way since 2005 and we have never had problems. We use regular toilet paper.
 
You can also try blowing air from your shop vac down through the system while holding the pedal open. That often clears out stuff, toilet paper. But it sounds like you may have a bigger clog. Slightly higher pressure water through the system should help.
 
dtfeld said:
There are a bunch on youtube. BoatingwithBuggaboo is probably as good as any. Verify your duckbill size before ordering. Choices are 1.5" and 2"

Click to expand...


Thank you!! Funny thats the video I was watching!
northern said:
All toilet paper and anything else goes in garbage pail in bathroom. Been that way since 2005 and we have never had problems. We use regular toilet paper.
Click to expand...


Thats a good idea!
 
upload_2023-4-29_19-53-20.png

I got one of these accordion style plungers from a dollar store for $4.00 and it worked like a charm. This was suggested in another thread. I was having the exact same symptoms
 
If you go as far as pulling the duckbills, be aware that the threaded fittings that contain the duckbills are probably left-hand threaded.
 
I would only use the plunger as a last ditch effort and would never use a snake. The plunger if pushed down is ok but when you pull back up, you may invert the duckbills. That’s what I did after using it and it did not stop the clog, ugh.
The water bladder tool mentioned should do it. Plus a few days soaking should soften the stool.
 
Almightys said:
I would only use the plunger as a last ditch effort and would never use a snake. The plunger if pushed down is ok but when you pull back up, you may invert the duckbills. That’s what I did after using it and it did not stop the clog, ugh.
The water bladder tool mentioned should do it. Plus a few days soaking should soften the stool.
Click to expand...
That’s why I went with the “Water bladder tool”… I don’t want to invert the duckbills causing a bigger issue.
 
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