I'm having trouble with my head....

[Genny]

I'm having trouble with my head. It won't flush. Vacuum pump runs for 30 seconds, & trips the breaker. No vacuum at head. It just keeps filling up with water, but won't go down. Any ideas

[wingless]

There is an obstruction causing the vacuum generator motor to stall. A DC motor draws maximum current at 0 rpm, causing the breaker to trip.

There is a whole cadre of miserable people who have "repaired" their marine sanitation systems by opening waste-filled hoses (the worst job on the planet) that want to share that misery and have others join that Platypus Club, encouraging others to also use their digits to pick poo and pons.

The alternative is to instead force the obstruction through w/ no fuss and no muss. The method described here has worked for me 100% of the time.

Assuming there is room in the holding tank, this is the "easy" way to clear the waste system obstruction. Pump the holding tank empty first if it is full.

1) Turn off the fresh water pump and bleed down pressure in the sink. This eliminates the head overflowing while clearing the obstruction.

2) Get a plunger that fits the bowl. My preference is the old plain style.

3) Start w/ fluid in the bowl, about half full. Add water as required to maintain fluid in the bowl.

4) Turn on the head pump. Start working right away before the breaker trips. Don't overheat the stalled motor, periodically pausing for it to cool off.

5) Plunge on the down stroke only. Tip the plunger to the side before going up to NOT suck the waste line and to NOT risk inverting the Joker valves.

6) After obstruction cleared run plenty of water through plumbing to ensure remnants cleared.

My practice to avoid this problem is to hold down the flush lever when flushing solid waste until I can audibly hear the sound change of the drain line clear to the holding tank. Zero problems since I adopted that method.

Good luck and avoid the Platypus Club.

[Genny]

Well, I plunged the CRAP out of it.......no go, still clogged. I can't get an ounce of water to go down. It feels as though it's plugged solid. I'm not sure where to start disconnecting, and search for an obstruction?
Any ideas, I'm lost.

[wingless]

That is unfortunate.

No go w/ forcing down, tipping to the side to avoid sucking up, w/ water in the bowl and w/ the pump on / breaker not tripped?

[Genny]

No, can't push any water through.
I guess I'm going to watch a couple of YOU TUBE videos, and rip out the "duckbills" 😰

[wingless]

Okay, assuming all the prior steps were followed, then this next step still has clean hands, but has a small risk of inverting the duckbill Joker valves.

Same as before, bowl half full, pump on / breaker not tripped, but this time the plunger doing short up/down motions.

A plunger is very ineffective in the push stroke, but that is the best first step for this problem because of the risk of inverting the Joker valves.

A plunger has amazing effectivity on the pull stroke.

If the pull stroke is very short, then it might not invert the Joker valve, but instead break up the clog.

On my boat I was able to free a clog using this method and the Joker valves were all fine afterwards.

The short back and forth shock pulses are very effective at breaking a clog.

[Genny]

I'll have at it in the morning. I was careful not to pull during the previous attempts. I hope you're right. That's my last chance at a "clean" fix I guess🤔

[wingless]

Hey Wingless,

I happy to announce success with regard to my Vacu-flush cloggage. Aggressive plunging was the answer. I really put some pressure on it, (in both directions).

On a different note, my port V-drive has a growl (knocking) at idle/trolling speed. Mechanic says it's normal "gear lash". Problem is, the starboard is quiet as a mouse.

Any thoughts or experiences?

Genny

[wingless]

Great news!

No Platypus tee shirt for you.

When flushing solid waste, always hold down the pedal until the waste clears the vacuum generator. The audible sound changes on my system.

[Genny]

Got it........ Lesson learned

[wingless]

On my boat, I always carry a plunger in one of the bilge storage areas, just in case, so that a planned stay won't be cut short due to a head problem that could be corrected using this tool.