Vacuflush leaking with weight

[stevemitchell]

Can we get an update on the resolution if resolved?

Sorry about that! I didn't see any of the new updates to this post, must have had something weird in my subscription.

I ordered new seals and clamps and plan on doing a swap this weekend now that I have less folks on the boat.

 

[FoxtrotCharlie]

What Peggie said!

 

[stevemitchell]

My Vacuflush system has worked for 9 months without an issue other than this one head leaking recently. My previous boat had a Raritan Marine Elegance system I installed on it, and it was wonderful, I agree.

I do like the concept behind the Vacuflush system with the vacuum, etc. but the amount of pieces and parts in the system are a bit concerning. I also cannot get to the second pump/assembly for the forward head without becoming a gymnast, which I am not. They take up a lot of space in the bilge.

Right now it is not in the budget to install two new Raritan heads and the associated parts. However, my waste holding tank is ridiculously small and I have been considering having someone else remove it and add a new one, so perhaps that work can all be done at the same time this winter.

 

[Comodave]

It really is amazing how small the holding tanks in some larger boats are. I guess the designers have not cruised longer than a weekend.

 

[stevemitchell]

It really is amazing how small the holding tanks in some larger boats are. I guess the designers have not cruised longer than a weekend.

I believe mine is 35 gallons which is really small ratio wise compared to all of my previous boats.

 

[Comodave]

Mine is only 40 gallons. We had a 46’ that had 2 holding tanks, one 80 gallons and the other 15 gallons. It was really nice not to have to pump out so often.

 

[menzies]

This fellow works on Vacuflush all day, every day. I wonder, do Marine Elegance electric heads engender this much repair work?

So if you heard that someone worked on CAT or John Deere engines all day would you now be questioning those engines?

 

[sbman]

So if you heard that someone worked on CAT or John Deere engines all day would you now be questioning those engines?

The Maytag man sits in his office all day with nothing to do!

 

[catalinajack]

So if you heard that someone worked on CAT or John Deere engines all day would you now be questioning those engines?

See the Head Mistress's reply.

 

[menzies]

See the Head Mistress's reply.

?

Not sure what that has to do with your comment regarding someone who specializes in a specific brand meaning that brand is negative.

 

[catalinajack]

?

Not sure what that has to do with your comment regarding someone who specializes in a specific brand meaning that brand is negative.

Menzies, you missed my point, twice. As Peggie Hall mentioned, Marine Elegance heads rarely need service while Vacuflush heads require regular and sometimes unpleasant maintenance. Hence, lots of work for Vacuflush guys, rarely any work for Marine Elegance repairmen. Is that a negative for one type versus another, as always, an opinion. Personally, I'd rather sit and enjoy myself (men's reading room) with never having to think about the next time I have to take apart a stinky system.

 

[Comodave]

Particularly if vacuflushes doesn’t do well with larger people. A lot of us are larger...

 

[HeadMistress]

So if you heard that someone worked on CAT or John Deere engines all day would you now be questioning those engines?

If he's a factory tech or mechanic at a CAT or JD equipment dealership, no. But if he owns or is an employee at an independent shop that works on all makes, definitely. But even if that shop IS dedicated solely to one make/model toilet, I'd question why that one has enough problems to support a dedicated repair shop when no other brand's equipment does.


--Peggie

 

[O C Diver]

Out of curiosity, I'm wondering how many vacuflushes verses marine elegance have been sold between the boat and rv industries. One could infer that Fords need far more maintenance than Maseratis based on the amount of technicians in the USA. Probably a misconception when you look at numbers sold.

Ted

 

[menzies]

Out of curiosity, I'm wondering how many vacuflushes verses marine elegance have been sold between the boat and rv industries. One could infer that Fords need far more maintenance than Maseratis based on the amount of technicians in the USA. Probably a misconception when you look at numbers sold.

Ted

I would agree with that - especially since earlier this year, while tied up at Lake Park Harbor Marina, we saw a wrapped van there highlighting that they specialized in Vacuflush toilets. Is it that they have a greater number of issues or that there are so many of them. If the latter why are they so popular if they are troublesome?

 

[syjos]

I was a Vacu Flush dealer for over 20 years, now retired. Serviced other brands too.

All marine heads are PITA

Most problems with any head attributed to poor installation. Tight hose and PVC pipe bends, Y's and long runs installed by the factory or PO. And often current owner/installer.

Then the "accidental" clogging by landlubber guests, kids, spouse etc is the second.

I don't know the sales numbers but here in the PNW, there seems to be many Vacu-flush systems on boats. Bayliner/Meridan was including Vacu-flush as standard equipment in newer boats.

I did'nt get a high percentage of Vacu-flush trouble calls vs other high end toilet.

Any toilet maintained proactively on a time schedule will be a lot less messy to service since it still works and can be sterilized befor disconnecting hoses. And I'm including replacing hoses that are permeating and servicing the macerator part of that service. Annual cleaning of the sludge out of the holding tank will prevent build up at the bottom. And a program to keep calcium and othe stuff from building up on the inner walls of the hose or PVC pipe.

 

[syjos]

One issue with Vacu Flush is since it is a vacuum system, leaks are difficult to locate.

Can't conduct a simple pressure test to find the leak.

 

[stevemitchell]

Update: I had time and space to complete the work today. Removed all the bits and pieces, replaced the seals and clamp just to be thorough, and the leak is gone.

While the system is working, and has been working for 9 months without any issues, I will be replacing it in a few months with something that is a bit simpler and less likely to have issues.

 

[Vactech]

This fellow works on Vacuflush all day, every day. I wonder, do Marine Elegance electric heads engender this much repair work?

No I guess You Don't she much talk for maintenance / repairs for Raritan. I would say due to the very low percentage of boat users and boat builders using the product. Probably having something to do with very inflated overpriced products, which I can see no reason to justify the pricing. Very little and poor manufacture support . I service all Marine Waste systems for the past 3 decades in my Market Place.. Its being my past experience maybe seeing-1 Raritan toilet on a vessel compared to a
100 other brand toilet systems. I guess supply and demand decides the requirement of full time service support due to them being the most popular or commonly used brands for Waste Systems on boats these days. Reason was no demand or talk about Elegance is because there very seldom used and when you do have to repair one, you will probably get rid of it because of the cost of doing it.
Unless money is no object ,convenience not important to the owner, I would suggest go with product that has good customer reliable support system backing up the product and get you on your way.
Haven't been here for quite a while, but just thought I'd respond to mr. Catalina. let him know why theres a demand for servicing the most popular and highly used reputable waste system brand on the market today.
1 Elegance to 100 other brands used .probably why you see a demand for service support

 

[HeadMistress]

The Raritan Marine Elegance is the top-rated macerating electric toilet in the US and very popular. You see very few requests for trouble-shooting because it rarely needs any, nor do they even require much maintenance. Exceptionally quiet, with a pump that can move bowl contents up to 30' and macerator than can even manage to chew up an occasional tampon (Raritan doesn't recommend it!), but NOT a wet wipe...there isn't a marine toilet on the planet that can.

The VacuFlush is a good toilet, but except for cosmetics, has changed so little since Mansfield Plumbing introduced it in 1978 that the same trouble-shooting guide still works for all years/models. It's popular with many older boat owners because improvements in marine toilet technology in the '90s led to macerating electric toilets that use onboard fresh water--and a fraction of the amount previous versions needed--and also need a only a fraction of the amperage they'd needed previously, both of which had been VacuFlush main selling points. SeaLand saw this starting to cut into their market for it and launched a MAJOR ad campaign that lasted several years, positioning it as the premier marine toilet, creating a mystique around it. Keeping in mind that this was happening in an era of conspicuous consumption that put a Rolex on every wrist and 2 pounds of gold chain around a lot of men's necks, enough glitzy ads in boating magazines touting any product as the only one anyone should want are bound to sell it ...and the VacuFlush ad campaign definitely did. And also created a lot of work for folks like VacTech who rarely see any other toilet.

--Peggie

 

[Comodave]

+1 on what Peggie said.

 

[catalinajack]

So, how much does a vacuf

No I guess You Don't she much talk for maintenance / repairs for Raritan. I would say due to the very low percentage of boat users and boat builders using the product. Probably having something to do with very inflated overpriced products, which I can see no reason to justify the pricing. Very little and poor manufacture support . I service all Marine Waste systems for the past 3 decades in my Market Place.. Its being my past experience maybe seeing-1 Raritan toilet on a vessel compared to a
100 other brand toilet systems. I guess supply and demand decides the requirement of full time service support due to them being the most popular or commonly used brands for Waste Systems on boats these days. Reason was no demand or talk about Elegance is because there very seldom used and when you do have to repair one, you will probably get rid of it because of the cost of doing it.
Unless money is no object ,convenience not important to the owner, I would suggest go with product that has good customer reliable support system backing up the product and get you on your way.
Haven't been here for quite a while, but just thought I'd respond to mr. Catalina. let him know why theres a demand for servicing the most popular and highly used reputable waste system brand on the market today.
1 Elegance to 100 other brands used .probably why you see a demand for service support

A new Vacuflush, toilet only, costs about $550. That doesn't includes the vacuum generator, etc, etc. A new Marine Elegance all-in-one costs about $600. And the Raritan product is virtually maintenance free. Plus, the entire guts can be replaced, if need be, for about $250 and is an easy fix. Why anyonw wouls dtick with the Vacuflush product is beyond me. Of course, you, Vacutech, continue to extol the virtues of the Vacutech product. I wonder why.

 

[syjos]

The VacuFlush is a good toilet, but except for cosmetics, has changed so little since Mansfield Plumbing introduced it in 1978 that the same trouble-shooting guide still works for all years/models.

There has been many improvements to the VacuFlush toilets over the years:

One component Vacuum Generator developed to replace the separate pump and vacuum tank.

Vacuum Generator was redesigned to use 2" duck Bill's instead of the previous 1 1/2" duck bills to reduce restriction and easier maintenance.

A redesigned bellows and motor to make the pump quieter.

There has been steady small improvements to the minor components over the years.

Of course the old troubleshooting guide still applies. The basic vacuum operating principle does not change.

The Vacu-Flush is a popular toilet that if installed properly and maintained, will provide years of trouble free service.

I would never replace my Vacu-Flush toilet with a macerating toilet.

 

[menzies]

Oh great, a pissing contest over toilets.

Oh wait.....

 

[HeadMistress]

To each his own...however...

The vacuum generator still is the same two component system--vacuum tank and vacuum pump--that it's always been. They just found a way to "stack" em into a single two component unit. As for the rest, they're all still the same parts too--improved but not replaced with something entirely different.



Oh great, a pissing contest over toilets.
Oh wait....

ROFL!!

--Peggie

 

[Comodave]

Oh great, a pissing contest over toilets.

Oh wait.....

Better a pissing contest than the other thing it could be...

 

[Pdxstriper]

Aha, I hadn't even started taking things apart. I will see if that is the case.

This is one of the things on my list. The PO left no spares at all for the Vacuflush system, and I feel like I would want some It was installed only a couple of years ago and is in excellent condition, but I always, always want spares. If you have a suggested list/kit that would be wonderful to know. I have this on my list to order before big trips in June/July/August.

Good idea if the above does not work!

You can buy all the spares for Vacuflush on Amazon. Great prices too.

re: the leak issue, which sounds intermittent, my guess is that the base is cracked. Not all that unusual a problem I have heard.

Pete

 

[syjos]

To each his own...however...

The vacuum generator still is the same two component system--vacuum tank and vacuum pump--that it's always been. They just found a way to "stack" em into a single two component unit. As for the rest, they're all still the same parts too--improved but not replaced with something entirely different.



Oh great, a pissing contest over toilets.
Oh wait....

ROFL!!

--Peggie

I piss a lot better now since I had my prostate worked on!

What can Dometic do to improve a Vacu-Flush system other than improve/upgrade components?

The basic parts; toilet bowl, pump and tank all have functions that work well and can not be improved dramatically without turning the system into something else.

It's like saying the GM small block engine is the same now as it was in the 1950's when it was introduced. Ignoring the incremental improvements made to it over the years.

Why start over when GM and Dometic have a popular product that works well. Redesign costs money which would be passed down to consumers.

I'd rather have a Vacu-Flush in my boat than a fancy grinder no matter the cost.

 

[Xsbank]

Forgive me...

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. X. Bwahahaha.....You rascal. You beat me to it.