Vacuflush 806 head pump tripped electrical swith, can't get it back on

This morning our head pump was working as if it hadn't been fully flushed or not flushed properly, and then we heard a pop like a circut breaker flipping or a fuse popping. But we've looked and see nothing amiss in the breaker box or elsewhere. Does anyone have any suggestions/ideas for why we lost electricity on the boat? The head pump seemed to be working overtime to sort itself out then we lost power on half the boat.

We have a Marine Trader, the pump is a vaccu flush model number 806.

We aren't finding any large fuses...he looked in the engine room...should he be looking somewhere for else for fuses?

And now he just tried to empty the holding tank and it's not emptying...presumably because there is no power.

Do you know which circuit breaker is for the head?
Are there fuses somewhere to be looking for also?

So he says the vacuum pump didn't shut off, but I don't know why it didn't. He said it does that if not flushed properly....I was the last one to flush it and I may not have filled it with enough water. I did push the foot lever up to add water, thought it was enough but perhaps not. But why would that make the vaccum pump keep running and then blow a breaker?

Your holding tank vent is blocked, which has pressurized the system. The vacuum pump has overheated trying to push waste into the tank and tripped the breaker instead of burning out.

The VacuFlush pump has nothing to do with pumping out the tank...although if you have no power on the boat at all, the overboard discharge pump that DUMPS the tank couldn't run. If you can't pump out using the marina pumpout, it's again due to a blocked tank vent. If there's no source of air to replace contents as they're pulled out by a pumpout or onboard discharge pump, the pump will pull a vacuum that prevents anythng from being pulled out.

If there's a filter in the vent line, and if you've overfilled the tank, it's most likely the culprit...'cuz filters cannot get wet...the charcoal swells up and blocks the vent. No filter, the vent thru-hull is the first thing to check...dirt daubers love to build nests in thru-hulls.

You need a VacuFlush owners manual...it includes just about every possible symptom, probable causes and cures that a V/Flush system can develop. Download and print one from here

http://www.sealandtechnology.com/pdf/600340006 VacuFlush OM.pdf

And keep it on the boat! Doesn't matter how old your system is...the VacuFlush hasn't changed enough to notice except cosmetically since it was first introduced in the late 1970s...the trouble-shooting guide hasn't changed in any version of the owners manuals either.

There are other possibilities. If it's not the holding tank vent, the next most likely problem is a clog in the vacuum pump....that happens when you don't use enough flush water to rinse it out. SeaLand's claim that the VacuFlush uses "as little as" one pint of water is VERY carefully worded! You need to add at least a quart of water to the bowl ahead of even the smallest amount of toilet paper and leave the pedal down for at least 7 seconds. You need at least TWO quarts ahead of solids, and hold the pedal down for a full 10 seconds.

That should be enough to let you sort out and fix the problem with toilet...I don't have a clue what to tell you about what happened to your electrical system or how to fix that.* But somebody will show up who does.

Good luck!

*

Oh...btw...the model number for a Vacuflush only refers to the bowl assembly--size, discharge configuration, etc....the rest of the system is identical for all of 'em.



-- Edited by HeadMistress on Thursday 7th of April 2011 09:48:53 PM


-- Edited by HeadMistress on Thursday 7th of April 2011 09:51:26 PM

Juicy,

I hope you got the system running by now. i see Peggy Hall is the only one to reply after two weeks? Missed it, but how I don't know.

If you are looki=ng for help on ANY forum with a problem of this nature again then don't just let it lapse, find it next day latest and use the reply function and just put a ? mark in it to bring it back front and centre. Odd that you were missed for that long but I've seen it happen before. Those folk with any ideas are not on the site or on long enough to see all posts and your post slides way back so when they are around they don't see it at all. Often that repost is all it takes for someone knowledgeable to see it a few hours or a day later and then reply.

I check this forum every day...it just showed up. However, I'm 99% certain she posted it on another site and we solved it for her there. It a WAS blocked tank vent.

*

Btw...that photo could be* my own "Maggie da Moose"...a rescue and he only cat I've ever owned who sleeps on her back.


-- Edited by HeadMistress on Friday 8th of April 2011 10:18:05 AM

Yup we got it solved on the other forum...I am so grateful for all the help out there, thanks! Peggy was marvelous. No worries about here, I'm new...good to know if we don't get an answer to re-post.

I'm sure I will have lots of questions!

Thanks
Laura

Glad to hear you were looked after.

Help Finding that Other Thread

We're having exactly the same problem with our vacuflush, right down to the strange electrical stuff (or so it seems). Would love to refer to the advice you received on the other forum. Can you point me to where that was? Thanks!

Best thing you can do for yourself is buy the Dometic Vacuum Gauge for testing. This will allow you to make a careful diagnosis of your system and pinpoint problems. It also includes a sheet that has the basic diagnosis problems. The $75 gauge made me an expert on our system. Well worth the price!

Ok I have lurked on enough vacuflush discussion on TF and Imust give my non qualified opinion. I installed a new vacuflush system with two heads on a friends sailboat. I have twoTecma toilets on my trawler. Thevacuflush system is complicated. It has too many parts that can screw up. The Tecmasystem has turbo pump in the base of thetoilet that shoots the waste to the holding tank. The vacuum pump has duckbillvalves and vacuum pumps, in my opinion too many moving parts. I have read thestories of the guys working on the nasty vacuum flush systems. My Tecma toiletsare eight years old and have never had any maintenance. The price for a Tacoma install is the same asa Vacuum flush. If the Tecma shits thebed it cost less than $400 for the pump in the base of the toilet. I don't seemuch discussion on TF on Tecma systems. I believe in KISS and I think Tecmadoes it. IMHO.

fryedaze said:

Ok I have lurked on enough vacuflush discussion on TF and Imust give my non qualified opinion. I installed a new vacuflush system with two heads on a friends sailboat. I have twoTecma toilets on my trawler. Thevacuflush system is complicated. It has too many parts that can screw up. The Tecmasystem has turbo pump in the base of thetoilet that shoots the waste to the holding tank. The vacuum pump has duckbillvalves and vacuum pumps, in my opinion too many moving parts. I have read thestories of the guys working on the nasty vacuum flush systems. My Tecma toiletsare eight years old and have never had any maintenance. The price for a Tacoma install is the same asa Vacuum flush. If the Tecma shits thebed it cost less than $400 for the pump in the base of the toilet. I don't seemuch discussion on TF on Tecma systems. I believe in KISS and I think Tecmadoes it. IMHO.

Click to expand...

BTW, I would love to know what Peggy thinks of Tecma???

The duck valves are in the vacuum pump. It's really a simple system. As of yet I have not found duck bills to be a problem. I know that one of our vacuum pumps duckbills are 4 years old and they don't leak! There are very few moving parts to go bad. Keep the system flushed with plenty of water (stills uses less water than most systems), make sure the hose ends are clamped and sealed correctly and you truly have a low maintenance system.

Our overboard macerater pump has had far more issues than any other part of our system. For us and the way we use our boat the vacuum head system has really worked well and easy to maintain.

I like our vacuflush system alot. Easy for guests to operate. I had to replace the duckbill valves because one was bad and the pump wouldn't shut off. Half hour job first time and as easy as any other pita job on the boat. Doesn't seem complicated or complex at all. Our setup is two heads to one vacuum unit to a thirty gallon tank to either pump out or macerator overboard. The biggest problem is the macerator line getting gunked up without a good way to rinse it out without putting alot of clean water in the tank. Once the line plugged up after sitting for a while and that was aggravating to clean out.

fryedaze said:

BTW, I would love to know what Peggy thinks of Tecma???

Click to expand...

She thinks they are great. But that they where much better before they were bought out.

It's my understanding the folks who sold Tecma may be coming out with a new head.

fryedaze said:

BTW, I would love to know what Peggy thinks of Tecma???

Click to expand...

The Tecma is an outstanding toilet that was originally produced by its Italian mfr for the mega-yacht market and later for the recreational boat market too. Wilcox-Crittenden was the US importer...Thetford got it when they bought W-C.

Tecma's pump and macerator (they call it a "grinder" with good reason) was totally new to the recreational toilet industry, and it stood the whole US marine toilet industry on it's ear when it was first introduced here, driving the development of the first toilets that could move bowl contents further than about 6, and "grinders" that can even chew up an occasional tampon. The winning competitor to the Tecma is Raritan's "Marine Elegance," which has actually improved on the Tecma a bit...the pump isn't quite as powerful, but powerful enough unless you really NEED a pump that can shoot waste 90 meters...a lot quieter, uses less water and a lower amperage draw and has a LOT lower price tag. Raritan has also redesigned their Atlantes toilets to use the same technology. The Tecma even freaked SeaLand Techology out enough to cause them to introduce their first ever macerating electric toilet--the "MasterFlush," which is SeaLand's private label version of the Sani-Marin, a much lower quality clone of the Tecma that Vetus is also selling under their own private label brand name.

So what do I think of the Tecma? I think it's a great toilet, but not necessarily the best toilet for every boat or budget. The analogy keeps coming to my mind that it can be compared to using a 15" mortar cannon when a grenade launcher is all you really need.