Last night the Jabsco electric toilet stopped working and yes it was used first 
. So with a few after dinner drinks in me I started troubleshooting it. The toilet worked a few hours earlier but when I pushed the button before bedtime it made a low power sound and then just stopped. Further pushing did nothing.
So based on this, I got in my mind that this was an electric supply problem, not a motor failure. So I started tracing wire. The breaker was hot. Then I shorted the push button terminals and that did no good. I followed the wire from the toilet underneath the sink and then it disappeared behind the fridge.
Attempting to just get it flushing, even if cobbled together, I used the vent fan switch that was nearby and jumpered that output to the toilet motor terminal. Nothing. That should have given me a big clue, but it didn't register- too many after dinner drinks no doubt.
So, I decided to wait until morning to pull out the fridge as I was expecting a splice was bad behind it.
One of my problems is that I didn't have a good ground nearby to clip the negative lead on my meter to so I could check for hot points in the wiring. So the next morning I used the load side of the head vent switch. This is not a good ground as it goes through the fan, but I figured if I was just checking for voltage present, it would work- the fan windings wouldn't effect a voltage measurement if no current was flowing.
So the next morning with a clear head, I clipped on to that point and then checked the push button for power and yes I did have power at that point. But since that wire goes forward behind the fridge before it goes back to the toilet I still suspected something wrong in that wiring.
But then I had an epiphany. I cut back the insulation on the crimp connector that tied the leads from the toilet motor to the DC supply that ran behind the fridge. This was easily accessible underneath the sink in the head. Using the quasi ground from the head vent I checked for voltage at that point when I pushed the button. Violla, I had voltage.
That almost certainly meant that the motor was shot. Sure it could be a negative wire side problem, but the odds were small. The epiphany shifted my mind from a voltage supply problem to a motor problem and I am now 99.9% sure that is what it is.
So I have ordered a new motor and a pump rebuilding kit which I will install next week.
The moral of the story is don't get stuck on a single cause. Use a logical approach to trouble shooting. And don't do it after a few drinks at night!!
Clearing the toilet of its contents, fortunately no solids, was easy. I used the dinghy's manual bilge pump to dump it into a bucket, then dumped a half gallon of fresh water in and pumped that out. Shouldn't make much of a mess when I pull the pump out next week.
David
. So with a few after dinner drinks in me I started troubleshooting it. The toilet worked a few hours earlier but when I pushed the button before bedtime it made a low power sound and then just stopped. Further pushing did nothing.So based on this, I got in my mind that this was an electric supply problem, not a motor failure. So I started tracing wire. The breaker was hot. Then I shorted the push button terminals and that did no good. I followed the wire from the toilet underneath the sink and then it disappeared behind the fridge.
Attempting to just get it flushing, even if cobbled together, I used the vent fan switch that was nearby and jumpered that output to the toilet motor terminal. Nothing. That should have given me a big clue, but it didn't register- too many after dinner drinks no doubt.
So, I decided to wait until morning to pull out the fridge as I was expecting a splice was bad behind it.
One of my problems is that I didn't have a good ground nearby to clip the negative lead on my meter to so I could check for hot points in the wiring. So the next morning I used the load side of the head vent switch. This is not a good ground as it goes through the fan, but I figured if I was just checking for voltage present, it would work- the fan windings wouldn't effect a voltage measurement if no current was flowing.
So the next morning with a clear head, I clipped on to that point and then checked the push button for power and yes I did have power at that point. But since that wire goes forward behind the fridge before it goes back to the toilet I still suspected something wrong in that wiring.
But then I had an epiphany. I cut back the insulation on the crimp connector that tied the leads from the toilet motor to the DC supply that ran behind the fridge. This was easily accessible underneath the sink in the head. Using the quasi ground from the head vent I checked for voltage at that point when I pushed the button. Violla, I had voltage.
That almost certainly meant that the motor was shot. Sure it could be a negative wire side problem, but the odds were small. The epiphany shifted my mind from a voltage supply problem to a motor problem and I am now 99.9% sure that is what it is.
So I have ordered a new motor and a pump rebuilding kit which I will install next week.
The moral of the story is don't get stuck on a single cause. Use a logical approach to trouble shooting. And don't do it after a few drinks at night!!
Clearing the toilet of its contents, fortunately no solids, was easy. I used the dinghy's manual bilge pump to dump it into a bucket, then dumped a half gallon of fresh water in and pumped that out. Shouldn't make much of a mess when I pull the pump out next week.
David
