Potty Trouble

[Boatagain]

The Tecma toilet on our ‘16 C30 flushes just fine, but when the bowl is filling (2x during the flushing sequence) the water flow is a pitiful trickle. The raw water pump that supplies the toilet makes noises like it’s working. Is there a filter in the system that may be clogged? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanx

 

[BB marine]

If you have seawater flush which is the standard installation. Check your sea strainers in the engine compartment. It sounds like it is fouled. There should be one for each, the engine, air units , generator, (raw water wash down and head is one).

 

[Boatagain]

Thanks for your quick reply Brian. On my boat there is one rather large seastrainer on the starboard side of the engine compartment. As far as I can tell there are three outlets, one for the A/C, one for the generator and another for the toilet. The A/C has excellent flow (and, of course, a separate pump) as does the generator. As per your suggestion I will check the seastrainer carefully but my gut tells me the problem is further downstream. Are there filters on the input or output of the toilet’s pump?

 

[Connerkip]

Don’t know if this issue I had is the same as yours, but here goes.

I also had low flow, since I bought the boat. One day when replacing the joker valve I noticed the hose feeding the water to around the rim of the bowl was crimped. I cut it a little shorter to remove the crimp. Wow, what a difference that made.
That hose is a soft, black rubber hose, maybe 1/2”, behind the head. You have to take the head off and work behind it.

Good luck.

 

[Connerkip]

Thetford.com has their manuals on line, with parts diagrams. Here is a link to the head I think you may have.

https://www.thetford.com//wp-content/up ... PrePls.pdf

In it you can see the fill tube I referred to earlier, and also the solenoid. I don’t see a strainer in that assembly, but there may be one. If you don’t get an answer, I’d give Thetford a call.

 

[BB marine]

If your sea strainer is used for air, raw water wash down and head there should be check valves installed to prevent a back feed. The check valve if installed in the raw water flush for the head may be partially blocked or stuck restricting water flow.

 

[Boatagain]

Thanks Kip and Brian. I’ll look into both possibilities.

 

[Boatagain]

I pulled the hose from the sea strainer to the toilet’s raw water pump input and observed good water flow. When hooked back up there was no water flow at all in the toilet. How do I prime the pump?

 

[JOHNG]

Change the pump impeller , impeller probably not pulling in enough water

 

[hartyparty]

Hello all. I have just purchased a 2017 Cutwater 24 Coupe and one of the issues is that I cannot get the Jabsco manual toilet to bring in raw water. The flush control lever is open. The raw water strainer valve is open and is clean. I have pulled off the inlet hose and replaced it with a hose to a bucket and the pump seems to be working fine. I have pumped the the toilet 100 times without getting water into the toilet. I don't think there is a leak between the toilet and the strainer valve, as the bilge pump is not running. Any suggestions? Thanks !

 

[fishheadbarandgrill]

Check your thru hull to make sure it isn’t blocked with marine growth or that the valve isn’t closed.

 

[hartyparty]

Thanks for your help. The seacock between the strainer and the hull is open. If I unscrew the top of the strainer, water flows out of it. I am concluding that the thru hull opening is clear. Is there any other valve between the strainer and the toilet?

Edit: I figured it out. I was looking at the Air Conditioning seacock. The toilet uses the same seacock as the generator, which is in the lower starboard aft corner of the center lazarette and is very hard to get to. I have been told that the generator seacock should be closed when the boat is at any speed. It looks like I am going to have to fit a stiff wire to the seacock handle to allow an easier way to open and close the seacock !