Fixing boats in paradise (part 2)
The pump on the heads (marine toilet to landlubbers) has been playing up for some time. We've put up with it being stiff and with the valve occasionally not sealing allowing "water" to flow back into the bowl but it's been getting worse lately do I decided to dismantle it again and have another go at fixing it.
In the process of taking the top plate off and removing the plunger, I spotted the main cause of the problem. Some heavy handed gorilla (and it wasn't me) has at some point twisted the pump handle anti-clockwise instead of clockwise from the locked position and buggered up the plastic moulding.
The only way to solve the problem was obvious, the entire pump assembly would have to be replaced. So off I trotted to the local boat bits emporium where I was pleased to find they had one in stock and doubly pleased to find that it was about £15 cheaper than in the UK (mainly due to there being no VAT).
With the new pump installed, and you really don't want details or photos, all was well again. Right up until the point where I tried to switch back to fresh water flush (we'd switched to seawater flush whilst at anchor). The changeover valve has always been very stiff to operate ever since I fitted it and now it gave up the ghost and broke.
After a good swear, I pulled the relevant pipework apart and temporarily permanently plumbed the flush to the seawater intake. Even in the marina, the water is so clean that I'm happy to pump it through the loo but the valve will need changing as soon as we get home and go back on the mud berth.
A good clean up of both heads compartment and engineer ensued and that was my day over!
Dinner and a beer on board was the order of business along with a lengthy discussion about plans for the coming week. Nothing definitely decided yet so more of that anon.
The pump on the heads (marine toilet to landlubbers) has been playing up for some time. We've put up with it being stiff and with the valve occasionally not sealing allowing "water" to flow back into the bowl but it's been getting worse lately do I decided to dismantle it again and have another go at fixing it.
In the process of taking the top plate off and removing the plunger, I spotted the main cause of the problem. Some heavy handed gorilla (and it wasn't me) has at some point twisted the pump handle anti-clockwise instead of clockwise from the locked position and buggered up the plastic moulding.
The only way to solve the problem was obvious, the entire pump assembly would have to be replaced. So off I trotted to the local boat bits emporium where I was pleased to find they had one in stock and doubly pleased to find that it was about £15 cheaper than in the UK (mainly due to there being no VAT).
With the new pump installed, and you really don't want details or photos, all was well again. Right up until the point where I tried to switch back to fresh water flush (we'd switched to seawater flush whilst at anchor). The changeover valve has always been very stiff to operate ever since I fitted it and now it gave up the ghost and broke.
After a good swear, I pulled the relevant pipework apart and temporarily permanently plumbed the flush to the seawater intake. Even in the marina, the water is so clean that I'm happy to pump it through the loo but the valve will need changing as soon as we get home and go back on the mud berth.
A good clean up of both heads compartment and engineer ensued and that was my day over!
Dinner and a beer on board was the order of business along with a lengthy discussion about plans for the coming week. Nothing definitely decided yet so more of that anon.
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