First Project: Repair the Marine Head!

Marine head is plugged

The marine head has been neglected and is, in fact, plugged. Raw seawater is not being pulled in when the handle is pumped, and no nasty stuff is leaving the bowl. It just gurgles at me, as if in spite.

A non-working head is a nonstarter for my spouse so this becomes my very first project on Narwhal née Swoose.

I know next to nothing

We’ve used porta-potties before and marine heads in other boats, but I’ve never faced the prospect of diagnosing and fixing a problem such as this on a boat. It is a bit overwhelming, so I am doing what I usually do when faced with something new: I’m learning all I can, as quickly as I can.

Of course, my first thought was to find an experienced repair person who could take care of this for me. This is especially attractive because this is an especially distasteful job. But that does not appear to be in the cards. I was hoping someone might want to moonlight and make some extra cash but I haven’t found that knight in shining armor yet. Boatyards are booked up two and three months ahead.

We don’t know what is wrong

The surveyor documented that the head doesn’t work. The broker says he thinks it won’t prime. I suspect that no raw water is getting to the toilet. Even if one of them did open the raw water line to the toilet, it may be plugged. Also, the wet/dry switch is not easily seen on this model head so it may just be that it is set to in the dry position.

First things first

The easiest first steps are to make sure the raw water seacock is open and that the wet/dry switch on the head is switched to wet. This is an old marine head, a Raritan Cricket. It’s a wonderful unit but the factory stopped production of it decades ago. I have not been able to find any rebuild kits or spare parts. But this also means that perhaps the surveyor was not familiar enough with the head to know there is a wet/dry toggle. In this installation, it is out of sight, near the floor on the righthand side of the base.

I’ll work the raw water seacock a few times and maybe run a scrub brush under the hull to try to dislodge any blocking material. I hope to be able to put a waterproof action camera on a painter pole and actually get some views of the through-hull, too.

Then I’ll make sure the wet/dry switch is set to wet. A few good strokes of the pump handle should tell me a lot at that point, but it may take more strokes than that because the boat has been idle for quite a while.

Repair and eventual replacement of the head

A surprising thing about joker valves for marine heads is they are almost a universal fitting thing. At least in later models, a Raritan-brand joker valve fits Jabsco toilets and vice-versa. Joker valves are cheap so I bought two.

And I know I’m going to have to replace the marine sanitation hose that conveys the nasty stuff from the toilet to the black water tank, so I ordered some new hose and new clamps. But in trying to figure out how much hose to buy, I discovered that the boat manual doesn’t specify the length! Fortunately, informed guidance from an experienced Nonsuch 26 owner helped me select a length that should end up being long enough.

Goal one is to get the head functional again. Goal two is to clean it out — and replace the sanitation hose — so that we are prepared to replace the head. And replace the head we must because even if I can get it to work again, I know I can’t find spare parts for it. A new marine head is a good solution.

My toilet day plan

The sequence of events I plan to follow when we visit the boat to work on the head is:

1. Clear the way for raw water to reach the toilet.
   • Check that the raw water line is open, not closed. Exercise the seacock several times in case something has gotten up into the valve.
   • Scrub the through-hulls under the boat to dislodge blocking material.
   • Get some photos of the through-hulls with an action camera on a painter pole.
2. Confirm that the wet/dry lever is in the wet position.
   • Review this setting in the Cricket manual and work the toggle several times.
3. Vent the blackwater tank.
   • Vent the black tank through the pump-out port because there does seem to be some pressure in the system.
   • Also trace the hose to find the discharge vent because it may be plugged.
   • If there seems to be pressure in the system, perhaps move the boat to the cleanout dock and try a pump-out again.
4. Reset the flapper valve.
   • Sticking the end of a broom handle down the head (gently!) to make sure the “bowl throat flapper” is in position to function properly. From what I’ve read, sometimes someone will try using a household toilet plunger and that can result in the flapper valve being pulled up, out of position.
5. Pump the handle!
   • With protective gear on, pump the handle several times.
   • If seawater comes in, we’re halfway there. If not seawater comes in, assume the toilet is nonfunctional and proceed with cleaning and replacing the joker valve.
6. Cleanout
   • Grab my bucket, rags, gloves, and mask and get the standing poo and liquid out of the toilet. I plan to use gel bags that we have on hand from taking care of a relative to capture and contain whatever comes out of the toilet.
   • Open the back to check/replace the joker valve, and who knows what may happen when I disconnect the sanitation hose! I suspect that the hose is plugged. Those gel bags will come in handy when I disconnect the hose, too.
7. Replace the sanitation hose.
   • I’ll want to do this anyway so it will make for a happier crew if I remove the old hose now and proceed with installing a fresh hose. I’ll bring along a handheld hair dryer to help warm up the ends of the sanitation hose so that they’ll go onto the barbs a little easier.
   • Then try the Cricket again with the new joker valve and the new sanitation line.