Carver Owners Forum

Hi! New to the group and really hoping I can find the help I need here.
We have a 440 and the fwd head has stopped working. I've rebuilt and then replaced the vacuum pump and it just runs for as long as I leave it on. No suction is developed in the toilet and nothing gets sucked down. There is water in the bowl, so it's not losing the vacuum there.
I'm thinking I'm going to have to get at the vacuum tank and hoses, but they are buried under thw gallery counter top and behind the wall between the wall and the hull.
Is there any relatively easy way to remove these without ripping the galley apart?

Welcome to the forum....have you double checked the way you installed the duckbills.......why did you rebuild in the first place?

We have some head experts here, someone may recognize the symptoms.

Welcome aboard.

What model is the pump? Is it separate from the vac tank or does it sit on top of the tank? Does it have one set of duckbills on the bottom (2") or are both sets on the sides of the pump (1-1/2"). Are you saying you rebuilt the original pump and then ended up replacing it with a new one or are you still using the original one? If it's a new one, what was the part number you got?

When you say you rebuilt the pump, what got replaced? What I see happen a lot is warping the duckbills when installing them. This can be frustrating as you'll still have a leak but will not suspect the new valves and go on a wild goose chase. I find that if you install them dry, their bases can twist when you turn the fitting to tighten it. So I lubricate the bases and where they seat into the fitting with a little dish soap. This allows the duckbill bases to slide/slip while you tighten the fitting and helps prevent them from twisting/distorting which causes them to open a bit and stay open once the fitting is tight. Short of that, it's a problem with the pump, a leak in the suction line or a fitting, or there's a leak at the pedal on the toilet. If there's a leak at the pedal, you should be able to hear a hissing there while the pump is running. You can isolate the toilet from the rest of the system by opening the ball and covering the discharge port at the bottom of the base inside the toilet, this is where the diagnostic gauge is placed too. If the pump eventually shuts off, you'll know the problem is in the upper end of the toilet. If it continues to run, it's not a toilet issue. There is a vacuum gauge assembly specially made to check whether the system is building any vacuum or not. It helps diagnose issues.

Improperly installed Duck bills seems like the likely issue. Has the bellows been replaced?