Aft state room toilet is plugged

[Sadey]

Aft state room toilet is plugged and I have no idea how to unplug it. The pump is working properly. When I try and use well let’s say a stick to push things through it seems there is a solid barrier. I know there is nothing in there that hasn’t gone through my mouth first. I am the only one that has used that toilet recently. It flushed just fine last night. Any ideas on how to unplug the toilet? Everything is working properly, the water flows, the pump turns on builds up the proper pressure then shuts itself off. But there is still water and waste in the toilet. The flapper valve opens and closes unobstructed in the toilet but something between the flapper valve in the waist tube seems plugged. Any suggestions would be helpful please.

[Midnightsun]

How big a stick are you using ? Once you depress the foot pedal and the valve opens the visible hole is only 1" diameter at best maybe more like 7/8" so a smaller diameter stick is obviously required to push any obstruction through. The handle of my toilet brush has worked well for me on mine.

Here is a link to show you how small that hole really is. A good design as after this "funnel" everything opens up to large 1 1/2" pipes therefor nothing can get stuck in the lines if it passes the smaller funnel hole. https://greenbayprop.com/sealand-vacufl ... b536862160

[Sadey]

I looked at the forward toilet and see what you mean. Also looks like there is a 90 bend which is why it felt solid. The plug must be between the pump and the head because the pump shuts off. I verified there is power to the pump so it’s functioning properly. Has anybody run a snake through the toilet? I have a spare set of duck valves for this head. I don’t know how the current ones are so I guess I’ll replace them and see if I can’t clear the line.

[Midnightsun]

Not sure what model you have but on mine there are 4 duck bills, 2 leading in and 2 leading out. They should be changed every 6-7 years for peace of mind IMHO. This is not the problem but once open you will maybe see what the problem is. I suggest you wear gloves and dawn a charcoal infused mask as it can get nasty in there.

[bud37]

Have you tried a plunger......just take it easy. The pump has to discharge air to the tank to pull a vacuum, so if you have a vacuum and shut-off on the head side then the discharge side of the system is probably ok,just a clog.... Imo.

[Sadey]

Funny, never thought about the plunger. I’ll give her ago.

[Viper]

How long does the pump take to reach the proper vacuum before it shuts off? After it shuts off, does it cycle back on after a little while?

If you've confirmed the system is indeed clogged and you haven't replaced the duckbills/joker valves in several years, then remove them now and run a fish from that end toward the toilet. Hopefully you can break up whatever is in there. If that doesn't work, remove the duckbills and reconnect the lines, cycle the pump until it is in the up position, then do a pump-out while depressing the pedal on the toilet. This will often remove most clogs. Don't stick anything in the toilet to try and unclog the line.

BTW, the hole in the funnel acts somewhat like a macerator in that solids get broken up as they are forced through the small hole then are allowed to expand again under vacuum once they exit into the larger hose. This action helps to break things up and minimize clogging the duckbills and affecting their operation.

[Sadey]

OK that will be the plan for Saturday morning. I am bummed because I went to the boat the other night to complete a few tasks then instead of Saturday morning when my wife, son and girlfriend had planned to go for a ride. Oh well we have the whole summer in front of us and this is what it is to own a boat. Honestly, I like to tinker on little projects. I would just prefer to do them at my discretion and not the boats.

[Sadey]

Problem solved. Had to remove the line from the toilet to the pump then plunge. Yuck! But fixed. Thank you all for the suggestions. Oh and I bought a small plunger to have and hopefully not use again!