With daughter having a fortieth birthday treat, we had care of granddaughter, N, for 2 nights. We had decided a short cruise in Ada would be a treat for her. All seemed well with the first dry weekend since March forecast until, at 8 o'clock on the first evening, the macerator toilet failed to empty! The motor was running, but not the normal sound, and only a small amount of water was being taken away. Could I have done anything plumbing in the new tank? No, so need to take out and strip the toilet ... at 8.30 at night.
The toilet was installed when the boat was new, 14 years ago, and has worked faultlessly ever since. Having it go wrong was always one of my concerns. Three connects to remove, electrical ... just a plug and socket, fresh water supply at the solenoid ... jubilee clip but a bit of a fiddle having been there for 14 years, and the 1 1/2" foul water discharge ... to remove it involved some leakage of foul water. What I found was the innards furred up and a valve in the discharge pipe blocked with debris that had broken away ... just like a heart attack! The innards were remarkably simply ... how is the high cost justified!
Massaging the rubber pipes and rinsing them removed the furring but he valve had to be scrapped. It seemed a delicate mechanism but its only function appeared to be preventing a small amount of water flowing back. Cleaned as best I could, reassembled and refitted by 1130 the toilet worked again but need to consider getting a replacement for that valve.
Back home a bit of online research revealed ... that domestic macerators furring up is a known problem but nothing in boating forums ... ordinary cleaning agents, that do not foam, can be used ... spare parts are very, very limited ... a phone call to Aquafax being the only source.
The remainder of the weekend was excellent with 2 sunny days and N returned to her parents in time for us all to have lunch at the Storyteller, Cheltenham, and for N afterwards her Sunday afternoon theatre club.
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