Ok - I'm clueless as to what is going on here. I've got the standard WC head and its fairly new - just installed ~2 years ago.

Having all kinda smell problems on an offshore race this weekend. We were pumping overboard (many miles offshore all night) and it seems like the head is somehow recycling the contents you are pumping out. Almost as if when you flush it, the crap (literally and figuratively) in the bowl is coming out in the flush water.

So a couple times there was brown water that seemed to appear in the bowel (presumable backing up from the output lines). When you tried to flush it the same brown water, but diluted seemed to come from the flushing holes - kicking up an aweful stench. After a while of pumping it would go clear.

Some facts:

- The head has always been hard to pump - hard enough that people comment on it. the old one was kind of hard to pump too

- I replaced the y-valve and the hose from the head to the valve, but the hose from the valve, to siphon break, and then to the overboard is old

- If I fill the bowl with fresh water (from sink) and pump, it drains. Its still hard to pump but not super hard.

- I've never seemed to get "good flow" when flushing - has always seemed to push more on the out stroke than what it pulls on the in stroke.

My ignorant theory is that there is some sort of partial blockage in the output that lets some contents out, but provides enough back-pressure to be hard to pump, and maybe so hard that a seal has been damaged in the head?

Any advice would be appreciated before I start just replacing everything in sight.

thanks - dan

is your y-valve open fully for discharge mode? (backpressure?)

is your bowl intake seacock near your y-valve discharge? (inlet drawing from the outlet)

have you tried to lube the t-handle shaft? (lotsa parts in there, but this may help)

when our holding tank is approaching the tougher it becomes to pump the bowl dry. after we pump out, it's really easy again, almost free with the t-handle as you pump.

I would check the vented loop to make sure the vent is not blocked. There is a little hole in the top and if that is blocked you will get a lot of back pressure. You can take a toothpick or something and clean it out.

Thanks for all the suggestions. The vented loop was thoroughly clogged - freeing that eased pumping a little but still having this blow-back flushing smell.

Replaced all tubing and vented loop downstream of head (so now all plumbing is new or newish) as well.

At this point, I'm pretty sure that the head, in flush mode, is pulling waste water back in and pumping it into the bowl - which smells terrible.

I really don't care to rebuild the pump, but it seems that the replacement pump assembly (37353) is ~$160, and a whole head is only $10 more than that - so looks like this 3 year old head is getting replaced!

-dan

Dan - that's exactly the same route I went with on Rhapsody. Everything smells good now.....New hoses and head all the way, and replaced Y valve.

Yeah, such a pain - should have done it all when I replaced the head a few years ago. Have a buddy at West Marine who is going to hopefully give me discount on the whole pump assembly so I don't have to remove the whole head, but if that does not work - new head it is!

Also was toying with this, but would prefer to stay class legal (no class racing here, but for the next owner):

http://www.ittflowcontrol.com/marine-and...sh-kit-copy.htm

I don't think adding electric flush to the head would make you non-class legal, although that is a reading required by the class measurer. The better solution to keep the smell down is to fresh water flush instead of sea water flush. The sea water really starts to decompose and grow stuff with all the critters you pump through.