I now have a dead head. It is getting next to no suction and is pumping far more air than water. I'm surmising that the seals and valves need replacement.

It's a 1981 boat, and the head has a label saying Wilcox Crittenden, no model number visible. I called the firm, which was quite unhelpful. They don't have rebuild kits for older heads. Now some of the parts are probably unchanged and they might be able to piece something together for me, but that's assuming I can get them some kind of model number.

Any suggestions here? The head is in otherwise perfectly fine condition, and I'd hate to replace the whole thing if it's a problem as minor as a few valves and seals.

Any help pointing me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated, seeing as my wife is now refusing to go sailing until the situation is fixed. ;-)

Thanks,
Ryan Pierce, #337

Ryan, have you checked with West Marine? It's now been almost 10 years, but I got a rebuild kit at West for my head. It was exhibiting the same symptoms your is showing. As I recall, the kit was a valve flapper for the water inlet, the "joker" valve for the outlet and a collection of washers and o-rings to rebuild the pump.

I have been eyeing the rebuild kit at our local west marine also. I will get the model number for the head when we go to the boat this weekend. I know I have the manual onboard.

My 81 hull has a W&C Heatmate. All the parts from the mfr fit mine just fine. Check the illustration/pictures at:
www.wilcox-crittenden.com/displayproductline.asp?bid=&plid=1

sorry, typo: "Headmate"

Ryan, I checked the diagram that Seth posted. It seems identical to the head on Mondial ... and had all the parts that I needed for the rebuild. As a mechanical engineer/tinkerer, one thing I found interesting is the way they got a single pump to do double duty. The pump is double acting -- the 1) upper side of the piston handles the inlet water, sucking it in and pushing it through to add rinse water around the toilet bowl, and 2) the lower side of the piston handles the waste from the bowl, pushing it through the outlet seacock.

Good luck ... rebuilding your head, it's not a job, it's a dooootie!...(sorry, couldn't help it)

Thanks for bailing me out! We had such a good time sailing this weekend I forgot to dig out the manual. I agree with everyone else. The diagram looks right.

just for kicks have you tried head lube or any products to delay the rebuild. this year i used some headzyme for the holding tank and it made my pump work much better,

This is the second season I've owned the boat. The head barely worked when I launched it the first season. I have absolutely no idea how long it's been since anyone serviced the head.

I don't think I can get away with a kludge. The time has come for me to pay the piper. And I'm hoping that regular applications of HeadLube will prolong another rebuild for a while.

I've ordered a rebuild kit from Wilcox Crittenden for the Headmate. Thanks for pointing out that it is the same model! I'll post a reply when the job is done indicating whether all the parts are compatible.

I just replaced my entire unit with a W/C exact replacement. I, too, looked at the service kit. When I learned I could buy the entire head for $125, I said to heck with digging out those grungy valves.

I think I bought the head at Boat USA. I needed to save one elbow off the old unit. Other than that, it was an exact replacement. Looks and works great.

Bob Rude
#352
Mmmmm