Vacuflush horror stories

craigswardmtb

I digress.  An awesome weekend turns sh*#ty...
Not sure if most people are like me in this regard, but when people come aboard my boat everyone gets the toilet speech.  Nothing but waste goes down the toilet (and I proceed to rattle off all the products that are not acceptable waste).  And If you can hold numero dos than do that, if not no wet wipes.  NO wet wipes.  NO WET WIPES!  NOOO WET WIPES!!!
This weekend we raft up to my uncle and cousin. And what does my 30 year old cousin and life long boater do, goes numero dos and clogs the head with wet wipes among other nastiness. And doesn't tell me. After cussing a while I break out the latex gloves and get elbow deep. I got it unclogged but not before getting my hand stuck in the toilet for about 5 minutes and creating a hole in the latex thus causing more cussing. 
What do you all do to promote proper boat toilet etiquette?  Anyone have a magical tool the works to unclog these vacuflush heads without getting elbow deep?

zaverin1

Your cousin would be my tool of choice

rasbury

at's a good one @zaverin1

raybo3

Don't invite them on the boat anymore............

zaverin1

Years ago
my buddy was on his boat near my marina
i didn't even plan on coming out that day. It was tinkering day lol
at that time he had a 22 cuddy with a portable 
so long story short I make my way
anchor and he had few female friends with him 
one climbs on the boat and begins to chat
then says do you have a bathroom 
i say yes lol
she said oh I just need the mirror 
i am like ok
jump in the water for few beers then went back to the marina and few summer days later let's just say walked into a death chamber called her number 2 lol

Michael T

The Admiral always handled the toilet etiquette talk with guests. She showed them the marine toilet paper, how to raise the water level in the toilet if planning on making a "solid" deposit, showed the females the paper bags (purchased at a pharmacy) marked "for feminine hygiene product disposal" and a pair bright yellow of rubber gloves - for those who didn't pay attention to her requests. We never had a problem in 4 years of boating with our vacuflush heads and they got used a LOT.

Handymans342

Just get a grinder toilet. Stop using that vaccu junk

craigswardmtb

zaverin1 said:

Your cousin would be my tool of choice

I agree...  Problem is he left before I discovered the injustice otherwise he certainly would have been the tool. 

Dream_Inn

We have a plaque in our bathroom that pretty much says, if you haven't eaten it first, it does not go in our head.  (yes, that means TP as well...cause I like the good soft stuff).  Anyone new to our boat always gets the story before they even come close to using the head.

J3ff

Number 2's forbidden on this boat, unless you're a kid and it's an emergency. 

reneechris14

Sorry to hear you had a crappie time.I also give the speech of how to use that special bowl.may be I'll remove the wet wipe firm the bathroom. The only reason we left is to pump out,the grandkids filled us up.avondale closes at 5 got there at 510 so went back to marnia.

frodo13056

Believe it or not, but I have seen (twice now) where a good old fashion plunger has pushed blockage past the duckbill valves. 
1) Turn off head vacuum / water.
2) Open head ball valve (that's the one that rotates at the bottom of the bowl)
3) A few pushes on the plunger (very slowly)
4) Restart vacuum pump / water
5) Test and repeat if needed.
We also give the "speech" and also have placards in the head for proper use. I've been lucky and have never had an issue with clogs on my boat but I do keep a plunger handy since I've seen it work before.

Michael T

@frodo13056, great advice. Of the many hundreds of times we flushed solids down the two vacuflush toilets we had we only had one blockage and two more flushes cleared that. Use marine toilet paper (save money at an RV store). We even used the toilets when slipped at a marina. IMO and the Admiral's what's the point of having the convenience of an on board toilet if you don't use it? One hint is to use the toilet water control (all vacuflush controls should have the function) to add water to the bowl prior to a solid flush - if you are going for a world record - in which case all should be well. IMO if you have a decent toilet use it proudly! :-)

aero3113

Michael T said:

@frodo13056, great advice. Of the many hundreds of times we flushed solids down the two vacuflush toilets we had we only had one blockage and two more flushes cleared that. Use marine toilet paper (save money at an RV store). We even used the toilets when slipped at a marina. IMO and the Admiral's what's the point of having the convenience of an on board toilet if you don't use it? One hint is to use the toilet water control (all vacuflush controls should have the function) to add water to the bowl prior to a solid flush - if you are going for a world record - in which case all should be well. IMO if you have a decent toilet use it proudly! :-)

Wal-Mart carries the marine/RV toilet paper at a great price also.

Trashman

...I would just set the boat on fire