Vacuflush Victory !!!!!-gctid383115

[Guest]

Some time ago I posted about a problem with one of my vacuflush units.

I serviced the main pump, replaced everything except the bowl itself, I tested vacuum in the floor cone. All GOOD, but no matter what I did, the darn thing would cycle on every 5 minutes.

This has been an issue since I bought the boat.

Today I solved it.

The floor cone itself had a hair line fracture across one of the holding bolts. It is a bugger to remove in a factory built boat but victory was mine.

I wanted to tell everyone because I have benefited from much assistance on the forum and solved many problems as a result of help from you all.

The trick with this issue was, you would (or I had ) assumed the cone was fine because it was visibly sound and the vacuum test worked because the small area at the base of the funnel was sound. There is vacuum in the hose at that point. It was only when the whole come is exposed to vacuum when the base is on that it can leak.

Someone posted on the forum that in 2000 Vacuflush had a manufacturing issue with porous bowls, I went to the source and they told me it was half right, it was not the bowls that were the issue but rather a fault in the manufacture of cones in that period.

Anyway, for anyone that has wrestled this issue and come close to taking to it with a sludge hammer, there it is! Simple and overlooked because it seemed impossible that this could be the issue.

All the best and thanks to the many dedicated forum supporters.

Wayne

[Guest]

I'm summing that was a factory defect, or was it the result of something tweeking the bowl ?

[Guest]

It seems that during that period they had a production problem with the floor cones.

I am not sure whether this one ever worked or the weakness manifested later. It did look like someone have attempted to silicone in the holding bolts (not necessary in normal circumstances) so it probably happened later in its life.

The key here is that it is almost invisible to the naked eye.

I identified it because I was looking for it and I could just see a change in surface tension in a smear of water I had over the cone when I put it under strain.

I was only absolutely sure when I replaced it and it resolved the issue.

[Guest]

Glad to hear you rooted out the problem. I see exactly what you mean about the trouble-shooting problem. The vacuum guage/cork will never reveal the leak.

I had a vacuum leak on my master head at the end of last season. I changed the base gasket and put the boat to bed for the winter. Now that we're back in the water and recommissioned, I found the leak is still there, so maybe I have the same issue as you. And like yours, my cone will be very difficult to change.

I'll take a very close look, now that I know what to look for. Thanks for coming back with the solution.

[Guest]

Just been through that episode too and found the floor plate gasket to have failed. I replaced it and all appears to be well. I contemplated replacing the cone as well, since the service tech advised me of the hairline crack problems with others, but it looked like a beech to get it out, so I elected to just do the gasket. Turns out the gasket replacement seems to have solved the problem for me.

[Guest]

whiskywizard wrote:
Glad to hear you rooted out the problem. I see exactly what you mean about the trouble-shooting problem. The vacuum guage/cork will never reveal the leak.

I had a vacuum leak on my master head at the end of last season. I changed the base gasket and put the boat to bed for the winter. Now that we're back in the water and recommissioned, I found the leak is still there, so maybe I have the same issue as you. And like yours, my cone will be very difficult to change.

I'll take a very close look, now that I know what to look for. Thanks for coming back with the solution.

I rarely employ destructive force but on this occasion I found that I had to break that bend in order to get to the hose clamps and pull the remaining piece out of the flexible hose. The big issue is that you can only get one hand in at a time. I used wd40 to penetrate the seal between the plastic and flexible hose.

good luck