Hello all,

We bought a 72 Boatel at the end of last summer, our first houseboat! Lots of issues that we are working through. The boat is in the water and has not been out for several years.

I was hoping to get advice on what we need to do in order to get the Raritan head flushing without manually adding water. It won't suck up any water to flush with.

Thanks for any advice, we sure need it.

Alicia

The raw water pump on the rear of it likely needs to be replaced. It has a rubber impeller inside it. If you're adding water from the sink in order to flush it, friction from the impeller turning inside without pumping water has destroyed the pump housing as well as the impeller. You'll need Raritan part # CH102MW, intake pump assembly. Factory price is $163.38, plus shipping. The factory also has a Factory Exchange Program, where you replace the entire mechanical unit beneath the toilet bowl, keeping your existing bowl and seat. Details of the Exchange Program follow:

Exchange Program: Raritan has had an exchange program for the Crown Head and Crown Head II for many years. Remanufactured pump and motor units, commonly called “Lower _base_ Assemblies” (LBA's) – this is the complete mechanical unit located beneath the toilet bowl only, it does not include the toilet bowl,seat, lower cover or deodorant injection system - are sold with a new product warranty, taking the customer's older unit in trade. These are shipped to the customer and a core deposit of $125.00 is assessed until the older unit is received back at Raritan, whereupon the core deposit is returned to the customer, or a credit is issued to his credit card company, as appropriate. Order part # XCM** for the Crown Head; and XC2M** for the Crown Head II. (Note ** - enter necessary DC voltage for the head; example XCM12 is a 12 volt Crown Head LBA). Current "net" exchange prices are $491.40. The customer is responsible for freight charges both ways, usually $40.00 or less each way, via UPS Ground. So, going out the door, the customer is charged the net price, plus the core deposit, plus freight. Upon receipt of the old unit back at Raritan,
the $125.00 core deposit is refunded.

Note that exchange units are offered on an "as available" basis only; the company does not always have them in stock. Also note that Exchange Units do not include a discharge fitting. This is the bronze (or plastic) fitting where the large discharge hose connects to the toilet _base_. The existing fitting on the head must be removed and re-used.

We replaced the intake pump assembly with kit. Water is now being pulled in from lake, but we have another problem. The water is not emptying out completely from the bowl. The bowl is staying 3/4 full of water.

The small holding tank is directly behind the commode and is sitting on a 2" x 6" wooden _frame_ while the commode sits directly on the floor. Could this be related to our problem? What should we do now?

Make sure the vent line coming off the holding tank isn't plugged up.� If the air inside the tank can't get out as the tank fills, the tank will pressurize and the toilet won't want to empty.� That's the first step.� If the vent line is completely open, and the tank can indeed vent, there may be other problems that we'll have to take a look at.

Update: The head is now fully functional. My husband luckily came in contact with Shirly Long at Ship Shape Marine in Louisville. He walked him through it all and we had to end up changing over to fresh water flush.

I recommend Shirly to everyone in his area. He really goes the extra mile to help. Truly amazing!

Thanks Vic for your help. You got us started in the right direction. The help you provide here is great.

For general info, Shirly Long (Ship Shape Marine) is the authorized repair/service/warranty person for Raritan products in Kentucky, extreme Southern Indiana and Northern Tennessee (if he's in a good mood) - but he covers all of the state of Kentucky all the time. (502) 485-1935

He does good work, he's honest, and he's a lot of fun to talk with.

I replaced my head last year. Sounds like you might have a broken impeller in yer motor. If so, I would suggest replacing the whole motor. I have a Jabsco, and it gave me the choice of taking the whole motor apart, cleaning it and putting it back together (about 20 parts)exactly right, or buying a new motor for about $150. I bought the motor. It fits in the back of the toilet like a video casette. The hardest part was turning the toilet bowl so I couldget at it. Then I went over the side and under thr boat to clean off the inlet. It worked perfectly.
good luck