Last Saturday we had our first real summer day on the boat -- it was hot, the water was warm enough for swimming, and it was like you want it to be and at the end of the day I noticed that the VacuFlush head had no vacuum. After double-checking the obvious, I went into the engine room and sure enough the vacuum pump motor is running...and not stopping.
So I shut it off and dived into the Internet to sort out what to do. I'd known, sort of, that the system's rubber "duck bill" valves were wear items and could cause vacuum problems. My research suggested both duck bills and pump bellows (they can dry out and crack over time). I ended up ordering a rebuild kit with duckbills, bellows, and O-rings and tracked down some decent exploded diagrams so I'd know how it all went together.
The repair was easy enough, although it took about 2 hours to do, mainly slowed by the difficulty in separating the motor from the eccentric crank and removing the bellows bolt. The motor shaft and eccentric are held together with a set screw, which was really tough to loosen. The bolt wouldn't budge at all without being put in a vise to allow enough torque. I think the motor should have a keyed shaft and the eccentric a matching key slot; this would simplify removal.
It was also less messy, so I'm assuming the system worked well, longer than I thought, before it quit. No goopy solids, although enough residual crud to make it kind of gross. Lots of nitrile gloves and shop rags.
I will say this fixing business has gotten out of hand, though! The good news is the VacuFlush is fixed.
I also took out the broken fridge. Came out easy, but there was a moment of panic until I realized I needed to remove the door to get it out of the cabin. I set aside the "feet" it sets on the and flange assembly, they may be added Sea Ray parts not on the fridge from the OEM.
The new fridge is in at West Marine, so with any luck I'll have it put in this weekend.
Then will we be done with fixing for a while???
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