Replacing Duckbill Valves + Vacuflush System Overview, Sea Ray Boat
Vložit
- čas přidán 26. 10. 2023
- A complete look at how to replace duckbill valves on a Vacuflush toilet system. Plus, an overview of how the Vacuflush Toilet system works.
Links to products I used on this project from Amazon. * Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
- Dometic Black 1-1/2" Duck Ball Valve Kit; amzn.to/3Snm3mh
- Grab-A-Rag Washable Microfibre Rags: amzn.to/46H6Bp2
- SuperClean Cleaner Degreaser - 32 oz. Trigger Spray Bottle: amzn.to/3QwVCZM
For a look at all of the projects I've done (continue to do) on this beautiful Sea Ray Sundancer, as well as on our previous boats, have a look at nearly 100 projects in my 'How I Did It - Boat Repairs And Upgrades' playlist, here; • How I Did It - Boat Re...
Be sure to check out our 'Summer Cruise 2022' series, as we cruised for 5-1/2 weeks through much of Ontario, Canada's lovely 240 mile/386 km Trent Severn Waterway and even reaching the Rideau Canal for a few days! Full playlist can be found here; • Summer 2022 Cruise
I hope you'll also follow along with my Blog (boatingwithboogaboo.wordpress...) for lots more boating content from our past 25 years of loving this incredible boating lifestyle!
Enjoy this video and would like to support the channel even more? Feel free to make a one time or ongoing contribution via PayPal here: www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_....
Filmed September, 2023.
Boat Specs;
- Model: 1998 Sea Ray 370 Sundancer
- Length (bow to transom): 37-6", LOA (with factory swim platform): 40'-1"
- Beam: 12'-7"
- Engines: 2 x 7.4 litre (454 Cubic Inch) Mercruiser Bluewater, Multi-Port fuel injection, gasoline,
raw water cooled, rated at 310 HP
- Transmissions: 2 x Borg Warner Velvet Drives, in Vee-Drive configuration
- Performance: Average cruising speed 22MPH on plane @ 3,200 RPM
- Dry Weight: 17,000 lbs
- Fully Loaded Weight: Boat + Fuel (1,664) + Water (580) + Gear (1,250 +/-) = 20,500 LBS
- Fuel Capacity: 275 U.S. gallons ~ 1,040 litres * Usable Capacity 261 US Gallons ~ 989 litres
- Freshwater Holding Tank Capacity: 70 US Gallons ~ 58.3 Imperial Gallons ~ 265 litres
- Poop Holding Tank Capacity: 40 US Gallons ~ 33.3 Imperial Gallons ~ 151 litres
- Draft: 32”
- Dead Rise: 20 degrees
- Generator: Westerbeke 7.2 Kw BCGTC @ 60 Hz, gasoline powered & carburated, 3,600 RPM continuous engine speed
- Dual reverse cycle heating/air conditioning units, 19,000 (total) BTU (12 + 7)
Terrific video thank you,. Two days ago I didn't know where this was on my boat, didn't know what I was looking at when I found it. This is very helpful. Now I know where these four duckbill valves are on my system. No other source said there were four or where they are.
What I learned doing this. My hoses are the white ones, a bit stiff. Loosen the hose clamps and then unscrew the ABS part. You won't even have to remove the hose. 2:18 is the real gold in this video. Until I removed the motor I was wondering if there even was another pipe there. And as in the video, I used channel lock pliers, but not much -- all these connections were hand tight + maybe a quarter turn. The 4th duckbill is not shown, it's under that threaded piece being screwed in at 3:30. I wore disposable gloves for this, there was poop on all of this, dried out, didn't smell bad (my use of enzymes?) My duckbills were 5 years old, in plastic bags. There's a slight bit of daylight.... but all four (in two different bags) were exactly the same (and OEM) so I used them. Seem to work just fine. (I have two heads and two of these systems on my boat, so hearing the same sounds, same pattern... indicates they're working the same way.)
All this works well, I used no pipe compound. If you're a noob, slow down and remember Tghty Righty, Lefty Loosey .
Glad it helped you out! If you get a chance, check out my How I Did It playlist for well over 100 projects I've done, including many, many on the entire Vacuflush system. And that includes replacing the holding tank in two of our prior Sea Ray boats! 💩🤣
Mate, I'm looking forward to watching this! You're history of videos on vaccuflush systems and duckbill valves is second to none. I have used the other ones to diagnose issues on my boat with vaccuflush. We have 2 systems on board our Maxum 4100SCA that look identical to yours. One works fine and is easy to access. The other one in the aft stateroom clearly needs new duckbill valves but I'd have to be a scrawny small person to access it and I'm still trying to figure out how to get in there to fix it. Thanks for great crappy videos. Cheers, Graham in Oz.
When we had our 400 Sedan Bridge, both of the pumps were located in a very tight and hard to reach spot in the side cabin, under a bench a stuck partway aft. A real.pain in my back, but servicing them left me no choice. That, as well as replacing all.of the poop lines on that boat only added to the joy of boat ownership 🤣💩
Good job Paul. Wow, that disclaimer had me thinking there would be flying brown corn or something ! Cheers 😎
Actually, I edited those parts out ;-)
Thank you I need to do this on my 330. My buddy has the 370.
Check out the full playlist, as I believe I might have a couple of vids from our 330 Dancer.
I’m surprised you didn’t replace the bellow/diaphragm. Mine ruptured this summer. I was horrified when I saw the mess.
Surprised? Don't make assumptions, my friend. This isn't Facebook, after all 🤣
Another great "How I did it" video Paul, thanks. I know you have done this before, on previous boats. My vacuflush toilet seems to be working just fine, but...I have never replaced my duckbill valves and I was wondering what signs you experienced that let you know they needed to be replaced?
Actually, this was the THIRD time I replaced them on this boat 😩 First was when we got her last spring (changed the pump and bellows at that time as well), second was on our summer holidays, but ultimately discovered that there was a baby wipe stuck in the line (from a previous owner) that was causing the problem.
In that case, as well as when I replaced them on this video (this summer), the symptom was no vacuum being produced. That results in the loss of being able to flush the toilet, as the water won't go anywhere. In this case, it was a couple of bad duckbill valves, which had gotten fatigued after a year's worth of flushes and lost their ability to fully close.
So why do they get fatigued? Because we use the toilet all the time, usually 4-5 days a week throughout the season, so it gets a good workout. And unlike many folks who are afraid to 💩 on their boats, or flush toilet paper, we use the onboard toilet exclusively when we are there.
We are not afraid to use our head system either. Thanks for the great information. Things are working great, but now I know what to pay attention to.@@BoatingWithBoogaboo
And be sure to always have spare duck bills on the boat. You never know when they're gonna fail...
Great idea. Ordering today.@@BoatingWithBoogaboo
We dove in to replacing the valves in our SeaRay 260-05 yesterday, had a hard time even reaching and managed to find and change merely one.. when watching this excellent video on that we’ve come to wonder, are there always 2+2 or how many did you just replace? 😮
On all of our boats serviced by Vacuflush systems (400 Sedan Bridge, 330 Sundancer, 370 Sundancer), they all had/have a total of four duckbill valves - two before the pump and two after.
Keep digging, and always replace all four each time. Otherwise, you'll be cursing having had not done it the last time 😳
Shit happens… 😂 thanks for the DIY !
You're most welcome!
Great video Paul! Very helpful to us novice boat mechanics. I've noticed many generic replacement duckbill valve options on Amazon that are much cheaper than the Dometics that you recommend. Have you had any experience with the generic replacement valves? My initial thought is that they can't be worth a crap if they are priced $18 for a 4 pack when Dometic is $60 for a 2 pack.
Glad it helped! Don't forget to check out my How I Did It playlist, as well as one specific to Vacuflush systems on my channel. Lots of messing around on those videos 😂
As for the generic VS Dometic branded duck bill valves, I haven't used the 'cheap ones' but did order some as an emergency backup, just in case.
Thanks for the reply. I think I will just stick with the Dometic to be safe. In my experience (especially with Amazon) the cheap alternative never works out.
On a separate note. I live in West Michigan but my college roommate lives in Fenelon Falls on Cameron Lake. We visit them every year. Beautiful area!
Enjoy your summer!!
The vacuflush on our boat was replaced in 2022. How often should the duck bill valves need replacing or will the system performance just drop when they need done?
When you say the 'Vacuflush' was replaced, are you referring to the pump, or bellows, or pressure switch, or toilet seal, or just the duck bill valves only?
When the duck bill valves fail, it'll happen without any warning. One day the system flushes fine, the next it won't build any vacuum, resulting in no ability to flush at all. Just a gurgling going in the bowl. That's why it's always a good idea to have at least four spare duck bills onboard at all times. Eight is better, but start with four in stock. Trust me, they never fail at a good time, so have lots of disposable rags on hand as well 💩
They had the whole unit that resides there n the engine compartment replaced. I found the old one in a box down there also. I will some valves for my spares kit.
@CanukSpyder if it's a complete assembly (accumulator tank/pump/etc.), then that should have come preassembled with new 🦆 valves. If that's the case,you should be good for anywhere from two-four years or even more, depending on usage.
You forgot the don't lick your fingers warning 😂😂
I always thought that was optional 🤣
Wear gloves when doing shitty jobs! Lol. I would further recommend to change out the duckbills anytime one has to fart around with taking the vacuflush apart. We've got a 2000 340, new to us 2 years ago. First we changed out the complete internals of the toilet rather than replacing the broken pieces ( too shitty of a job as it's not our shit yet, lol). Then we replaced the pump's bellow as it was cracked. This year we had to do the duckbills. I wish we did them last year when it was all apart. Life on the learning curve I guess. Now a lot of our boater friends want us to look at their shitters, lol.
Absolutely, when changing duck bills - or other components at the pump - be sure to swap all four.
Funny you mention that your boating buddies now want you to look at their Vacuflush systems. I actually had a similar situation, the week before this video was filmed, as one our boating neighbors had a late night issue on their boat, so I rolled up my sleeves and jumped into the bilge to help change their duckbills. And I only charged one Corona for the job 😉
Oh well, such is the life of a 💩 expert 😂