Baking Hot, No Water, Fixing the Toilet

The temperature soared to 38°C for four consecutive days, equivalent to a scorching 100.0°F. During the heatwave, four tourists vanished while out on hikes across different Greek islands, with the result that they have crossed the Rainbow Bridge from a lack of carrying water on their hikes. Notably, one of the missing individuals was a renowned British doctor. It’s not difficult for me to envision how individuals caught up in the heat (ha) of a vacation could underestimate the length and difficulty of a hike in unfamiliar and unforgiving conditions.

Back to us. Fortunately, we have three AC units on the boat. To use them, we need to either be plugged in to shore-power or have the generator running, but they are invaluable for a few weeks every year.

I began fixing the front toilet which had stopped working. I had ordered a repair kit for the toilet which had arrived so I disassembled the toilet. I found that the rubber stopper valve (joker valve) was crusty, and the attachment behind was quite plugged up with a hard-deposit that forms from urine and sea-water. I took this all apart and put it in water/bleach to see if it would dissolve.

While I was doing this…..the freshwater pump stopped working again. This was the 3rd or 4th one to fail if you count the original that had worked for years. I had just bought this replacement. What could be the problem? I thought it might be something in the water so I opened up the fresh-water inspection port (never done it before, so a small adventure) and the tank did look like it needed cleaning. I needed a submersible pump, the first one I bought was not strong enough to pump from the bottom of the water tank over the side of the boat, so I had to buy another bigger one. Imagine buying a part, wiring it so you have power, connecting a hose and then finding out it doesn’t work. Frustrating. Anyway, the second pump worked great and drained about 1000l in 15m or so, which was very fast. I power-washed the tank, re-filled it with water and chlorine

While I was cleaning the water tank (hoping this would fix my pump issue) I became suspicious that the water was not the problem. Even though I did clean some stuff off the inside of the tank the water looked pristine and there definitely were not chunks of anything floating around…..so what is going on?

The last pump that failed was repaired by the guy who runs a very good hardware store in Elounda. He replaced the micro-switch in the pressure unit. I re-installed it and it ran for about 10 minutes before failing again.

So the pumping parts of the pumps seems fine. I’ve done hours of youtube and online research and these kinds of pumps are used everywhere and are super common. People have complained about the pumps failing….but not as badly as my experience. The possibilities are:

1. I have had a statistically unlikely string of bad luck.
2. There is a manufacturing defect with the switches that are probably all from the same place.
3. There really is a problem with my water. I was thinking maybe I had a stray current in my water system but the switch is not in contact with the water so it can’t be that.
4. Something to do with my 24V power on my boat is killing these switches.
5. Someone in power heard my bragging about being good with pumps, and I am being punished for the sin of gloating. (most likely)

The power theory is probably the most likely (although 5 is still possible)….but what about the power could be frying the switches?

BTW here is a screen-grab of the switch we are talking about:

Everything boaty runs off the 24V power system on the boat (non-boat stuff gets 220V from an inverter). The 24V system is quite steady at around 27.15V which might seem high but is normal. The boat is also connected to 220V shore power, but this goes through a charger to charge the batteries so again is independent of the 24V system. the batteries are connected to solar-chargers which generate 27V+ to charge the batteries….but again this is normal.

I’m now wondering if the pump is drawing more current than the switch can handle. The switch is in the circuit for the power to the pump (it is always getting power). It says it is rated for 5A…maybe if the pump draws more current it is cooking the switch? ***AND** you are supposed to put an 8A fuse in the circuit with the pump (as per the manual). I haven’t done that because I already have a breaker on the circuit…..but I’m sure the breaker is much higher than 8A. I’m convinced this must be the issue. Something is causing the pump to draw too much current.

This is a good theory now I need to figure out what to do about it. This is my current problem.

During this time, I returned to repairing the front toilet. After disassembling it, I managed to clean the hardened residue using strong vinegar and a screwdriver. I also observed that the pipe carrying the waste to the holding tank appeared somewhat clogged. After some consideration, I opted to replace it, since the toilet was already disassembled, Many people have reported that removing this hose is difficult. I proceeded to cut the hose in half… and that’s the main picture of the article. It was truly incredible! It was almost fully clogged!! I then carefully heated the top connection, cut it with a razor, and pried it off. I’m glad I did this, as the toilet wouldn’t have functioned properly otherwise. After reassembling everything, the toilet is now in good working order again… and surprisingly, I didn’t even need the new parts I had ordered. My experience is that disassembling and cleaning things are about 80% of mechanical repairs.

Now I have to find and fix my electrical issue.