I'm being flushed away

[Richard Barnes]

Help! When I flush my toilet it will not stop. I have to turn the pump off to stop the flow. If on city water, it continues to fill and run into the tank. It doesn't run over but it continues to flow. Any quick ideas on this?

[Alek&Lucia]

Which toilet do you have ? What brand ?

[Richard Barnes]

Which toilet do you have ? What brand ?
I guess the type of toilet would be important - Royal Flush Superbowl. I do 't have a manual.

[Sid Tuls]

Hi Richard, I'm sure if you go online there will be something to help you. I had problem with mine it is a microphor toilet and they had a manuel online to help me. Good luck!!

[jack14r]

there is a control which is hooked to 2-3 wires on the right side of the toilet behind the bowl next to the wall.The controller is usually velcroed behind the panel,it is hard to find,it will take a mirror and a lot of looking to find it,you can turn the screw and I bet it will change how long the toilet flushes for.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Richard,

If the toilet you describe is a Headhunter there are only two parts you are likely going to be concerned with. One is the push button on the side (RH as you sit on the bowl, LH as you face the toilet) and the second is the flush valve. The button on the bowl is a switch and it momentarily activates a solenoid in the flush valve. That solenoid operation unseats a diaphragm causing water to flow for flushing. It is possible the switch is stuck closed but less likely than a clogged diaphragm.

In the diaphragm is a small hole which will allow pressure to equalize on both sides of the diaphragm allowing it to seat and shut off the flow. I suspect there is some dirt or debris in the hole.

I don't know your floor plan, but if my description of your toilet is correct you have to access the flush valve, remove the six screws, insure the inside of the valve and the diaphragm are clean and reassemble the valve. It should work like a charm after you do that.

Here's the bad news. The valve is likely hidden, hard to access and harder to service. I relocated mine to facilitate service. Here's the worse news. Look in your fresh water bay. The clear braided hose coming from the bottom of the blue accumulator tank should have a check valve in line. That is a dedicated line going directly to the toilet flush valve. If it does not have that check valve, when you turn off the water pump to stop the flow of water into the toilet, the contents of the toilet will back flow into your fresh water tank due to a flush valve stuck open, and no water pressure in the system. It back flows due to gravity.

If you are able to turn off the pump when the flush valve is open, and the water stays in the toilet bowl you have the check valve and life is good.

The photos below show the flush valve (after I relocated it so I could get at it to service it, and the check valve that should be in the water line. The large ball valve was intalled by me so I could service the flush valve if necessary while still having water throughout the bus.

[jelmore]

On that Royal Flush, there is a timer module behind the push button. It has a little blue knob that you can turn to adjust the length of flush. You might give that a try before taking apart your flush valve. I think our timer module is failing. Every couple of weeks we have to readjust the length of the flush.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

In addition to the timer there is also a valve that can be opened or closed to adjust the contents in the bowl.

I'm going to stick with my guess it is a flush valve related issue. If the toilet was working fine one minute and then failed to shut off the next it appears to be the valve. In case the timer or switch is in question, disconnect the wires at the flush valve. If it continues to flush there is the answer.

[Richard Barnes]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your help. I'll be working on this tomorrow and I'll let you know the result. You're teh best!

[Richard Barnes]

Thanks Sid, How are you? How was your charity event?

[Richard Barnes]

Jon,

I've noticed a problem with the toilet over the past few months. With the water pump on, the toilet may flush for 5 seconds or it may run for a minute or longer. If it ran longer than 10 seconds, I'd turn off the pump and wait a few minutes before energizing the pump again. It just happened occasionally and I put off looking at it. On city water, it depends on the pressure as to whether the flush is normal or just a gravity drain of the water. On city water it does not continue to run like with the pump on. Now with the pump on, it will run continuously until the pump is turned off and on city water it may flush normally or just drain by gravity but no continuous flush like on the pump.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Richard, it is easy to verify if it is the switch or timer by disconnecting the leads from the solenoid at the valve when it fails to stop flushing.

When you say it drains by gravity when you turn the pump off, if you do not have the check valve in the water line to the flush valve it is draining back into your fresh water holding tank. Think about that the next time you brush your teeth.

[James]

We seem to be having a simular problem in that the blue button on the timing module does not seem to affect the length of flush.

Headhunter is quoting the price of the timing module (SBTD-MOD or NCTD-MOD) at over $200.00.

Anybody know of a cheaper source?

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I am not an expert on the Headhunter toilets except I do know that there are three things that affect the length of the flush on my particular installation.

The timing module which I have never touched and it appears to be just fine, the flush valve itself, something sensitive to anything that might affect the flow of water throught the small hole in the diaphragm, and the valve on the side of my toilet (hidden from view with a panel) that can regulate the height of the water in the bowl.

Before I spent $200 or whatever they charge I would rule out anything else affecting the flush timing. I would presume that a voltmeter could be used to check the power output to the solenoid in the flush valve from the timer and check it for consistancy. If I recall the timer is adjustable.

I do not know if the Marathon installation is the same as how Liberty has installed the toilet.

[James]

The timer is adjustable, however turning it from one extreme to the other makes no difference in the length of flush.

There is a large house filter prior to the water takeoff for the toilet so I don't think the hole in the diaphram would be clogged however it may pay to check it. I will also check to see that the timing module is getting power.

All this will have to wait for a month while I go back to the cold in Alaska while the bus stays in sunny Arizona.

[Larry W]

When flushing our headhunter a while back the water would not stop. Turned off the pump to stop the flow. After the pressure went to zero it began to work again in a fashion. Too much water was being used on each flush. I found the adjustable black box and found adjusting it made very little difference in the time or amount of water used on each flush. I think it was using about 2 plus gallons each flush. Just knew it had to be a bad electrical part. After Jon and all his wisdom posted how to clean the value I listened.
This past week I removed the valve and with great care took it all apart. I found that looking through the hole in the diaphram I could see light. Well I cleaned the hole anyway with a soft wire, made sure the hole lined up with the little notch in the plastic part that moves, put it all back in place. Now it works correctly.
Thanks be to Jon.
Wishing all a great Thanksgiving.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Larry, that's good news. I actually like the Headhunter because it is simple and reasonably reliable. My only objection is the way it is installed in our coaches is the ability of the toilet contents able to back siphon when the flush valve fails to shut and pressure in the house is zero if the check valve that should be in the supply line fails. The design as installed in our coaches violates every plumbing code in the nation, but I understand that sometimes in coaches compromises must be made.