Headhunter Toilet Trouble

[Lee Bornstein]

Replaced defective Pressure Switch on my Water Pump today and now, when I flush the toilet, my Headhunter Toilet will not stop running water till I shut off water pump for a few minutes.

I know the Headhunter operates on an electronically timed valve... Press button and water runs for a few seconds then shuts off.

Just thinking.... If muck got into the pump pressure switch it probably got into the toilet solenoid valve as well and that could explain why toilet doesnt stop running till water pressure is turned off. No filter on flush water other than chunk filter on inlet to pump I think.

Anyone have any experience with this toilet? Where is the water solenoid valve for toilet? Rebuildable? Any Suggestions on how to remedy this?

Water here at Lake of Ozarks is Rising Fast! Help!

Lee & Barb

[merle&louise]

Lee,

I don't think that I have a Headhunter toilet, I believe that mine is a Microphor. It has an adjustable screw that controls the amount of water that enters the bowl when flushed. The adjusting screw also adjust the TIME that the flap stays open.

Do you have any literature on the unit that would show where this adjusting screw might be located? If not, maybe if you Google "Headhunter toilet" you could download an owner's manual.

Good Luck - toilets are very important!

[Kevin Erion]

Tuga,
The timer on a Microphor is only for the amount of water allowed to fill the bowl, the flapper valve is on a cam and follows the rotation of that cam. I don't think our toilets work the same as the other brand that Lee has, not sure but I think.
Kevin

[garyde]

Lee, if you turn off the pump do you still have water pressure when you are hooked up to shore water? The reason I ask, maybe your water pressure valve is too high on your pump. See if you have any problem just using shore water pressure.

[nrhareiner]

Good morning,

Ther may be two reasons for your problem with the head hunter toilet. The first is a control ususally found on the left lower side of the bowl behind a removable panel. It is low near the floor. This controls the amount of time the toilet is activated with every flush. The second area may be the small diaphram valve in the mechanism itself. Jon W. knows more about that fix since we both have had problems over the past year.

If the pump was a problem with "gunk" the activation control could have been effected.

Kim Sloan
02 Vantare XLII S?

[Lee Bornstein]

Found the Problem.

Diaphram on Headhunter Flush Valve has small pin-hole to allow water to repressurize diaphram after flushing. Some debris got into it and plugged pinhole.

Major task to get at Flush Valve - its buried in the wall behind a cabinet and you've gotta be 2 ft tall and skinny as a tooth pick to maneuver in the space available.

Had to remove 1" pressure inlet hose to move valve enough to get at the screws holding diaphram in place. Once I got to valve it was easy enough to remove, clean and replace diaphram.

Lots of swearing though. Doubt is someone the size of JDUB could maneuver around in there. I had my head and only one arm inside cabinet as I worked on it. Wish I had enpugh room for both hands.

All fixed. In case anyone's interested, toilet uses less that 0.7 gallons per flush. I captured and measured blackwater flow (clean water) at sewer hose.

Lee

[lewpopp]

Come on over and catch a flush of my toilet. You would wish for 10 ft legs to run, never mind being skinny to fit in small places. I'll let you measure my flushes as long as you want. Good boy, good boy. Now we have all of the facts. except... The quantity you measured, does that also take into consideration the solids?

[Lee Bornstein]

Lew:
Just measuring water consumption not blackwater load.

Wouldn't want to test it on your coach till you get all the Zimmerman suggested updates installed.

Never know what might come out of your tank till it's nautically certified.

Lee

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Lee,


Sorry for the lack of response, but I was away playing pilot. It was my time for my regular recurrent training and I was being abused by an instructor in the plane and sim.

I know you have your problem solved, but at the risk of repeating something previously posted all Headhunter toilet owners should do some self educating before problems occur.

I had a similar situation to yours. I ended up learning more than I ever wanted to know about our toilet flush valves and the plumbing system.

All Headhunter toilet owners should at the very least look at their coaches and verify the water line to the Headhunter valve has at least a check valve, and preferably a valve to turn off the water to the toilet. If it has no check valve, and a problem occurs like Lee's or mine, you will backflow toilet water into the fresh water holding tank.

A short version of the system operation: The push button on the toilet is electronic and has the timing built into it. It actuates and electronic solenoid on the flush valve and that opens the valve to flow water to the toilet. A manually adjusted ball valve, teed off the toilet water supply tube can be opened or closed a little to regulate the water level in the bowl.

The flush valve will shut off as long as the small orfice in the rubber diaphragm is not blocked. Water flows through that orfice and it equalizes pressure on both sides of the diaphragm and the valve closes. On the valve is a small plastic knob. You can manually turn that knob to actuate the flush cycle in the event the electronic push button fails.

The knob has to be returned to the off position to stop the water flow.

Lee's problems in accessing the valve were the same as mine, and I relocated my valve after I resolved my problem. I think the valves and the system are very trouble free, but as owners you should seriously consider learning where the flush valve is located, how to access it, and how you can remove the screws around the top to clear anything that might have blocked the orfice. The time to do that is when nothing is wrong, because if you are tooling down the road and someone uses the toilet and does not realize the toilet is still running you can have unintended consequences. And turning off the pump to stop the flow is OK, but you really need to know if you have that check valve in the system, because if not, a zero water pressure condition, with an open flush valve contaminates your fresh water supply with the contents of the toilet.

[Stelan73]

We had the exact same problem a a few months ago. We removed the toilet (a real pain) and cleaned the diaphargm. The toilet worked properly for about 15 flushes and then the problem reappeared. We eventually had to have a new diaphargm installed and haven't had a problem since. Your symptons are exactly the same ones we had.

Steve Lane