I'm being flushed away

[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.