Is it normal for the bowl to not fill?

[jarcher]

Well I finally have my new Raritan PHC head installed, complete with the Raritan inline strainer and soon the TWK. I skipped the vented loop for now, as I was low on time and plan to keep the seacock closed anyhow. I'll get that installed in the coming week.

So after the last clamps were tightened we moved the valve to flush and pumped the handle. Water came in, and went right out. Then it occurred to us that there does not seem to be a way to fill the bowl.

Is that normal? If so, doesn't it result in a pretty gross bowl?

[imagine2frolic]

It should fill. You may have a small switch at the handle, or someplace else for filling, and draining......i2f...as a last resort read the instructions.....lololol...I always throw mine away as soon as I open the package... .

[bubb2]

This is bad. this is very bad. I do not know the fix. On mine I have a lever that one way is fill and the other is empty. The bowls fills to about 1/3.

Without water in the bowl how do you know when to go sailing? As long as there are not white caps in my bowl then I know it's ok to take the boat out.

[deniseO30]

we need a gimbled head for that purpose!

[Pub911]

I have a new (well, new to me) PHC model on my boat and I find too, that the bowl does not fill...in fact...the pump doesn't seem to draw water into the bowl unless I 'prime' it in some manner - typically, with an abundance of beer on board, this is not an issue. But on rare occasions, I have to pour a cup or 2 of water to make the thing do its thing.

Now the back-story - this head was a gift. I got a free head in the parking lot of a Ruby Tuesday's in Fishkill, NY. Hold your snickering. A new and good fried was gracious enough to part with one. You know who you are and thank you.

But back to the mechanical question. Is this normal? Does it suggest maintenance is required?

[Sailormann]

Is it normal for the bowl to not fill?

Yup - that would be YOUR job

[jarcher]

The pump has two settings, "FLUSH" and "DRY." I did follow the instructions. It does not make any reference to any way to draw water into the bowl without discharging it at the same time.

Today I installed the TWK (toilet water kit) which is just a Tee check valve that draws some cleaning solution in with the sea water. The instructions said to remove two parts of the pump. When I did, it completely stopped working, which is what I expected it to do. I put them back and it worked again. So much for instructions.

[huguley3]

Originally Posted by Pub911

But back to the mechanical question. Is this normal? Does it suggest maintenance is required?

I just put in a brand new out of the box grocco hf head and mine does not fill with water. The water goes in the bowl and gets pushed right through. The grocco hf that came with the boat would fill with water that was coming back through the valve because the base was corroded and the silicone the po tried to seal it with did not work.

I was kind of expecting that the fill lever would put water in the bowl as well and then the flush would pump it out. But it fills and flushes at the same time. I did not have to assemble the pump part so I am assuming it is put together correctly and that is how it is supposed to work. Having taken apart the previous one I don't think it could be put together wrong and function at all. They are pretty simple on the inside.

[sailingdog]

No, the bowl on a manual marine head does not fill like a household bowl... but pre-filling the bowl by pouring a little water into the bowl is probably a good idea before using it for solid waste...since it will allow the head to flush more cleanly...

[jarcher]

If the bowl does not fill, I can't see how these things don't get, you know, stuck all over the bowl then stink like crazy...