[svjobeth]

Just heard that Groco heads are back ordered for a year. Seems like production problems. They must have moved their production to China.

About three years ago we ordered a new Groco. It leaked. After working with the factory to adjust, then then rebuild rebuild, we could not get it to stop leaking. Tried another new one, and it has the same problem. Their tech told us they had just changed manufacturing, so I am assuming it was a manufacturing defect. I would hope it has not taken them three years to fix, but I wonder if they are still having problems.

It's been a couple of months since I've had a chance to pop in. Lo and behold, here's a discussion of one of the issues we've come up against in our refit.

We decided to replace our old Groco KH head with a new one. We ordered the new one from Defender in February at a great price; part of a Valentine's Day sale. (Just what every wife wants for Valentine's - especially when Valentine's Day is also her her birthday! I'm lucky I married a sailor!) It arrived and we delivered it to the Hinckley yard. A few days later the mechanic opens the box. We just happened to be in the yard at the time. He called us into his shop and showed us the bowl. None of the interior bowl surface was glazed. Neither was the rim. Only the exterior of the bowl, to within an inch of the rim, had received glazing. The surfaces had a gritty, rough texture on par with a 220 grit sandpaper.

So, we returned it, and re-ordered. We were told there was a backorder on the KH head, and that shipping was set for late May. Late May came, as did an email from Defender and Groco. There would be no KH heads shipped until further notice, due to production and QC issues with 'vendors.' So there.

We gave converting to a La Vac very serious consideration. Ultimately, we decided to have our old pump rebuilt/reconditioned by Groco. Our old bowl is fine, but the seat needs replacing. A factory rebuild option seems a viable one. Patrick at Groco was beyond helpful when I called to ask about rebuilding the unit. At an estimated $350.00, a pump rebuild is certainly a better option than a brand new replacement pump. These are not cheap heads, by any means. The pump was shipped off to Groco in Maryland last week.

There's more posted on our blog, with a couple of fresh updates on the refit progress, and a few tales of woe, now resolved. Link is below.

 

[svjobeth]

Our rebuilt Groco K pump arrived late last week - we dealt with Patrick there as well - and it looks like new. He even cleaned up a shut off valve on the intake line which the previous owners had fitted - and I wanted off!

Of course, it hasn't been used yet. I'm sure it will be fine - Groco stands behind their products. We're quite happy with the way it turned out.

 

[svjobeth]

If you have a rebuild kit from Groco a new Joker valve should be in there.

It's not something I look forward to doing, but the rebuild on one of these heads isn't anything to be intimidated about. The Groco supplied instructions are straightforward. Having fingers which work like nimble spider legs would be a huge help for some of it.