Operation of head on 23 foot Wahoo

I have recently began using my father's boat on the bay. i wanted to know how to use the on-board head. he said he never touched it, he just uses a bucket. i have my lady onboard lately, and want to figure the thing out. it has a manual hand pump with a petcock like lever on one tube coming up from the below he floor. can anyone advise the procedure of using this? i know you cant pump it overboard, but what is the purpose of the valve?
thanks



the red circle is the valve.

Re: Operation of head on 23 foot Wahoo

Hi, Joe- welcome to iboats. If you could find the brand of toilet it is, the manufacturers all have users manuals available. IN GENERAL, they work like this...

1. Flip the petcock one way or the other. One position is used to draw water into the toilet, the other position is used to pump it out.

2. The round black thingie above the petcock is the pump. Pull up, push down repeatedly to either fill the bowl or pump it out, depending on the position of the petcock.

I'm a little confused about the hoses leading to the toilet, unless the pic just doesn't show them all. One hose should lead to a thru-hull fitting that allows outside water to be drawn into the toilet. That thru-hull should be equipped with a seacock that you can open and close (to prevent the boat from sinking if the toilet intake hose breaks). A second leads to a holding tank into which you pump the waste until you get to a pumpout station to empty the tank.

If your boat doesn't have a holding tank, that head CANNOT be used unless you're in a zone where dumping is allowed... that'd be at least several miles offshore. Read up here...

The West Advisor: Heads Holding Tanks

Re: Operation of head on 23 foot Wahoo

Thanks John, I got the system partially working. I replaced the diverter valve, so the output can be switched either out through the bottom, or to the holding tank. I also replaced the vented elbow. The issue is that the pump brings in water fine, but does not evacuate the bowl properly. With the water intake valve open, the pump gets plenty of water into the bowl, but with the water intake valve (red circle in photo) closed, the pump cannot be pumped, it is like it is pressurized. I think I will get my yard to just replace it with an electric model in the fall.

BTW, the toilet says "Compact". "Raritan eng. co."

Re: Operation of head on 23 foot Wahoo

Raritan has been making good marine heads for a long time. Scroll down on this page- you have an old model. User manuals and tech support are available through their site.

Raritan Engineering | Identify Your Head

Somebody else may chime in, but I think you need to wire that valve permanently in the 'to the holding tank' position to be legal.