Porcelain malfeasance

We've been struggling with toilet problems. There's a clever device called a joker valve connected to the back of the toilet in the path of the material being flushed that acts like a sphincter. You can push waste water through in one direction (out) but it clamps shut to prevent flow in the other direction. With age or abuse it relaxes and water begins to leak backward, filling the bowl with dirty sea water.

We observed the bowl filling with water a couple of days ago so we, actually Jeff, swapped out the joker valve.

This is a common enough occurrence that I carry a bag of spare joker valves. Unfortunately the new valve leaks too. Our suspicion is that changing temperatures over several years make the rubber less pliable, so they don't seal as effectively as they once did.

An additional problem has since emerged that makes pumping difficult. For that the whole pump might need to be rebuilt. Thankfully I carry a spair one of those too - a rebuild kit and a complete pump. Jeff is hard at work replacing the pump as I write. It's nice to have someone on board that doesn't mind doing the plumbing work.

It's later in the day now and the toilet situation just keeps getting worse. We replaced the pump with a brand new one. I went to check on it and it hadn't leaked at all. The pumping was smooth and felt really good. I declared the problem fixed.

Tina went down to use it and a stream of explicatives poured out from below decks. The pump had spewed sewage all over the floor. Two screws had stripped their holes and there was no way to seal the pump properly. There still isn't.

Also, the pump seized up. The two problems seem unrelated but that toilet is not going to be operational anytime soon. I'll have to order parts and have them delivered to Campbell River. In the meantime we'll be pooping in a bucket.

I mean Seriously? That toilet has an attitude problem. It has fought every step of the way since leaving Seattle, resisted any resolution of its problems and heaped problem on problem.