1997 268 Islander head pump out problem

[Absolute]

I have a 268 Islander 1997 which has an "electric head" with holding tank fitted from the factory. the problem I have is the boat pump out does not work, the lights show how full the holding tank is but the only way to empty is too have a marina pump out manually. The problem with this is the holding tank is very small.
Looking at the boat manual it does not say much about the system, I would prefer to either pump out directly or know how to get the pump out fixed, does anyone have experience with this problem, any help would be appreciated?

 

[Gman25]

Do you have a macreator pump thats connected to the holding tank that does the pumping out? When you push the pumpout button can you hear a motor running? I had a macerator pump that went bad and stopped working. I had to take off the head of the pump and clear it of something that should not have been put in the head. Nasty fix. Some will recommend to just replace the macerator and toss the old one in the trash. That will be up to you because they are not cheep.From what I recall they are over $200.

2005 300 Marlin w/F250's

 

[1st grady]

I just went through this. I filled the tank with fresh water and the blue chemical to prevent smell. Drove the boat to mix it up good and then had the marina pump it out. No smell at all. There are about 6 screws holding the pump bracket on the top of the tank. Disconnect the three wires from the contact strip and disconnect the outlet hose. I found a wet wipe wrapped around the impeller (mascerator) I cleared it off using a needlenose pliers, sprayed it with Spray nine, rinsed it off and reinstalled it. It worked fine after reinstalling but this past month I went out to check things out and it did not want to run so I will need to pull it again and find out what the problem is. (probably another wipe) I thought about reversing the wire polarity to see if it will run (backwards) Sometimes they need a bump.
You can also have the motor rebuilt. A new Grocco pump is like $500. You can adapt a standard mascerator pump to work for about $200.

 

[Absolute]

Thanks for the information so far, to answer your question when I push the macerator botton I have no noise from the pump just the lights dim so the motor must be blocked or no good. I will have a look at pulling the motor out at this stage I am not even sure how to get access to it?

 

[Gman25]

Sounds like your macerator possibly siezed or it sucked something up that wasnt eaten first. Like I said Nasty Job.Give Grady a call they will tell you where its mounted and how to get to it.

2005 300 Marlin w/F250's

 

[1st grady]

Behind the head on the bulkhead between the cabin and the helm is an access panel with several screws. After removing this panel you will find a plastic holding tank with a brown plastic plate with a hose and wires attached. About six screws hold this brown plate to the top of the holding tank. Remove the wires at the contact strip and the hose from the outlet on the pump and lift straight up. It shouldn't take more than about 15 minutes to remove the pump. The only sticking point may be removing the hose. You will need to use a pliers and twist the hose to loosen it from the nipple. (be sure to remove the hose clamp) I kept a plastic bag nearby and placed the pump directly into it so as not to drip all over the cabin. Put it into a bucket and give it a bath with some disinfectant (spray9) Clean off the chopper and dry it off well. Hook it up to a 12 volt supply and see if it will spin. Then you will have to decide your next course of action. Post your results of this adventure and we can provide advice for the next options. Good Luck.

 

[Absolute]

Thanks Guys I will give it a go, I just bought some blue cleaner and filled the tank with water yesterday & I will pump the holding tank out at the marina today hopefully. Will let you know how I go, i am not sure if I can get a repalcement pump over here in Australia easily if I need it.

 

[BobP]

Just asking - did you open the thru hull valve?

 

[Absolute]

Hi Guys- we have pulled it all apart now and it was blocked up but I beleiev that the pump has had its last day. Could I get some advice please on where to get a replacement, i dont think i can get it in Australia so may have to get it sent from USA. I beleiev the unit is a Grocco GP-50?
Appreciate the help so far- thanks

 

[ocnslr]

Several years ago the macerator pump in our 10-gal holding tank died. Instead of replacing the pump, I replaced the entire tank with a Groco SweetTank. The new tank was 15-gal, and with the air pump on the Sweettank, we never needed to add any chemicals.

The airpump recently died, after running 24/7 for several years. I contacted Groco directly and ordered a replacement over the phone.

Contact info is here: http://www.groco.net/, and they do have direct ordering. Not sure about their shipping to Australia.

Brian

 

[Absolute]

Thanks Brian, I am not sure if i could fit a bigger tank on my 268 or the logistics of getting an entire tank sent from the USA. If possible I would prefer to replace the pump with either a Groco or other if they work just to see how it goes as we are in the middle of our summer so we are using the boat a lot at the moment. any ideas on which pump would be best would be appreciated, I will also look on Groco.net. thanks Rob

 

[Absolute]

Looks like the only place i can purchase is Groco online which is $US 627.
Croco dont have an agent in Australia and the New Zealand distributor is quoting me $1200 to cover delivery which is getting real expensive. I cheacked on a couple of US websites and they sell for around $US 515 but they are not allowed to send them overseas???

 

[LUNDINROOF]

How big is this pump and how much does it weigh?

I'm not sure we have enough time to make this happen but I leave for Sydney on Monday.

For the price of pint of ale I might be able to save you freight if it would fit in our checked baggage and you could get it overnighted to Baton Rouge.

Why wouldn't they ship to Australia? Is there a customs problem? Duty?
Tax?

 

[Absolute]

Thanks LUNDINROOF, sorry for not getting back to you sooner I have not been back on the forum until today. Thank you very much for the offer,I would be more than happy to meet some other GW owners for an ale if ever in Australia. I now have the pump out fixed ended up having to purchase the replacement Groco pump from New Zealand for approx $A 1000 which is pretty expensive. I did put the blue liquid in first and left it for a few days and no smell whatsoever so thank guys for the advice everytrhing is now $100%. This is definitely one of those jobs that was easy to try to put off for another day but as it turned out was not very difficult, the hardest problem was getting access in the bathroom behind the head.- once again thank you to everyone for the helpful advice- Rob