jabsco marine head system question

[Vince]

As we know those 6 inch inspection ports don't leave room enough for 2 hands and the ability to see what those 2 hands are doing at the same time.

 

[Fishtales]

yea. those connections look bad. you could have an open.

 

[seasick]

Looking at those screw terminal blocks gives me the willies. I would start checking there.
Just as a clarification on the macerator pumps, 'MyOtherBoat" has a pump and macerator built into the base of the head and a 2nd macerator pump mounted behind a panel aft, not in the holding tank

You mentioned that you had the tank pumped out. If that worked and you have a Y valve, to pump overboard the valve has to be turned to the other to work. Granted, the pump will run ( make noise) but the tank won't get drained.
I am not sure that the Y valve is mandatory but if you have one, the law requires you to either lock it or fix in in some other way so that you can not dump overboard by mistake. In my neck of the woods, if you get boarded within the 3 mile limit and they want to be picky, not having the overboard valve off and locked can result in a summons and fine.

 

[Vince]

here another pic and the books directions, the book shows a fuse at the pump out button, I do not have this fuse at that locationView attachment 10408View attachment 10410View attachment 10408View attachment 10410

 

[Vince]

So I do not have a y valve, there is a ball valve for over board discharge. That ball valve located through a hatch is at the bottom of the hull. It can be closed manually. Same laws here in mass. I have the manual jabsco head that hand pumps to the tank. Looks to be a 3/4 inch hose coming off the top of the tank for over board discharge. My guess is 1 macerator in the tank

 

[Fishtales]

You should have a deck pump out cover as well no?
Did you check the fuse on the tank monitor panel? Is it removable from the front or do you have to get at it from the rear?

 

[Vince]

I just pulled the pump control off and tested for power no power going to the control . I pretty sure I followed the power wire from fuse panel right to the
control. I swapped out the fuse again but nothing. I don't see an inline fuse anywhere.

 

[Fishtales]

I'm still thinking you have a corrosion/wiring issue. I'd clean those wire connections and see if you have a solid connection.

 

[Fishtales]

dumb question forgive me. do you have the breaker on?
do you have a DVM to measure that the fuse is good?
There could be a hard short on the macerator. Might have to remove the black and red wires (assume these are the hot and neutral wires that provide power I believe) to measure the unloaded voltage on the wires. This is the first thing to do as you know your supplying power to the macerator.

 

[Vince]

Im a plumber not an electrician, so me working a set of testers is like watching eat with chop sticks....
But to ensure I was using them correctly, I tested the outlet in the head and got 120v.
I would assume I would have gotton a reading of 13-14 at the control.

Please corrct me if im wrong

 

[Vince]

ummmm Breaker ????? wtf lol where would that be located

 

[Fishtales]

there should be a breaker on the main panel in the cabin usually for it. at least I have one.

 

[Vince]

Oh, no theres is not 1 for the head, micro, outlets, shore power. That's it

 

[Fishtales]

I have 2. one is "head" (I have an electric jabsco, you don't) and the second right under it. it is labeled "holding tank discharge".

the outlets and micro are 110VAC. the macerator is 12v DC. the macerator should have it's own breaker.

sitting here on pins and needles.....

 

[Vince]

I do not have a fuse on the tank monitor panel, front or rear

 

[Vince]

I think it is possible I was not working my testers correctly, ac vs dc. I need to verify if I am receiving power at the control

 

[Fishtales]

if no macerator one, I'd ensure all 12VDC (for that case everything) is turned on and then start measuring voltage.
can you take some more pics of the tank monitor panel? interested what components are on the other side. sometimes a fuse can be soldered to the board. the silkscreen is C# for caps, R# for resistors, F# for fuses.

 

[Fishtales]

from the tank manager pic (wires showing). one set of black and red is the incoming power. I'm thinking there is a fuse on the board. a second set of black and red go to the macerator. my guess is one set is hot (voltage should be there) and when you press the button to macerate and pump, current flows to the motor through the other set of red and black wires. the 3 white wires are for the LEDs.
i'm guessing, from your wiring diagram pic you posted earlier.

 

[Fishtales]

set your DVM to VDC and measure across the two sets of red and black wires with all the breakers on. Hopefully one has 12v.
if you do and when you press the button to macerate and nothing works, look for the fuse. now the pump may be bad and it pulled too much current blowing the fuse. if so, even if you put a new one in, it likely will blow again. if so, the macerator pump is shot.

 

[Fishtales]

Im a plumber not an electrician, so me working a set of testers is like watching eat with chop sticks....
But to ensure I was using them correctly, I tested the outlet in the head and got 120v.
I would assume I would have gotton a reading of 13-14 at the control.

Please corrct me if im wrong

yes, if you have 120v ac at the plug that is good. that is the incoming ac from the shore power. the DVM is set to AC at this point.
set the DVM to VDC and then measure the control. you should see 12VDC (maybe a bit more/less).