Bounder: Dometic vacuflush

[Kpjp]

Glad to here your toilet is now functioning. Happy camping.


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[Mak 1]

Our vacuflush died.no red or green lights no vacuum tank is empty,.Fleetwood guy not much help. found a breaker in inverter comp.but I jumped it and no help, still dead,he also said to look in coach battery comp for inline fuse nothing in there any ideas?? it worked fine a day ago 2016 Bounder 36E

[Mak 1]

I jumped the wires going to the black tank float and it started working.I'll look into whay at a later time

[Brockx]

Originally Posted by sehunter

OK just got my MH back from River city RV in Sacramento. Took it in on Monday had it diagnosed and ordered the vacuum switch by noon. They received it about 4 PM today and had my hands on the steering wheel by 6:30. They did this at 1/10 of the price of Findlays in Las Vegas and about the same job. Hmmm!
Anyway there was no blockage just the failure of the vacuum switch.
Thanks for everyone's input.

Stan

IF anyone is still wondering River city RV is excellent.

Happy to hear you got fixed up with minimum pain. I noticed you have the same coach as me (different chassis). Could you share with me the location of the breaker and the vacuum switch they replaced?

[bounderx2]

Originally Posted by Kpjp

When the black tank gets close to full, the vacuum pump stops working and the vaccuflush indicator light stays red (green one does not light). I am not sure what level it stops. If wither the red or green indicator lite is on, you have 12Vdc power to the pump.

Jim

The vacupump in my 2016 33c Bounder did not shut off when the tank was full. It just pumped raw sewage up the vent pipe & all over the roof or my coach. Big concern is how much sewage leaked in to the insulation between the roof & ceiling. Also concerned about mold. Can't monitor tank levels because probes are incorrect. Really discusted with this RV we've only had it for 4 months. We are seasoned rvers this is our 7th RV. The quality has gone down hill. Sorry for the rant. Ep


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[Steeljag]

What is the purpose of the vacu- pump ? Can I guess the black tank is located at a distance, or angle normal gravity drop is ineffective ?

[Brockx]

Originally Posted by Steeljag

What is the purpose of the vacu- pump ? Can I guess the black tank is located at a distance, or angle normal gravity drop is ineffective ?

Outside of making you worry when it's going to break, it allows placement of the toilet remote from a drop into the tank. Some applications allow 2 toilets to the same tank. In my case against the outside wall. Anything in the toilet is drawn through a small diameter (about 1 inch) to the black tank. I would recommend not to put ice in it as mentioned above.

[Steeljag]

Agreed.....seems like yet another maintaince issue waiting to happen !

[Mak 1]

Ok now so where is the Black tank? I need to check out the black tank float and why it is not working,but don't know where to access it? 2016 Bounder 36E

[Kpjp]

These drawings were emailed to me from Fleetwood Customer Service. If you call them and request the drawings for your unit they will send them to you. These drawings are for a 2014 Bounder 35k.

The float switch is a mechanical switch which may be stuck with obvious black tank contents. You could use your tank flush and try to let the spray clean the float switch. You may have got something attached to the float switch while you were driving with contents in the black tank. There are liquid tank cleaners that you could add to the black tank. If you add any of them, I would do it by using a venturi system on the tank flush supply to suck the tank cleaner out of the bottle.

When I bought my Bounder someone on this forum suggested that you hold the flush foot switch down for at least 3 seconds. The extra water really helps keep the vacuum generator clean. It does fill the black tank faster, but I have had very good service from my vacuflush system. Not sure if it is luck or the use of extra water when flushing.

If you private message me, I can email the owners manual for the vacuflush system. It is a pdf and I do not know how to attach it.

Good luck,
Jim


Jim
2014 Fleetwood Bounder 35k
2007 VW EOS

[Kpjp]

This is the venturi device I use when I am sanitizing the black water tank through the tank flush sprayer.

Jim


Jim
2014 Fleetwood Bounder 35k
2007 VW EOS

[computerguy]

Originally Posted by Kpjp

Attachment 135382

This is the venturi device I use when I am sanitizing the black water tank through the tank flush sprayer.

Jim


Jim
2014 Fleetwood Bounder 35k
2007 VW EOS

You sanitize the black tank? I would think that is a never ending job. Use the toilet once and sanitization (is that a word?) is gone. Flush it yes, drop a bacteria helper, sure. Can't say I've heard of anyone sanitizing a black tank. For sure I will not be doing this.
Learned something new today. It's a good day

[z3406]

Look behind the toilet there usually is a plastic bag zip tied there that has the vacuflush instructions. I'ld take the time to sit down and read those if I had a unit equipped with that system. There is a sticker in that bag that is supposed to be visibly placed in the bathroom. One of the things it says is to hold the flush lever down for at least 3 seconds with every flush.
My experience with the vacuflush system has three very important points
1. Three Second Flush
2. Let the foot control flush pedal slam shut, That will clean the ball with each flush.
3. If leaving the coach for over a week clean the discharge lines in the system. Residue left in the pump mechanism can harden and jam the vacuum generator bellows which usually will trip the circuit breaker. If you don't know where the circuit breaker for your coach is I suggest you call Fleetwood and find out.
Points 1,2 and 3 are all in the Vacuflush manual it's a must read.

Having the red don't flush light on the vacuum panel illuminated and no accompanying pump sound usually means the Black Tank Float switch is indicating a full tank. Drain the tank. No lights on the vacuum panel and the system turned on means the breaker has tripped.
Poor Mak1 has had some unusual symptoms I'm interested is seeing what he finds out. I am attaching the schematic he asked for.

[Kpjp]

Originally Posted by computerguy

You sanitize the black tank? I would think that is a never ending job. Use the toilet once and sanitization (is that a word?) is gone. Flush it yes, drop a bacteria helper, sure. Can't say I've heard of anyone sanitizing a black tank. For sure I will not be doing this.

Learned something new today. It's a good day

The float is a mechanical device. When toilet paper attaches to it, it can cause it not to function. I used this method to free up the float and have not had the problem return. I was afraid to flush the the tank cleaning chemical through the vacuum generator, so this is how I opted to get the chemical into the black tank.

Jim


Jim
2014 Fleetwood Bounder 35k
2007 VW EOS