Bargebuilder

Some years ago I had a grp cruiser with decks that looked very similar to those of the OP, with flaking layers of paint accumulated over many years of previous ownerships. I carefully removed 98% of the old coating with a polycarbide disc on a cordless angle grinder. These discs can be aggressive, so a light touch is needed, but the process is actually quite quick. After much research, I repainted the deck with Zinsser Allcoat, a water based paint that is often used on uPVC. It rolls or brushes on very quickly and easily with a matt or silk finish as desired and sticks phenomenally well to plastics. After three years there has been no cracking or flaking and the colour is pretty much as rich as it was on the day I applied the paint. Yes, once painted grp will need to be refreshed with another coat every few years, but I have been very impressed with the Zinsser product and expect it to last for 5 years or more.

If you can find a place where the copper of the red and black wires that go to the pump are exposed, touch the red and black of the multimeter to these and press the toilet's empty button, making sure the boats water supply is turned off first so you don't fill the bowl again. The pump should energise as part of the empty cycle and the multimeter should show a bit over 12v. If it doesn't, then it's the switch or the control box that's at fault. That's assuming that the breaker hasn't cut the power to the toilet. I believe the breaker should be rated at 40A, so you might like to check that it is. Check the output of the breaker to make sure you've got 12V there as well. You could use a 12v lightbulb and a couple of bits of wire instead of a multimeter. That groaning noise might be a blockage, or it might be a pump bearing. Given how important the pump is to life aboard, especially if you have visitors, I always kept a spare one for emergencies: we did live aboard though.

You've checked the circuit breaker or fuse is okay? Do you have a multi meter to check that power is getting to the evacuation pump? Turning off the water pump and running the tap to remove pressure will stop most of the flush water from making a mess when you detach the metal pipe, but have some rags ready. The big hoses will be secured to the pump with big jubilee clips I think and should come off quite easily. The pump should come out next for a good clean. There could be an obstruction, but I'm guessing that it's an electrical problem with the pump or its controls, hence why testing it before dismantling everything might be a wise thing to do. If you've got a 'Silence' this is what you can expect to see: https://www.thetford.com/part/tecma-silence-plus-rv/

I added two extra switches to our Tecma as an addition to the automatic switch panel that comes with the toilet, one to open the flush solenoid and the second to activate the evacuation motor. By doing this, we could give the loo a tiny flush and empty the bowl without going through the manufacturer's flush sequence, thus saving a lot of water. If economising on water usage is important to you, get whoever mends the toilet for you to do the same. It's a cheap modification, just the cost of a couple of switches.

At one side of the perimeter trim, you should find a recess into which you can insert a flat headed screwdriver and gently twist. Go on, give it a go: you'll save yourself a fortune over calling someone in, and the parts, if needed, won't be cheap. Do mend it rather than replace it, as they are probably the best macerator toilet available.

If there is no noise at all, a blockage isn't as likely as an electrical fault with the switch or a faulty pump. Behind the loo is really just a pump with a house going to it from the bowl waste outlet and another hose going from it towards your blackwater tank. You could clean out both hoses and the pump and the waste valves, but it's unlikely that the problem lies with a blockage.

It's also possible that the pump has had it, or the electrical connections have parted or become corroded. How old is the toilet? I'd expect the pump to last 6 or more years of liveaboard use as they are well made. You'll need to unscrew the ceramic bowl from the floor and pull the toilet away from the wall to work on it.

If the pump makes no noise at all, the problem might be the relay behind the switch panel. Remove the trim, undo the two screws, remove the switch panel and give the two black boxes at the back a sharp knock.

Does the pump motor spin but with no suck? Inside the toilet there is a bend in the rubber hose within which an air lock can form. If that happens, the pump blades spin in air rather than liquid and no suction is developed. Older models included a stub onto which an air bleed tube was fitted and this tiny tube can block. On more recent models, this bleed tube was part of the moulding and so less likely to get blocked. Whichever you've got, if the pump is spinning but not sucking, you may have this air lock. You can see the tiny tube that gets blocked here: https://highskyrvparts.com/rv-parts/sanitation/toilets-service-parts/thetford-toilet-discharge-hose-38190

I had a Tecma Silence for 8 years or so. They are extremely difficult to block if only human waste and cheap loo paper is flushed away. If you put a bucket full of clean water into the bowl and press flush, does it all get sucked away promptly?

From one end to the udder...

That's nothing compared to Buttercup the cow who swam a mile through the Foulridge Tunnel and was rescued at the other end.

For inspectors for whom this is true, it's not because they don't charge enough for a visit, it's because they can't get enough inspections booked. Maybe there are too many of them.

I've had one for 7 years now, only for summer use, not 24-7 during the winter months and it's always started first time and produced loads of heat without issue. Best to get an appropriately sized one and run it at 3/4 or more output to stop it from sooting up. If you do run it at low output, push it up to full power for the last 10 minutes of operation before powering it down to burn off any accumulated soot. It used to be said that buying an entire heater costs less than just servicing an Eberspacher!

We paid £180 last year for a 23 minute inspection where the inspector sat drinking tea and asking us questions about our boat's installation rather than looking for himself. He only went into just one cabin and glanced briefly under the engine hatch before passing the boat. He lived very locally to our boat and we were one of three jobs he had booked for that day. Make up your own mind if that represents good value to the boater. How much could a disc actually cost if it's price was added to the BSS invoice and would it be worth the extra if it helped the CRT to cleanse the waterway of unsafe, unlicensed boats.

Or towards a brand new porta potti with all new gaskets, valves etc.

BSS inspectors have to visit the boat to do their inspection, so they could hand over a 'passed' disc there and then; no need for a printer, a postal address or a visit to a high street printer. Make the displaying of this disc mandatory and remove vessels not displaying one.

Great suggestion.

Are they licensed?

Isn't the DVLA a government organisation and having cars taxed and insured a legal requirement? Presumably the ability to remove a car that doesn't comply is enshrined in law. The C&RT would, I suppose, have to go to court before removing a boat to avoid being accused of theft! If the C&RT know that they are never going to get any money out of a boats owner, then it's cheaper for them to just forget that it's there and do nothing. It also will look better for them to not record its presence, if that's what they do.

How could they enforce a requirement to display a licence or reg no? The only penalty could be removal of such a vessel without contacting it's unknown owner first.

If even the CRT's possibly conservative estimate of over 2,000 known unlicensed boats only resulted in 100 removals in a year, at what point are they going to go after totally anonymous vessels with no known owner to contact?

In that case, even CRT staff won't know, but what percentage of such unnamed boats showing no license or number are likely to actually be licensed?

Is it possible that the CRT would rather those who pay their license fee not know just how many people don't do so? Now, only CRT staff know for sure.

It was roughly when I was eating my crunchy nut cornflakes this morning.