Galley Maid Toilet-Slow flush—Help?

You probably have a clog from someone forgetting to hold the button for the full 5 seconds. Go to the intake side of the pump with a bucket, disconnect the hose and clean it out. inspect the pump for further clog. Hopefully that will be all that's needed. If the pump needs to be rebuilt that gets expensive.

The galley maid screw pumps will eat most anything.

Can you clarify some of your wording? We need to set a baseline.

"you 'hit' the button" & "I 'hold' the flush button" - are you doing the same thing the first time as you are the second? or are you just hitting the button briefly? Is HIT the same as HOLD?

When you "hit" the button, assuming you are just holding it briefly, the fresh water will come in before the bowl begins to empty. With the fresh water valve on, hold the button for 5 seconds, what happens? Hold it till the it fills to near the top then stop. (As you say it will go down after a couple hours)

"fills the bowl" - do you mean some fresh water goes into the bowl? or the bowl actually fills up?

I don't see a clog in this, when the fresh water valve is off and he holds the button, the bowl empties. So how fast does it empty? Does it slowly empty? (back to clog theory) does it empty with passion? (then back to the above)



I assume it is one of these?

And do you hear the pump running? They are very loud.

Well if Hit and Hold are the same, and the bowl is slow to empty then I have to say that NYCap is probably right, something is not grinding and likely clogged. But clogs should be brief if it made it to the macerator, cigars are nothing for it, but it will be foiled by tampon strings and condoms. Before I pull off the hose at the macerator, I would try to first use a plunger and move the blockage closer to the macerator, fill the bowl, push the button and plunge at the same time, the pump will suck and you will push, may dislodge the blockage and get it to the grinder, if so, all will work itself out, if not, you'll have to pull off the hose and fish up in there. Hopefully the pump is not far from the head.

I'd try the plunge before I decided to do a rebuild, $500 rebuild or a $5 plunger?

Don't plunge it. You'll probably blow the hose apart. Don't snake it either. This is not PVC pipe. These pumps will swallow almost anything, but if you don't hold the button for at least 5 seconds the solids will only go to the front of the pump and then clog. Subsequent pushing won't have enough umph to get the clog through the pump. Get on the latex gloves, unclamp the hose and shake it into a bucket. With a pick clean out any clog in the pump. It's a dirty job, but a mechanic will probably charge about $600 to do it.

On the boat I used to captain, the first I'd run with the GalleyMaid, I got out the Brother P-touch and made very clear signs that can be seen by anyone sitting or standing and also explained to all visitors that it's imperative to hold the button for 5 seconds. Learned the lesson the hard way.

Raz Marine in Lauderdale can sell the parts or rebuilt it. Or from Galley Maid.

The bowl is getting emptied in 5-10 seconds, the clog is not that bad. Adding some pressure WHILE pushing the button should not be an issue. With one end sucking, the other end pushing I doubt you will blow open a hose unless it is very worn and crusty then you need to replace it anyway. If the clog is not at the pump it will get there and then you can see what happens and decide. But I would try it before I had to open up a big mess. The sanitation hose is a VERY tight fit on the end. I would open it up as a last resort. Because that hose is a pita to put on or off.

And you can buy switches now that have the timer built in, no need to hold it.

This, usually if the motor runs and it fills faster than it drains. Like Rcrapps said, the stater and rotor is bad.

If you don't find an obvious clog or problem somewhere, my system is definitely slowed down by Uric Acid\Scale buildup inside the pipe to the holding tank. Since you don't know what maintenance the old owner did, this could be a cause as well. Using "sew clean" does wonders to keep my toilet emptying quickly. Something else to consider...

The rubber rotors are pretty easy, if not disgusting, to replace. I did one and found the hose to be completely choked down with hard calcium buildup. Should have replaced it, but didn't have access to a new hose, so I pounded it on the dock to break everything out. Worked like a champ after that. It's a pretty simple system actually.

Do NOT DO THIS. It will eat the daylights out of your rubber sanitation hoses, holding tank, and holding tank pump.