I went shopping for Teflon grease with no success.
Bearing grease is listed as water resistant
Is there any good equilvalent to Teflon grease. At the end of the day I may
have to order Teflon grease from one of those Marine Internet stores. With
the price of gasoline looking for grease could cost more than the cost of
shipping.

"Peggie Hall" wrote in message
...
Ryk wrote:
When things get a little sticky I just flush a couple of tablespoons
of olive oil and it gets much smoother. No adverse consequences I've
noticed over the years.

Waiting till "things get a little sticky" is tantamount to waiting till
your engine starts to smoke before adding any oil...'cuz toilets don't
GET "a little sticky" till all the lubrication is gone, and every time
you pump a "sticky" manual toilet wears the seals and o-rings.

So yes, what you're doing is...ok, but wears out the rubber parts in
your toilet faster, and is also a never-ending job every few
weeks...whereas an annual shot of thick teflon grease once a year as
PREVENTIVE maintence is only a 10 min. job once a year and extemds the
life of the seals and o-rings by years.

But...it's your boat...and if you don't mind spending twice as much for
olive oil as you need to, and are happy taking your toilet apart at
least once a year to replace rubber parts one at a time instead of just
rebuilding it once every 5-6 years, it's ok with me.

--
Peggie
----------
Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987
Author "Get Rid of Boat Odors - A Guide To Marine Sanitation Systems and
Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor"

http://www.seaworthy.com/store/custo...0&cat=6&page=1

On Thu, 21 Apr 2005 01:04:54 GMT, Peggie Hall
wrote:

Ryk wrote:
When things get a little sticky I just flush a couple of tablespoons
of olive oil and it gets much smoother. No adverse consequences I've
noticed over the years.

Waiting till "things get a little sticky" is tantamount to waiting till
your engine starts to smoke before adding any oil...'cuz toilets don't
GET "a little sticky" till all the lubrication is gone, and every time
you pump a "sticky" manual toilet wears the seals and o-rings.

So yes, what you're doing is...ok, but wears out the rubber parts in
your toilet faster, and is also a never-ending job every few
weeks...whereas an annual shot of thick teflon grease once a year as
PREVENTIVE maintence is only a 10 min. job once a year and extemds the
life of the seals and o-rings by years.

But...it's your boat...and if you don't mind spending twice as much for
olive oil as you need to, and are happy taking your toilet apart at
least once a year to replace rubber parts one at a time instead of just
rebuilding it once every 5-6 years, it's ok with me.

It must be either a fresh vs salt difference, or I am lubing it more
often than you think, or something. It has been 4 years since the head
was last serviced and everything is working fine. (The same was true
for 9 years on our previous boat when we sold it.) Admittedly, it is
not in full time use. Dribbling in a little olive oil after pumping
out doesn't seem like a job the way opening the pump does and the
expense is negligible.

Ryk

I have done this for years in salt water.
First I had to look for and unscrew the bottle containing the olive oil and
then flush a couple of tablespoons of oil. Not to mention my wife getting
upset at me for using her olive oil.
Now, I have to unscrew the hex nut at the piston rod below the pump handle
and insert some grease. The time and motion involved are about similar.
Lubrication of the piston is quicker than having to move the sticky pump
handle up and down to get to olive oil to coat the moving parts. Not to
mention that still going to have olive oil on board.

"Ryk" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 21 Apr 2005 01:04:54 GMT, Peggie Hall
wrote:

Ryk wrote:
When things get a little sticky I just flush a couple of tablespoons
of olive oil and it gets much smoother. No adverse consequences I've
noticed over the years.

Waiting till "things get a little sticky" is tantamount to waiting till
your engine starts to smoke before adding any oil...'cuz toilets don't
GET "a little sticky" till all the lubrication is gone, and every time
you pump a "sticky" manual toilet wears the seals and o-rings.

So yes, what you're doing is...ok, but wears out the rubber parts in
your toilet faster, and is also a never-ending job every few
weeks...whereas an annual shot of thick teflon grease once a year as
PREVENTIVE maintence is only a 10 min. job once a year and extemds the
life of the seals and o-rings by years.

But...it's your boat...and if you don't mind spending twice as much for
olive oil as you need to, and are happy taking your toilet apart at
least once a year to replace rubber parts one at a time instead of just
rebuilding it once every 5-6 years, it's ok with me.

It must be either a fresh vs salt difference, or I am lubing it more
often than you think, or something. It has been 4 years since the head
was last serviced and everything is working fine. (The same was true
for 9 years on our previous boat when we sold it.) Admittedly, it is
not in full time use. Dribbling in a little olive oil after pumping
out doesn't seem like a job the way opening the pump does and the
expense is negligible.

Ryk

Haven't you written elsewhere that the olive oil will prevent the necessary
air from getting to the contents of the holding tank?

It depends on how much oil. A tablespoon once every couple of weeks
prob'ly won't cause any problems...but one or more "glugs" of it down
the toilet at once will put an "oil slick" on the surface of the tank
contents that will seal it, turning the contents below anaerobic...and
therefore VERY ripe.

--
Peggie
----------
Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987
Author "Get Rid of Boat Odors - A Guide To Marine Sanitation Systems and
Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor"
http://www.seaworthy.com/store/custo...0&cat=6&page=1