It's a long story but I ended up with a NIB 12V macerator pump off Craigslist. I wanted 12V power by the sewer outlet for it and this is what I came up with:There was an unused 12V fused circuit on the converter. I got some 12ga flexible speaker wire from the local stereo shop, stripped and tinned the pair on one end, and tied it to the converter and ground buss bar.On the other end, the pump had a flat 2-pole connector on it and I happened to have a mate for it from another project. I soldered and shrink wrapped it to the power cable and fished it out the hole for the outside shower hose. I have enough slack to pull it 3' out of the hole, and I just stuff it back inside when I'm done with it.I figured this was easier than running a cable through the enclosed underbelly from the batteries.

I was lucky. my sewer hookup was in a compartment next to my generator and I just tapped onto the two leads there.bumpy

If that works, great. Some mac's can require beaucoup power.

2oldman wrote:If that works, great. Some mac's can require beaucoup power.Yeah, the pump has a 20A fuse in its switch.I checked, the WFCO is rated for 20A per circuit on the 12V side. Hence the 12ga wire.

Like the other posters, the use of speaker wire had me a little alarmed as these macerators can draw 20 amps or more. Twenty amps requires 12 gauge wire. For safety's sake, I installed a 30 amp fuse on 10 gauge wire to the macerator I had in my boat. I never had any problems and it worked just fine. Maybe my installation was a bit over capacity, but it made me feel safe. Using a wire that is too small can cause the wire to get hot and burn the insulation, and/or cause the voltage to drop which could damage the motor to the macerator.

Listen to what FishingHat has to say as he's right on track....

12V Macerator Pump Power | Good Sam Community

Bumpyroad
Explorer
May 14, 2014
I was lucky. my sewer hookup was in a compartment next to my generator and I just tapped onto the two leads there.
bumpy
2oldman
Explorer II
May 14, 2014
If that works, great. Some mac's can require beaucoup power.
mbopp
Explorer
May 14, 2014
2oldman wrote:
If that works, great. Some mac's can require beaucoup power.

Yeah, the pump has a 20A fuse in its switch.
I checked, the WFCO is rated for 20A per circuit on the 12V side. Hence the 12ga wire.
Fishinghat
Explorer II
May 14, 2014
Like the other posters, the use of speaker wire had me a little alarmed as these macerators can draw 20 amps or more. Twenty amps requires 12 gauge wire. For safety's sake, I installed a 30 amp fuse on 10 gauge wire to the macerator I had in my boat. I never had any problems and it worked just fine. Maybe my installation was a bit over capacity, but it made me feel safe.

Using a wire that is too small can cause the wire to get hot and burn the insulation, and/or cause the voltage to drop which could damage the motor to the macerator.
BoonHauler
Explorer
May 15, 2014
Listen to what FishingHat has to say as he's right on track....
Lantley
Nomad
May 15, 2014
mbopp wrote:

I figured this was easier than running a cable through the enclosed underbelly from the batteries.

It may have been easier however, I don't believe you have the proper wire or fuse. I would be concerned that the macerator may overload the circuit
SCVJeff
Explorer
May 15, 2014
Make DARN SURE that pump has all the current it needs to do its job. IMO- 12ga for anything longer than a few feet from the battery is looking for trouble.

You're gonna have a very unpleasant surprise when a big wad of TP gets in the shreadder and stalls the pump.
wmoses
Explorer
May 15, 2014
mbopp wrote:
There was an unused 12V fused circuit on the converter. I got some 12ga flexible speaker wire from the local stereo shop, stripped and tinned the pair on one end, and tied it to the converter and ground buss bar.

I have a FloJet macerator and I agree with the other posters who suggested that the 12ga speaker wire is inadequate. Instead I got a nice outdoor grade extension cord of the right length and 8ga 3 conductor wire from Home Depot (cheapest way to get the right length of heavy duty wire). Chopped off the ends and used that as my direct fused connection to the battery. I elected to put an inline 15A fuse in the positive lead from the battery and then I ran the wire under the trailer back to the sewer connector. This way the power is always available to the macerator without having to mess about with the converter.
ralphnjoann
Explorer
May 15, 2014
I have a FloJet, a 12vdc air compressor and a 12vdc impact wrench, so I need 12vdc near the tires on both sides of the trailer and truck and near the sewer connections on the trailer. Rather than the logistics of running wire and mounting outlets, I opted to make a 12vdc extension cord using 10 gauge speaker wire.

I bought two of these and attached one end of the harness to one end of the cable, and the other end of the harness, along with a 20 amp inline fuse, to the truck battery. I then attached a cigarette lighter receptacle to the other end of the cable. I used half of the second harness to make a pigtail for the trailer battery.

I keep the extension cord in the truck and connect it to whichever battery is closest (truck or trailer) when I need to use it.
ralphnjoann
Explorer
May 15, 2014
SCVJeff wrote:
Make DARN SURE that pump has all the current it needs to do its job. IMO- 12ga for anything longer than a few feet from the battery is looking for trouble.

You're gonna have a very unpleasant surprise when a big wad of TP gets in the shreadder and stalls the pump.

The FloJet manual shows 12 AWG for 1 to 10 feet and 10 AWG 10 to 20 feet and a 20 amp fuse.

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