First of all, thank you for all of your responses. she (the owner) doesn’t have to empty the tank, but wants to as she can’t get it serviced before some planned trips.. This will allow her to use it if she doesn’t have a bathroom close by on her planned trips. Regular RV repair shops don’t want to service vans. La Mesa is the only authorized dealer and they are two hours away and are booked for months. It’s becoming harder to find RV repair shops here. She called a pump out service but their hose won’t fit down the toilet. She does have valve gates and opened one until she found that the macerator was barely making a noise and only a trickle came out. She immediately closed the valve. We weren’t sure if that valve affects the emergency tank caps that are unreachable underneath the RV. Bob Nestor thanks for your answer on the macerator. The first thing I thought about is the impeller. Thanks for all of your help.