Macerator pump questions

[laknox]

So, with my rig sitting at my sister-in-law's house, and about 80' from her sewer cleanout (basically level), I'm using a macerator pump. Not a huge fan, but it beats the h!ll out of schlepping a tote back and forth. That being said, I have a question. When pumping the black tank, the clear elbow shows completely full, with no air space. When I dump the grey tank, there's always some air space at the top of the elbow. Shouldn't the grey tank have as much venting as the black?

Second question. Not having dumped with the clear elbow and the normal hoses, I'm always surprised at how much comes out of the black tank after I dump it, switch to the grey while the black tank sprayer is running, then dump again. Question is, in y'all's experience, does the 3" hose produce a lot more "pull" to suck more out?

Lyle

[laknox]

:B

Lyle

[Lynnmor]

BarneyS wrote:


Here is the one that I use. It does a good job and shoots a powerful blast of water. I would use it down the toilet while emptying with the macerator.
Barney

Mine shot a powerful blast as well, especially when the blasted thing blew apart and hosed down the bathroom. I now use one that I made, the less Camco junk the better.

[laknox]

Thanks, Barney. Frankly, unless we get some property, we're likely not going to sit =too= much. 🙂 If it gets much worse, I'll probably buy, or make, a wand.

Lyle

[BarneyS]

I think the reason you are seeing stuff still come out after more than one dump is because "stuff" gets into the corners when you just sit in one spot and are not moving around thus mixing the contents. The tank rinser does not reach them well enough - especially the corners on the same side of the tank as the rinse nozzle.

I found that while snowbirding in Florida for 18 years and staying in one spot for 3-4 months, I had to use the wand down the toilet hole about once a month to blast the stuff out after normally using the tank rinser every dump. It would take quite a while before the water ran clear too because the stuff packs quite tightly into the corners!

Here is the one that I use. It does a good job and shoots a powerful blast of water. I would use it down the toilet while emptying with the macerator.
Barney

[aruba5er]

I love my macerator. Recently I had to replace gaskets on it. You wonder how a little pump can discharge all that waste. The impeller is about 2" in diamiter and 3/8 wide. it pumps through a couple of pencil size holes. why worry about it, just accecpt that it works so well. When we go home I know I can clean out the tank rather than having a treat waiting for me next time I get to a park

[Dayle1]

laknox wrote:



I'm still a bit confused about the grey tank not draining as fast as the black. I'm going to contact KZ about the location of the air admittance valve, since it's not under the lav sink, where most are found. Has me wondering if it's starting to go wonky and isn't breathing as it should.

Lyle

The black tank has a very short length of 3" pipe to the pump inlet. The grey tank has a longer 1.5" pipe so the pump is seeing more resistance at the inlet. Just a guess.

[laknox]

Hmmm. Never thought of that. Have to look to be sure, but you're likely right.

Lyle

[opnspaces]

The black tank has a 3 inch dump valve and pipe. The gray tank has a 1 1/2 inch dump valve and pipe. A 1 1/2 inch dump pipe into a 3 inch elbow into the macerator may show air at the top of the elbow if the macerator is faster than the pipe.

[mhardin]

My experience with the macerator is the same when it comes to needing to flush the black tank several times to get everything out. It just doesn't flows fast enough to carry all the solids with it.

[laknox]

ReneeG wrote:
Same for us what way2roll said. The macerator is convenient to have, but if the line is minimal or non existent at the dump station, we stop in there. Goes faster.

I plan on it, for sure! WAY faster! 🙂

Lyle

[laknox]

way2roll wrote:
The standard opening with a regular stinky slinky has the added benefit of physics to allow the tank to dump faster and with more force. A macerator can't leverage gravity and the weight of what's in the tank, but rather a mechanical grinder pump and it's a smaller hose. And you are pushing it 80' on level ground. So the process will be slower and with much less force. I had a built in macerator on a previous Class A and while it does have some advantages, I found that I would have to run the black tank flush a lot more.

It's really weird. The first couple times I emptied the black tank with the pump, the water after the 2nd dump (after running the flush while the grey emptied), was pretty clear, with few solids left. The last couple times, though, as the tank was emptying, it would turn brown again, and big wads of TP (and other things) would start coming out. Same with this morning, with the flush running all the time, and I flushed 3x after the initial dump, and was still getting a fair amount of solids out. Given that DW will be spending another 5 days at here sis's place, it'll still get plenty of use until I dump again this coming Friday. I'm pretty religious about leaving a few gallons of water in the tank whenever I part it, so it makes me wonder if this is stuff that's just been stuck to the tank and is now getting washed out because it's been used so many days in a row.

I'm still a bit confused about the grey tank not draining as fast as the black. I'm going to contact KZ about the location of the air admittance valve, since it's not under the lav sink, where most are found. Has me wondering if it's starting to go wonky and isn't breathing as it should.

Lyle

[ReneeG]

Same for us what way2roll said. The macerator is convenient to have, but if the line is minimal or non existent at the dump station, we stop in there. Goes faster.

[way2roll]

The standard opening with a regular stinky slinky has the added benefit of physics to allow the tank to dump faster and with more force. A macerator can't leverage gravity and the weight of what's in the tank, but rather a mechanical grinder pump and it's a smaller hose. And you are pushing it 80' on level ground. So the process will be slower and with much less force. I had a built in macerator on a previous Class A and while it does have some advantages, I found that I would have to run the black tank flush a lot more.