Mascerators

[RetiredNavy]

Has anyone installed a Mascerator on their Coachmen Class C Motor Home? How satisfied are you with it?

[djgodden]

I've had both good and bad experiences with mascerator pumps. They'll work for a year or so and then burn out. I've been tempted to try using a 1 hp garbage disposal and creating my own. Several YouTube videos on how to do that.

[Oldme]

My perception is a moneymaker (for the sellers) based on a non existent problem.
Black water tank problems center around not enough water in the tank to move the solids.

[mlts22]

I have been in places where gray water is OK to let fly. In Texas, provided the landowner allows it, it is just fine.

Black water... different story. Illegal to dump anywhere.

what I have done is place a "blue boy" turd tank in my truck's bed. I then used the macerator pump to empty the tanks into that. Then, I drove the waste tank to a nearby dump station, hooked up a hose, and let gravity do the rest. Since the pump did the heavy lifting of the water, I didn't have to, which makes life easy on the back.

[leeper]

Dusty R wrote:
Our new mh came with one built in for dumping the gray tank. Not sure I like it.
We go to some areas where there are no hook ups and are alowed to let the gray tank to drain on the ground. Is there a way for it to drain without the m-punp ?

Where are you ALLOWED to just let it drain on the ground?

[Dusty_R]

Our new mh came with one built in for dumping the gray tank. Not sure I like it.
We go to some areas where there are no hook ups and are alowed to let the gray tank to drain on the ground. Is there a way for it to drain without the m-punp ?

[leeper]

The portable ones work just as good as the other. With the portable one, you can change over to the original drain. The portable one fits on the end where your large dump hose hooks onto. You don't need hose supports that are required in some campgrounds for your large drain hose when using the small macerator hose

[mlts22]

RoWest wrote:
A feature on macerators that really will save your bacon is the end of the armature having a slot for a screwdriver to unstick a frozen impeller. My boat would blow a fuse with the stuck poo slinger.

x2. This helped a lot when I had an impeller jammed due to a bunch of cotton stuck in it (no clue how the cotton got in there, other than allowing a female acquaintance to use the bathroom earlier that day.) I just picked the stuff out, then used a flat bladed screwdrive to un-stick the impeller, put it back together, then continued emptying the tanks. This flat headed screw is covered by a rubber cap on my FloJet.

[RoWest]

A feature on macerators that really will save your bacon is the end of the armature having a slot for a screwdriver to unstick a frozen impeller. My boat would blow a fuse with the stuck poo slinger.

[Matt_Colie]

Before the depression, I did a lot of boat work. I got to hate macerators (except for the money they got me).

If you do install one. Make certain that the installation has two features:
First, you can still gravity dump at least the black tank. Both would be better, but cannot always happen.
Second, the system should be able to isolate the macerator so it can be removed for repair without a huge spill.

I have known some in our RV group that have had the same pump installed for years and had no trouble at all. My home dump is next to my driveway, so I don't need one.

Matt

[RetiredNavy]

Thanks lanerd. All good info.

[RetiredNavy]

Thanks mlts22 for the info. I have nevwee used one before, and I was wondering whether the portable one or the permanent one worked the best.

[lanerd]

Good info...but on item 2, once the grey and black tank have equalized (with the macerator off and both tanks open), I will close the gray tank and turn the macerator back on and empty the black. Then i will turn the macerator back off and repeat the procedure a couple more times until both tanks are empty. Since the grey tank is larger than the black, you will have plenty of soapy grey water to help rinsing out the black.

Hope this helps

Ron

[mlts22]

Two types of poop throwers: Permanently installed, like a most Sani-Con units, and portable units like the FloJet/Sanicon Tank Buddy.

Some permanently mounted units, such as on Phoenix Cruisers, have a full-diameter emergency dump, but others don't... and without some bypass system, having a dead macerator can be a vacation ender.

I personally prefer a portable macerator with a clear plastic sleeve, so I have more warning when the tank is about empty (running macerators dry kills them dead in seconds, so just going by the sound change isn't good.)

Three notes about macerator pumps:

1: Make sure the discharge hose is well marked and of a proper diameter. I use an oversize black rubber hose marked, "non-potable only" as a way to be sure that this hose never gets near the fresh water.

2: You can use the gray tank as a rinse for the black. Run the macerator pump to empty the black, turn off the pump, pull both black/gray handles, which backflushes the black tank. Then run the macerator pump until both are empty.

3: A macerator pump uses 20 amperes of current. Make sure to have the proper gauge wires. With my portable, I either use jumper cables, or even better, a separate "poop battery" so the current draw doesn't affect my rig's 12 volt system.