Perigee32
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Re: Commercial macerator or homemade from garbage disposer
Bump. First time poster on this forum. This will be rather lengthy, apologies in advance. I’ve kept up with this thread, and on other forums, for some time as I desired an alternative to dumping and lugging up a short rise, a 32-gallon poo-cart every other week. I’ve also reviewed the Youtube videos from other who made the plunge and built the project. With some trepidation I purchased all the items I thought I needed and I completed my DYI disposal macerator today. I am thrilled to report it does in fact empty a black tank, uphill (2-ft lift) for 50 feet using 5/8” pieced-together garden hose. Yes, 5/8”. Let me explain further. I purchased the Badger 500 from Home Depot (HD) new as I, and not any of my friends have a disposable disposal. I went with Badger because that’s seems to be what many others how completed this project have used who bought new. I chose the 1/2 hp model (Model 500) because I have several runs (for visiting family members and their rigs at different locations around the property), with the longest run being 85 feet, again with a 2 foot lift, to the clean out. The model 500 claims to have stainless impellers/grinders vs the model 5, though it cost $20 more, but more importantly it was all HD had in that line. I was to impatient to wait for an Amazon shipment as I needed the actual drain to be completed today. BTW, Amazon has the Badger 5 for $88 today. Prior to doing the actual black water dump I made all my disposal connections and performed a test run/pump/dump of straight fresh water, running a hose into the top of the disposal and the water came out the end of a 100 foot 5/8” hose, with a 3-foot lift! I tested longer and higher than my needs. I figured if it could not do that task with clean fresh water then I could return the disposal and not feel bad as “it did didn’t work for my application”. Though once I put poo through it, I owned it. Anyway the test succeeded. So why 5/8” hose? Because I didn’t own any 3/4” at the time, and I have plenty of 5/8” garden hose. Again I thought if it can move through 5/8” then 3/4” (purchased later) would be an easier and less restrictive “pump out”. Once the test run of 100 feet with fresh water was successful, I decide to cobble together some old broke 5/8” hose pieces (three to be exact) to make the initial 50 foot black water run (I did not want to ruin my 100’ foot hose, or any other, for a 50’ run, and I was planning on purchasing some 3/4” hose if the initial test was successful). I also might mention that two of the connectors in my patched 50 foot 5/8” hose reduced the diameter slightly in those two places, and I thought that might be a issue, but it was not. The pump out was not fast but it was complete. I turned off the pump a few times to keep the cycle time down (approx 3-4 minutes per cycle was my estimate). All in all it was much faster than emptying into a poo cart 2-3 times (that includes a tank rinse), not to mention hauling the cart back and forth 2-3 times with it full. My new macerator will live in a 5 gallon bucket (with a lid) and stored in a shed when not needed. I don’t plan on traveling with it (yet), and my RV is under a covered storage at another location. I spent quite a bit more than I thought I would. I estimated $120 when I first began researching. Total (with new (today) 100’ x 3/4” hose from Harbor Freight) is $195. The pump was the most expensive purchase and I I could have gone cheaper on the pump but thought if I did, and it did not work, would it have been the brand of pump, or the rise, or the hose, or what? I am glad I chose the1/2 hp, but really do not know if I really need the extra hp. Anyway, now if the new motor should ever quit everything in my build would be easily transferable to a different disposal (higher or lower hp). Only the pump would be new. Hopefully that will not happen for many-many years. I also purchased a portable GFCI outlet due to the 120vac electrical motor and water being so close together, with some of my outside outlets (on the old house) are not GFCI protected. Good luck! It worked for me.1.1KViews0likes0Comments
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