Installing macerator in a Class B camper van E-150

I have a 1988 E-150 Okanagan Camper van without a toilet and black water tank.

After looking underneath the only area I can see to install a blackwater tank is the in the middle of the frame.

The frame is approx. 3 feet wide where 1/2 is taken up by the driveline and exhaust pipe with a large round muffler.

There appears to be enough room to install a black water tank to 1/2 of the ~3'  wide frame opposite the driveline and exhaust.

However the toilet could not be installed directly over the blackwater tank for a straight drop and there really isn't any room for a typical blackwater tanks drain usually installed from one side of an RV.

One method to get around needing to install a RV toilet directly over a black water tank is to use a macerator.

Some macerators come as part of a RV toilet while others are installed elsewhere or  are portable.

Macerators are typically installed and designed for larger RV's with regular blackwater tanks with a drain to one side.

However a B-Class camper van is different than most RV's in it's size and frame design. Class-C, 5th wheels, non class-b motorhomes and trailers normally have additional room underneath for RV holding tanks. Most common design is to install the blackwater tank on one side with rv toilet directly above the blackwater tank.

Anyway I'm posting to see if anyone has installed some sort of macerator system with the blackwater tank installed in the middle of the frame of a Class-B van? The Okanagan class-b campervan has a third generation Ford E-150 cargo van chassis with 138 inch wheelbase.

There's really no room to install a gravity drain to one side or back end from middle of the frame.

Rear of Van has a 25 gallon fuel tank and the front of the van has an engine and transmission. I can't see any way to install a blackwater tank so it would be able to gravity drain from the middle of the frame. So most likely  some sort of effluent pump would be required to pump macerated effluent out of the blackwater tank via smaller flexible hose.

My Winnebago ERA has a macerator AFTER the 10 gal. black tank.  But, the main reason I'm responding is that my ERA does not have a straight down gravity feed from the stool to the tank.  Admittedly, it doesn't run far, but has a 90 degree sweep elbow directly below the stool then 3" pipe to the black tank.  Maybe you could do something like that if you don't have to run too far to the tank.  You would probably need a shallow tank and as long as you can make it so the 3" plumbing can enter the top.  Otherwise, you may have to enter the tank on the side as high up as possible.  However, as long as the top of the tank is well below the stool flush valve, you might get away with attaching to the side of the tank anywhere from top to bottom.  You would need a good vent to do that.


As for the tank drain, you can add a typical drain valve right at the tank and attach a macerator directly to it. You would have to use a stiff cable (like the old choke cables) to open and close it.


Just visualizing with the description you gave. Maybe it will give you an idea.

Here is an alternative that doesn't require plumbing to a tank or dumping liquids manually:

https://dry-flush.com/

I'd be skeptical of a 90 degree in the toilet drain, but 45 degree elbows are common to offset the toilet from the black tank by a foot or two.

Gary RV_Wizard said:

I'd be skeptical of a 90 degree in the toilet drain, but 45 degree elbows are common to offset the toilet from the black tank by a foot or two.

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You are correct, Gary. I found a plumbing diagram for my RV and it shows a 45 degree offset.  My bad.