Blackwater "pump"

I recall reading a post, not sure where, a fellow RV'r built his own macerator drain for his black-water tank using a sink garbage disposal. He claimed it worked great. I was going to get the Shurflo-Flojet for a bit over $200 but the reviews are mixed. The other one, Sewer Solutions or something which uses a garden hose to "macerate & pump the waste has mixed reviews as well & seems terribly pricy for what it is.

The garbage disposal actually seems to be a good idea. After all, it IS a macerator & does "pump" some pretty tough stuff so should have no problem with waste from the black-water tank. I need to be able to run a 3/4" to 1" line from the trailer to the sewer drain....which is the outlet from a house. I have to run the hose about fifty feet.

I already have the basic idea how to build this but was hoping to find anymore info out there...so if anybody knows or has comments/feedback, etc., you know what to do!

I have the flo-jet macerator and it has work great for me for over 5 years. I use a 25 foot  3/4" garden hose garon it to dump in my waste water tank to haul to the rv dump.  One of the internet sites about the garbage disposal macerator is at this site, but do a google search for "garbage disposal macerator " and there are many more.

The problem I see with using a disposal unit is that it is not a pump, just a grinder.  I doubt if waste would flow very far using just a garbage disposal unless it is all downhill flow.

I could be the guy you are referring to.........i have been using my sears disposal for a couple of years..i rigged it with a 1 1/2 in. corrugated hose, and pump about 30 ft up a slight incline to my clean out at my house.............has worked well...........we only do 3 or 4 day boon-docking, maybe 10 or 15 times a summer....

It is a very simple set up............strip the disposal  down to the casting and an insert a wedged hose connection..........just tap it down into the throat and wedge it in.........then make whatever connection you may need coming off the drain line........when it breaks down easily it is very easy to wash and sanitize after every use........ it is all portable and i store it in the closest compartment to the clean-out on the MH....

Both the Sur-Flo and the Flo-Jet can use a 3/4 or 1" garden hose.. (Mine is a FLo-Jet) one comes with a rather cheap looking hose (in my opinion) that is basically the same size.. Just can not take the pressure of a standard garden hose (nor does it need to.. It can take what it needs to take).

I got 50 feet of BLACK 3/4 inch hose for mine....(Color coded hoses)

The biggest issue I have with it... IF you do not use it often the pump impellers stick to the pump housing

Turns out there is an easy way to fix it.. The motor has a "Through" shaft design.. It sticks out the 'Bottom' (non pump end) of the assembly.. There is a slot..Using any flat bladed tool (Quarter?) turn the shaft

Works great after that.. You do have to clean the macerator part (The part you see looking down the throat of the thing) of hair from time to time but that's about all.

Oh. and many likely do not feed it well (It eats electricity.. I used 10GA wire and 40 amp Power Poles)

Very happy with my Flo-jet macerator pump.

So, I went ahead & "built" my own black-water dump pump. I kept looking at the cost of the macerators, even used PLUS shipping cost...and even if I bought one with "free" shipping it would never be here on time.

I couldn't find a used garbage disposal unit that wasn't at least a three hour round trip drive. Go figure. I had to buy a brand new unit. I opted for the BADGER 100 coming in at a tad over $90 with tax included. Another $25 for all the fittings & PVC primer & cement. So I have $115 invested. Would have been about $65 to $75 LESS had I been able to find a used garbage disposal but still about $100 to $150 less than any of the macerator pump "kits". So that's good.

The additional materials actually cost $17 not including the glue & primer combo. I bought a two foot section of reinforced clear hose to run between the pump & 3/4 inch black garden hose I used so I could see what was going on inside there. I wired it into an old heavy-duty outdoor extension cord for now as it was getting dark & I really wanted to get it working before I left for the night. I'm going to build a more "permanent set-up that I can leave connected & just open the termination valve then throw a switch to activate the macerator.

Anyway. It emptied the tank in less than five minutes. The indicator lights were showing a full tank. However this was not possible because I hadn't used it in nearly two years. After it stopped "pumping" which, BTW it moved the waste through the hose at a pretty good speed...it was still showing 2/3 full. I figured the sensor was giving faulty readings.

I filled the tank via garden hose through the bathroom window. Filled it to the rim & turned the Badger on. It emptied the tank in less than four minutes. The indicator lights started working after that showing an empty tank. I imaging the real test will be when I empty the tank after we've begun using it daily. From everything I've read & seen I don't expect any issues.

I'll post a few photos once I get settled in.

You say you're using a garbage disposal unit and you call it a pump. Does it really pump the stuff or is it just gravity flow.

Rene T said:

You say you're using a garbage disposal unit and you call it a pump. Does it really pump the stuff or is it just gravity flow.

Click to expand...

I guess it's both. It's gravity flow as it leaves the tank into the macerator but from that point it definitely has pressure behind it. I read somewhere that the average "head pressure"...what it was referred to, is around seven pounds on the basic garbage disposal unit. I wouldn't know. It works well enough though.

Being a newbie to RV ing I can only relate to my extensive up to my elbows in poop time while boating for the last 30 years. A single tampon is good for hours of NASTY work. When done u will probably need to replace the darn thing N E way because the motor burned out before u broke down and err.... jumped into it.  The bride and I began using a waste paper basket for used toilet paper because the darn Shur Flo's would jam up with something or other then wind the toilet paper around the blades and stop altogether. The thought of being able to pump out at home using a garden hose and our toilet bowl sounds good but is it really worth it? :-[

Many RVers let regular toilet paper go through a macerator pump without any problem.  I think the difference is an RV's holding tank usually contains more water in the mix, so the slurry is thinner and passes through the macerator more easily.  And the mix stays in the holding tank for a while so things have a chance to break down and dissolve before being pumped out, unlike a macerator toilet in a boat where the contents are still fresh when it hits the impeller blade.

It's usually long hair from the greywater tank that eventually wraps around the impeller shaft and makes you disassemble and clean the pump.

Most toilet paper decomposes readily in water, and TP comparisons involving different brands of toilet paper getting dipped into a Mason jar full of water and agitated to see how they dissolve are regular entertainment at boondocking gatherings.  Tampons and such are still bad news, though.

DiGiacomo said:

I could be the guy you are referring to.........i have been using my sears disposal for a couple of years..i rigged it with a 1 1/2 in. corrugated hose, and pump about 30 ft up a slight incline to my clean out at my house.............has worked well...........we only do 3 or 4 day boon-docking, maybe 10 or 15 times a summer....

It is a very simple set up............strip the disposal  down to the casting and an insert a wedged hose connection..........just tap it down into the throat and wedge it in.........then make whatever connection you may need coming off the drain line........when it breaks down easily it is very easy to wash and sanitize after every use........ it is all portable and i store it in the closest compartment to the clean-out on the MH....

Click to expand...

You may very well be! I tip my hat to you & others who first thought of using garbage disposal units in place of or instead of the high-dollar store bought maceration systems.  For the main connection from the Black-Water tank to the disposal unit I inserted the plastic coupler that came pre-attached to the stinky-slinky directly into the throat of the disposal unit. The rubber splash guard provided a nice tight fit/seal as if it were made for it...perfecto!  8)

I haven't had to do anything to mine except use it, for the the last three years.......the best thing about the set-up is that it is simple.......and it works .........

I'm glad it worked out for ya.........

Lou Schneider said:

...unlike a macerator toilet in a boat where the contents are still fresh when it hits the impeller blade.

Click to expand...

The part I bolded gave me a bit of a chuckle. Fresh as the morning "dew!"



Mike

Could some of those who have made one of these post a few pictures?
I'm wanting one myself and it's much better to have pictures to go by
Thanks,Mike

try this url

http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php/topic,30511.msg289577.html#msg289577