Macerator toilet

[chunker21]

What real advantage is there to an electric macerator toilet, MT we'll call them, except perhaps location the toilet? As my understanding the macerator toilet grinds it all up and delivers "stuff" to the black tank all packaged up in nice "pulverized" packages. The laws of nature need not be considered, gravity. As I look at various replacements for this C should the Thor curse get too much for me, I do notice the macerator toilets being used frequently.

I prefer not to have many of these solutions to "not a real problem" that are getting common in RVs. Things like one touch pads that wirelessly control every function until they don't and then nothing will control anything.

Back to poop pots. My understanding in reading, the MT uses more water to function that old style gravity which means, just like the crappy tankless water heater, more of valuable fresh water and waste tank capacity is used up needlessly. In my searching I'm also looking for things like the poop pot on the driver's side so that stuff goes directly into the black tank, not winding around the RV like a cat crossing the yard. When I read the original thor brochure for the Omni it said the XG32 had the MT but it doesn't, just simple old gravity. So what is the advantage, if any, to the MT???

[EA37TS]

The only advantage I can think of is mechanically reducing the size of toilet paper before it goes in the tank and thereby not having to rely on paper dissolving over time.

All my rigs have had passenger side toilets right over the side to side black tank so I’ve never had an issue with dumping and see no added value to a macerating toilet and wonder what would happen if there was a malfunction with the system.

[paulwadley]

I believe the purpose of a MT is to have the ability to pump the waste to the black tank since the black tank may not be directly under the toilet. The black tank may be in a position on the other side of the coach from the toilet not allowing gravity to push the waste into the black tank. On my other coach, I had a macerator pump on my black tank and it made dumping the waste from the black tank easy and quick plus it was a much smaller diameter waste hose.

Paul

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by paulwadley

I believe the purpose of a MT is to have the ability to pump the waste to the black tank since the black tank may not be directly under the toilet. The black tank may be in a position on the other side of the coach from the toilet not allowing gravity to push the waste into the black tank. On my other coach, I had a macerator pump on my black tank and it made dumping the waste from the black tank easy and quick plus it was a much smaller diameter waste hose.

Paul

I have a SaniCon macerator on the current rig. Good for dumping up hill or long distance. I don’t use it to dump at FHU sites because it takes 3 times as long to dump because of the smaller hose. Other than the reasons mentioned it is just a useless item taking up valuable space in the wet bay.

[chunker21]

Originally Posted by EA37TS

I have a SaniCon macerator on the current rig. Good for dumping up hill or long distance. I don’t use it to dump at FHU sites because it takes 3 times as long to dump because of the smaller hose. Other than the reasons mentioned it is just a useless item taking up valuable space in the wet bay.

I tend to agree and I think we are talking also about 2 different things. Macerator toilet, and macerator dump pump. I'm curious about the toilet. At home I have an RV barn with dedicated septic tank so I'm not worried about pumping the poop uphill anywhere. Since the macerator is electric and electric things break I guess that a failed toilet results in not using it. That in itself is a major issue.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by chunker21

I tend to agree and I think we are talking also about 2 different things. Macerator toilet, and macerator dump pump. I'm curious about the toilet. At home I have an RV barn with dedicated septic tank so I'm not worried about pumping the poop uphill anywhere. Since the macerator is electric and electric things break I guess that a failed toilet results in not using it. That in itself is a major issue.

My response was to a post on a black tank macerator and not the toilet. The post commented on was quoted with my post. My thoughts on the macerator toilet were two or three posts earlier.

[ducksface]

The only real purpose is to allow a remote black tank by having a macerator PUMP at the INTAKE instead of at the outlet.
Remote can mean offset by inches ...or yards.

If the black tank is not directly under the toilet, allowing for a gravity feed 'drop' as an intake, you are literally
SOL.

Esoterically speaking,
They also form the 'air-lock/seal' in place of a common household toilets p-traps duties
to isolate doody smells.

A macerator toilet, except for doody smell duty, has no value over a standard rv toilet mounted directly to a black tank.

[lwmcguire]

My macerator toilet is in the master bath and dumps into the grey/black water tank which has a 1.5 inch drain outlet

Therefor that is the reason it was used. The 1/2 bath is a regular porcelain unit which dumps into the black tank which has a 3 inch drain outlet

Macerators use more water and many folks fail to use both buttons which creates problems

You have to use the fill button and let it time out and then afterwards use the flush button

So location and plumbing to the tank

[elbenson]

I also found the macerator toilet uses a lot more water than the regular. In my Jayco trailer we had 30 gallons black (regular toilet right above black tank) and the RS36 has 40 gallons. We have a family of 6 and could last 4 days dry camping in the trailer and filled the Thor in 2.5 days while traveling across the country.

Eric

[taylorbob1]

This is what I've seen used, or one that's actually built-in at the outlet & hidden inside the sewer compartment.
The beauty is that you can use a small hose to dump into a 5 gal collapsible container, and then empty into a standard flush toilet.
That way, when boon-docking, you don't have to use an official RV dump, and you're still legal.
That is, any outside entrance toilet will do.

[AlmostRetired]

I have a macerator toilet. I don’t use chemicals and it doesn’t stink. Beyond that it doesn’t benefit me at all. I do a ton of dry camping at music festivals and the amount of water it uses creates a logistical problem. Not only do I need to get refilled, I also need to dump the black tank. We end up using the mantra “if it’s yellow, let it mellow” but you do have to watch how much toilet paper accumulates or you can overwhelm the macerator. I also cannot say no to friends that are staying in more rustic accommodations if they want to use my toilet versus the port a potties. I wish I had a half bath with a gravity drain which would help. When I’m at a place with FHU it’s almost like being at home with a full size porcelain bowl.

[AJMike]

I have a macerating toilet (at the toilet, not at the pump) and mostly I would like to replace it with a manual toilet. For us there are several problems:

1. It uses a lot of water and because we boondock a lot it means we are always having to keep an eye on our water and blank tank levels.

2. It is noisy, which means using it in the middle of the night can be probematic.

3. It is electric and that means just one more drain on our batteries when we are not at hookups which is most of the time.

4. For me the biggest problem is that it is electric and if something happens to drain your battery, or cause a loss of battery power you can not flush the thing.

My guess is that the manufacturer used the macerating toilet because it was easier than relocating the toilet or blank tank so as to be able to use a manual one. That means that I can not replace it with a manual toilet, so we are stuck with it.

[Judge]

Unless a toilet is mounted directly over the black tank (many coaches do not have the toilet mounted over the black tank), there are a couple of advantages besides toilet location.

For me it would use less water and not more water. I use at least two full bowls of water to make sure all waiste makes it to the bottom of the tank. I'm not storing used toilet paper like some people do and I am going to use the toilet in the coach no differently than the one I use at home with the same toilet paper. I've never had an issue with clogs or damming as a result of flushng with two bowls of water. I would think less water would be used by the macerator toilet.

Today I use the San-T-Flush to fiill my black tank with fresh water 2 or 3 times to flush out as much debris as possible. The macerator toilet would liquefy everything so one fill and flush of the black tank might be enough to thoroughly flush the tank so that would use less water and save time breaking camp.

[chunker21]

I don't have and don't want a macerator toilet for the reasons stated above by some. In the Omni XG32 the gravity toilet is on the right side and of course the drain is the left. The black tank design has a sort of sloping shelf that "stuff" falls on and with good flush proceeds to the lower section. I had some visitors over use the paper and developed a wad that sort got stuck. Had to push it with a strategically bent coat hanger. After I got it cleared I did some investigation and found the bath sink, which also go to black tank, it drains upstream of the toilet drain. That helps get rid of stuff.

Is this ideal, no and the next RV I get will have street side, left, toilet, gravity only, not a curb side, right, one. I don't like all the remote electrical gee-whiz-bang stuff in newer RVs and a toilet that requires electricity is undesirable to me.

That said I'm going to make me a toilet wand out of 1/2" PVC with a 90* at the end, shut off valve that I can attach to a hose. If I get fancy maybe I'll get adaptors so I can attach to shower hose. The purpose to help stuff move downhill in the event we have someone who doesn't understand the governments "paperwork reduction act".

In the meantime we're careful how we use things just the same as with everything related to an RV. A little extra lean to the left when draining/flushing the black tank also helps.

[Judge]

Originally Posted by chunker21

After I got it cleared I did some investigation and found the bath sink, which also go to black tank, it drains upstream of the toilet drain. That helps get rid of stuff.

Is this ideal, no and the next RV I get will have street side, left, toilet, gravity only, not a curb side, right, one. I don't like all the remote electrical gee-whiz-bang stuff in newer RVs and a toilet that requires electricity is undesirable to me.

That said I'm going to make me a toilet wand out of 1/2" PVC with a 90* at the end, shut off valve that I can attach to a hose. If I get fancy maybe I'll get adaptors so I can attach to shower hose. The purpose to help stuff move downhill in the event we have someone who doesn't understand the governments "paperwork reduction act".

Unless you are filling the bathroom sink to the brim with water and then pulling the stopper, that little bit of flow will do nothing.

If you want to make life easy…..

Going #1 - Use one full bowl of water

Going #2 - Use one full bowl before wiping and one full bowl after.

Never had an issue with this formula. And if guests use the toity, I go in later and flush two full bowls if water down.

Now I have full hook-ups most of the time but I can go a weekend this way without hook-ups easily.

[chunker21]

Originally Posted by Judge

Unless you are filling the bathroom sink to the brim with water and then pulling the stopper, that little bit of flow will do nothing.

If you want to make life easy…..

Going #1 - Use one full bowl of water

Going #2 - Use one full bowl before wiping and one full bowl after.

Never had an issue with this formula. And if guests use the toity, I go in later and flush two full bowls if water down.

Now I have full hook-ups most of the time but I can go a weekend this way without hook-ups easily.

Pretty much what I do and when investigating I shut the water off, filled sink, opened flush valve and pulled sink plug. Nice woosh of water. That's not my normal "flushing method" just part of my where does it all go search.

[halfprice]

Originally Posted by elbenson

I also found the macerator toilet uses a lot more water than the regular. In my Jayco trailer we had 30 gallons black (regular toilet right above black tank) and the RS36 has 40 gallons. We have a family of 6 and could last 4 days dry camping in the trailer and filled the Thor in 2.5 days while traveling across the country.

Eric

Eric,
You'll have a 75 gal tank soon enough

Jerry

[mjdougherty]

In my opinion, the big advantage of using a macerator toilet is that you can use normal toilet paper without risk of plugging up the BW tank. It shreds everything, and a fine slurry is what goes into the black water tank. Add up the differential cost of motorhome TP vs standard TP and it represents a tidy sum. The noise, water and power usage are inconsequential to me. We never boondock with a 45 ft class A.

[chunker21]

Originally Posted by mjdougherty

In my opinion, the big advantage of using a macerator toilet is that you can use normal toilet paper without risk of plugging up the BW tank. It shreds everything, and a fine slurry is what goes into the black water tank. Add up the differential cost of motorhome TP vs standard TP and it represents a tidy sum. The noise, water and power usage are inconsequential to me. We never boondock with a 45 ft class A.

The TP discussion is endless but most of us use REAL TP anyway with great success. I'll leave that to others to explain that.

[mjdougherty]

Yeah, I know, but newbies often haven't gotten over the brainwashing from their dealer regarding RV toilet paper. We never bought any of that stuff ourselves. We did the shake it up test with Charmin and 3 other brands. Found that Charmin "green" (aloe, at the time) disintegrated just as well as the RV paper. Been using it ever since! Almost exclusively use the macerator toilet in our Tuscany 45AT because it shreds everything, plus it is more comfortable than the Aqua Magic in the 1/2 bath.