Hello all and happy new year,
I'm rebuilding an MCI 5B 1976 bus and have completed all the insulation and the panels replaced.
I'm thinking of installing a macerator toilet system in the bus.
What is the best toilet to use?
Is the system worth it?
Thanks
Rick
While I don't have a macerator toilet in my bus I do have a macerator after the black tank slice valve. This allows me to empty my tanks with a short section of 5/8" garden hose rather than a 3" stinky slinky and even allows for uphill discharge--love it. Jack 8)
I have a macerator toilet in my bus. It chews everything up and spits it into my black water tank.
The advantage of this type of toilet is that if you do not have a straight drop into the tank you can pump the sewage horizontally for some distance as I have to in my bus. The other advantage is that when you dump your black water tank it is very easy as there are no clogs.
The disadvantage of these toilets is that they do not flush completely without using a lot of water. There is always residual "stuff" left floating in the toilet. Yes, you can clean it completely but it may take more than twice the amount of water than a regular drop toilet. Also, if you lose power, you cannot flush your toilet. They are also a bit more noisy than a regular toilet, but not that much.
Masadisposerator The only way to fly. 1/2" to 3/4"garden hose will do up to 145 ft... :)
There is this big misconception that your black tank has to be directly under the toilet. My bus has the black tank mounted in the center with about a 4ft ABS 3" feeding it. Granted I have to use a bit more water, but then I have more water in the tank at flush out (45gal).
My truck I have a run that goes to the right then slopes down about 8ft to the tank 2ft below the toilet. I too tossed around using a Macerator toilet, but there's is nothing more reliable than a gravity toilet. Good Luck, TomC
My first camper had a mecerator toilet. It worked fine until it didn't. After I had "fixed" it I swore I would NEVER have another one-ever-never-ever. I probably don't need to tell you why.And I haven't.
Nothing beats a straight drop.
yes actually a straight drop will end up with the almighty pile of poo that hardens a little at a time if you don't really clean out your tanks well every time.
Mine has a 6 inch drop and then turn and slops down for 2 feet and then drops in. I also have a 3" sewer cap and fitting on the top outside edge of the tank so I can use a sprayer to wash out the tank after it finishes dumping.
Whether you have a straight drop from the toilet to the tank or a few feet of sloped pipe before the tank, you still can have problems with piles of poo building. Both of these setups will at some point drop things into the tank, and if enough water isn't in the tank piles will build.
We move quite often, not usually staying in one site for more than a few days. This keeps things in our tank mixed up pretty well. Doesn't hurt either that we have a combined black & gray tank, which means that we've always got a pretty liquid mix.
Ok. I have a house toilet with a straight drop into the 35 gallon black tank. I use a 3" hose to dump with no problem, or a 3" marcerator pump and dedicated black garden hose for long distance dumping. No problem with the house toilet, and no smell.
crap mountains only happen when you skimp on the flush water.
With the toilet directly over the tank, any poop hill can be gone with a strong blast of streaming water from a garden hose stuck in the open toilet drain.
Quote from: windtrader on January 05, 2019, 02:38:10 PM
With the toilet directly over the tank, any poop hill can be gone with a strong blast of streaming water from a garden hose stuck in the open toilet drain.
Sometimes people don't dump their black tanks for months and the contents can turn into clay. That's when the RV places tell the affected person to dump a bag of ice cubes through the toilet and go for a drive on twisty roads. They will charge you heavily if the have to pull the tank off to clean it up and put it back in.
Add more fiber to your diet😏
When hooked up to shore sewer we always hold the black tank and dump when needed if a long duration stay, or dump upon leaving, mountains don't build under liquid - at least in our black tank. We have a pair of 74 gal. - 1 black, 1 grey. Black dumps 1st, then we dump grey into black - that 3" blast from one tank to another will move mountains if there were underwater earthquakes...
Quote from: dtcerrato on January 05, 2019, 04:57:31 PM
Black dumps 1st, then we dump grey into black - that 3" blast from one tank to another will move mountains if there were underwater earthquakes...
I had Ronco Plastics spin-weld in a small threaded fitting in the top of my black tank directly above its 3" outlet. I can now either pump gray water directly into the poo tank straight down on top of any Mounds Of Doom that may be accumulating there, or jet city water through that same inlet. (Don't worry, I have check valves there to prevent any possible cross-contamination.) My plan is to always keep enough liquid in the poo tank to prevent concretions there, but my low-flow loo won't introduce sufficient flush water by itself to stop Bad Things from happening.
John
I have been using a Macerator toilet for about 5 years with no problem. It uses more water than the air flush that was in our last coach.
Jack
RV makers recommend that you run some water into the black tank after dumping and that you insure the tank is 3/4 full before dumping, even if it means running in fresh water first. That volume creates a good flow to carry any solids out. BTW, solids in the waste system liquefy faster than you might think. Ask any city sewer maintenance person if he's ever seen a turd. Nasty water, yes. Gravel, and various objects. But turds? Don't bet on it. (How does gravel get in there? I have no idea, but it does.) Also a fair quantity of water goes in if you drain the lizard there regularly. Probably the best practice would be to have a minimum of 1" of fluids in the tank to promote liquefaction.
Prof
My dad was superintendent of municipal sewer dept. Some of the biggest & best tasting tomato plants, corn, & watermelon used to grow out of the "drying beds" of the large municipal system. So in addition to what Jim said one can also see corn, and watermelon seed in tanks because humans don't digest them. By the way Art Carney of the Honeymooners used to be my favorite because as I was growing up I could relate to him through my dad's profession. How about another little relish of info - oh if Pop could only be here to know he was on the board - in pop's early years at the sewer dept. he would fish an adjacent canal for Tarpon which is a trash bottom feeder and trophy fun to catch. He started throwing some small ones in the settling tanks - many years later those settling tanks went down and when they drained them - yep you might have guessed it - the lines were clogged with tarpon. :o
one can also see corn, and watermelon seed in tanks because humans don't digest them.
Add less than fully chewed sunflower seeds. :(
Talking about thread drift..😕
I think it is turd drift...
"When the log rolls over we'll all be dead." ;D :P I KNOW you guys have heard that one.
Jim