MOTORHOME MODIFICATIONS - *M* Macerator (a.k.a. PoopEater!)

I am going to start off the new year with posting some of our motorhome modifications, a few at a time. I will post repairs, modifications, or neato things we have found for RVing.  I have lots of pics in my files so I will do them in alphabetical order.

Underneath that stuff, I will post my regular daily stuff..... kinda sorta fun, eh?

So here it goes, we are up to the letter M now!

MOTORHOME MODIFICATIONS 

STARTING WITH THE LETTER M

Mascerator:

We all do it.

Yup.

We sure do.

We use the toilet.

Well, most do.  Some prefer to do the natural thing in the woods. That's okay I guess.  But when you have a motorhome, it usually has a bathroom that contains a toilet.  And that stuff has to go SOMEWHERE~  Right?

When our black tank is just about full (the toilet stuff is called the black tank) then we need to find a place to dump it.  Also our shower and kitchen sink water (the grey tank). Our black and grey tanks each hold 50 gallons, and our freshwater tank holds 100 gallons.

Now, most folks have to pull up stakes, stow the gear, and look for the nearest dump station.  That usually involves a monetary fee to whatever campground is nearby.  It uses a  big hose, called a "Stinky Slinky" set into a big hole in the ground, and you pull the lever and dump. 

But... sometimes you aren't near a nice dump station.  Or you don't want to drive to one if you are parked for a while. What do you do? 

Steveio has this SUPER DOOPER POOPER TOY to play with.... called a Macerator! 


It's similar to a garbage disposal.  It grinds up the errrr ummmm tank waste, and pumps it out a narrow hose with pressure. Enough pressure to go uphill and over humps or even into a household toilet!

It pumps it out of a long skinny 3/4" hose, even uphill, to dump at far away locations like an inground septic tank, or a badly located dump station,  and then we follow up the process with the grey water from the sinks and shower to rinse out the dedicated hose.

It is great for many RVing situations, besides saving on dump station fees:

• -Many RV sites with sewer provided are only designed if your RV is backed into the site.  But our motorhome has a solid back wall in the bedroom.  If there is a pretty view, we may pull in forward so the view is out our front windshield in the living area of the rig.  That puts the sewer opening on the wrong side for us.  The macerator can help with that.
• -Or if sitting in someone's driveway it can dump tanks into a septic or even a toilet. (done that)
• -Or if at a poorly designed dump station that is too slanted to dump properly by gravity. (seen that)
• -Or if at a campsite with sewer available but the sewer pipe is a foot off the ground (seen that)
• -Or if at a curved road leading to the dump station and no way to line up 40 foot rig at their hole (seen that)

We do not use the "blue" RV holding tank deodorizers anymore as they can introduce bacteria-killing products into our septic tank.  Septic tanks and sewer systems need certain bacteria to keep them running properly.  We pour in a few tablespoons of RidX liquid septic tank treatment into our RV tanks to keep them working properly until they are dumped. 

Steve spent a lot of time talking to our RV friend, Roger (a.k.a. Poopy Roger) learning about mascerators and how he adapted one to fit instead of the RV one on the market. I didn't take part in those Poopy Conversations while they were out walking in the desert together.  Ewwwwwww  But Steve figured out what he wanted and how to make it work. 

Here is a link to one like ours on Amazon that is for a marine use: Jabsco-18590-2092   Steve chose the marine type one over the ones available thru RV dealers because some of their rv specific ones have impellers that are only plastic.  

Here is what ours looks like:

Steveio took a standard drain cap that goes on the bayonet mount of any RV drain pipe.  He cut an inch and quarter hole in the middle of the cap with a holesaw bit on the drill.  That allowed the cap to fit right over the opening on the bottom end of the macerator in the pic above (he removed and discarded that grey elbow fitting in the photo)

He also drilled four small screw holes in the cap to line up with the four holes in the housing, using screws to hold it tight, along with a bead of silicone between the cap and the housing.

The discharge end on the left side of the machine has a 1 inch barbed fitting.  He attached a 1" piece of clear plastic hose (to be able to see the "progress of material" going through the hose)  At the end of the clear hose he attached a piece of threaded hose fitting to screw a black 3/4" hose that is 50ft long that goes into a septic, drain cleanout hole, outhouse, sewer system etc. That long black hose is dedicated to dumping only, never to be used for anything else. Coils up in a 5 gallon bucket for storage in the motorhome basement.

The electrical line of 12 volt power was wired up to a 12volt plug cigarette lighter type with an ON/OFF switch on the line.  He installed a 12 volt powered outlet in our compartment near the drain valves to power the macerator when in use.

Now the macerator can hook onto the bayonet mount of the RV drain pipe when in use. It can then be removed and stored in a tote in our basement compartment when not in use.

With the adapted cap, it just hooks onto the bayonet mount

of the drain outlet on the motorhome. 

We last used it when we were in Florida two years ago.  We were parked for 6 weeks in Mom's backyard. There isn't any septic cleanout or septic tank access close to the house. So Steve chose to run the black hose up and into the bathroom through the window and have it flush right into the toilet.

Once the black tank contents are done running through the machine, the motor changes sound in pitch and it's done. We then shut it off and close the black tank handle.  Next comes the grey tank (shower and sink water) valve is pulled and turn it back on and run through the machine.  This also helps to rinse the hose out before storing it away.  It is a good idea to screw the two ends of any hose together during storage to prevent leakage or intrusion by insects. 

My Mister Poopy Mascerator Man

We got the job done, and our tanks are now empty.  I did not take any pics of the ummm errrr process, as you can use your own imagination.  The clear section on the macerator hose is there to observe the situation, and once both of the tanks are emptied, then we run some fresh water to flush everything out. The machine and the black hose are dried off and stowed into a separate bin away from our other compartments.

That is the poopy way to handle your RV holding tanks!

On edit; A fellow Facebook reader, Steve Ferguson, reminded me that I should mention the fact that you shouldn't use this all of the time. You still need that big swooshy whoosh to help get any of the wastes that are settled on the bottom of your holding tank to come out the big hose. That is very true. Although, our black holding tank has a special device called a "turbo rinse".  It's a device that's mounted permanently into the inside surface of are black tank. We attach a garden hose to it with pressure . It swirls and sprays all around inside of the tank and helps knock loose anything that may be setting settling on the bottom. That works too. But really in all fairness, the best use of your holding tank is to drive around for a while sloshing and agitating the contents so nothing is stuck to the bottom. Then when you dump with the normal Stinky Slinky with a big whoosh of an almost full tank, you will get the best results.

~~~~~~~~

We are going to have temps in the mid 40's today!!!  It will melt our side yard of some of the ice, but of course make it into a muddy mess. We will continue to bring the dogs out through the garage into the back section of the yard to do their thing, and avoid the mud.  I think if we take them for a walk today, we might need a bath for them afterwards as well.

The sunshine also woke up an INTRUDER!  

It's called a Western Conifer Seed Bug, and must have been sleeping all winter in my coleus plants that I dig up from the side yard.  The sunshine must have woken him up, and he was heading to the window, looking for a place to get out? 

It says they reside in Black Pine trees, of which we have right outside our house in the front/side yard.  They are not poisonous and do not bite,  We sent him on a quick demise down the toilet.  Ewwwww!  I am going to give my plants all a quick misting with some Bug Be Gone spray to be sure he doesn't have any buddies hanging around as well! 

Steve was supposed to drive at 9 am, but they called and said there was a cancellation.  So now he is home until noon before his next transport.  Wonder what kind of trouble we can get into before that?  Have to wait for the Fed Ex truck today, as I have to sign for my new phone that is coming.  The shipping notice they updated me with says it's already loaded on a truck in nearby Appleton and out for delivery today.  Pretty good from the guy at Verizon ordering it about 2 pm on Saturday, and it was in Fort Worth TX getting loaded on a truck at 5pm Saturday.