Another coach but it has the waste pump

[rough road]

Found yet another rv that we are considering-it seems to be a very, very good time to buy, nearly pristine, low miles but it has that silly waste pump. The owner touts this as the best thing since sliced bread and took great pride in filling up the black tank with water and showing us how 'easy' it is to put the tiny nozzel into the drain (their septic tank, now having that is darn handy) and just push the switch and WAIT for about 5 minutes while that noisy motor does it thing.

No thank you; too noisy, too complicated and I cannot help but to think of the people who had one fall off in some tourist town, this CANNOT be the best way to drain the poo tank.

Common sense tells us that faster is better, read less odors. At any rate the owner is firm and won't budge on price, so this is out-for the time being that is.............

Do you folks that have this pump system really like it?

[deaton]

We've got one (Sanicon) on our current coach, but didn't have it on our last coach. Yeah, it's slower than a straight "stinky slinky" dump, but it also has it's advantages -

1. You can pump it a lot further than you can flow it for those situations where you can't maneuver close enough to the dump connection.

2. You can pump it uphill so you don't have to mess with arranging the hose for good gravity flow, which is sometimes almost impossible in poorly designed sites.

3. There is no law that says you HAVE to use it. Set it up with a bayonet connection, if it doesn't already have one, and you just twist it off, install a conventional hose, and get after it.

Considering what a coach costs, if I were interested in a particular coach, the fact that it had one of these or not would be about the last thing on my list. There are a ton of more important issues in selecting a new RV, and considering the costs of a Sanicon, it can't be much of a factor in the sellers pricing, although he may be more hung up on it than it deserves.

[OLYLEN]

Ok got a question while on the subject. I see you can pump uphill, great, but like most pumps when you have no more to pump does the 30-60-100' of hose empty, or do you have a hose full of ground up poop to deal with?

LEN

[Vegasdan]

Don't knock the poo pump. We have a Sanicon portable so we can use the slinky when in RV parks or dumping a dump site, but we also stay several months where we have to pump up to 100 ft to a sewer outlet, try that with a slinky.

[Gary RVRoamer]

I have the portable Sanicon and just attach it when needed, e.g. when in my yard at home and dumping to the septic tank. I usually use the plain old gravity flow method otherwise.

I agree with Deaton - it's not an issue if you don't want to use it. Or take it out and sell it if you hate them - you can probably get a good price for it.

As for a hose full of black water, its the same as with the gravity hose. First of all, dump the black first and then the gray, so the water isn't quite so nasty. Then you either "walk the hose" to force it to drain or continue to flush with fresh water until the black runs clear. I use either method, depending mostly on how convenient a fresh water supply is. If I have plenty of water available, I just flush the black and gray til reasonable clear.

[paz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rough road Found yet another rv that we are considering-it seems to be a very, very good time to buy, nearly pristine, low miles but it has that silly waste pump...

I wouldn't avoid buying a coach I liked just because it has a macerator pump. The pumps I've seen look easy to remove. If you can get a good deal on the coach, just take the pump off if you don't want it.

[UFO Pilot]

I have the Clean Dump macerator system and love it. Too many leaks using the 3" slinky for me. I can remove it from the system and use the slinky if necessary.

[TXiceman]

I have a portable Sanicon and use it every once in a while. It is simpler to just use the stinky slinky most of the time.

[GaryKD]

I have the SaniCon system with grey water bypass. The 3" hose is stored only for emergency backup. Been using it for a couple of years. The unit has been trouble free. I'm not sure why people complain about the extra time it takes to dump. For me, I'm never in a hurry anyway. The 1" hose and sewer connection really make a good closed system and truly "don't spill a drop" when connecting and disconnecting the campground hose end. No muss, fuss or oder.

I'll use this system over the 3" stinky slinky any day.

[Downsizer]

We had a macerator and it got stinky!!!! Wasn't removing all the "sludge"... found out when I changed the waste gate valves.... removed and went back to 3" hose.... no smell!!!! YEAH!!!! Then switched slinky hose to the heavy duty no leak DrainMaster "Polychut"... LOVE IT!!!!

[DAN L]

after dumping and flushing my black tank 3-4 times, i close the black valve. i add 2 cups of bleach to about 30-40 gallons in my grey water tank. i let this soak for 2-3 minutes then dump the gray tank. i ''walk the hose'' a couple of times before disconnecting it. my stinky slinky is not so stinky now and is ready for storage.

[rough road]

Downsizer, this is exactly our thinking; with the poo pump all I see in my minds eye is the water level going down so slow that all the -stuff- gets attached to the side of the tank.
I don't think that it ever took more than a few seconds to drain the tanks on our last coach, gravity with the big hose, this HAS to be the 'cleaner' way of doing it; common sense to me anyway.

Your observations about odors are exactly the same as betsy-tom, a problem with the pump and much improved when the pump was replaced with a large hose gravity dump.

Two other statements by the smugmug people have convinced us that the pump is not the way for us, there was not a way to gravity drain the gray water tank-or the feature that Phoenix used was not functional AND with the Waste Master they were able to really get a good backflush from gray to black, something they said was not possible with the pump.

I will concede that being able to pump up and away could be useful but we have never been in a situation where this would have been handly.

Its too complicated, far too expensive (nearly three Waste Masters worth), much too noisy and much, much too slow PLUS the coach we looked at that had this also had it attached by a bayonette (sp?) fitting and after learning of just how narrowly betsy-tom escaped a very, very unpleasant/expensive situation we both say, no thanks.

I guess if you have a yacht/boat you pretty much have to pump out and up but for those who are in land yachts there is a much better option-besides isn't there always something left in the hose just waiting to say 'hi' when you take off that cap?-and in toasty hot weather the hose has to get pressurized just a teeny, tiny bit, the more I think about it, its disgusting.

[GaryKD]

Hi rough road,
Guess it depends on the coach layout for waste removal. It's a good thing we have many different choices. There is something for everyone.

[JimM68]

I just brought my monaco home, and have only used the sanicon 3 times so far.

It is a bit slow.

It is totally clean. Much cleaner than the slinky. Pump the black, pump the gray, turn off the pump, walk the hose, pull it up and screw on the cap.
I need to get a short garden hose so I can use the tank flush.

Mine also has an electric macerating toilet. We get no odor, inside or out, none.

Mine at least is totally silent. I have to stay close and listen hard just to hear the sound change when the tank is empty and it starts sucking air.

New coach bliss? Maybe. But I think I like it. I have had occasion to do a robin williams with a cheap slinky, that is something I never want to repeat.