Sewer Solutions Macerator - Page 2

AirHeadsRus · 07-27-2009, 02:51 PM

I made a home dump of the tanks this morning by running 80 ft of 1 " PVC to my homes clean out plug. It worked perfectly and really got a good flush. My slinky was leaking when I dumped the tanks 2 weeks ago after a trip so I did a poor job of flushing there. All the crud came out and went right down the pipes. I bought a clear six inch extension to clear the dump valve handles so I could see all the paper & doodoo going down.
Very clean and neat. I hope I never have to pull out a slinky again.
Thanks to all who posted.

SilverHoot · 08-19-2009, 05:26 PM

Ordering my grey and black tanks soon and glad I happened upon this thread. Better check it out right away. So do those of you that have this Sewer Solution not even carry a slinky?

SteSpot · 08-19-2009, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverHoot

Ordering my grey and black tanks soon and glad I happened upon this thread. Better check it out right away. So do those of you that have this Sewer Solution not even carry a slinky?

I have been told to carry a slinky in case we don't have water to empty the black tank with.....big stuff might get stuck in that little hose.......now if you don't have any big stuff.............oh, well, you know what I mean.

I have to say that Sewer Solution worked great on our first trip out with our SteSpot (Rebuilt 68 Ambassador) but we had campground water. paula

hookedonclassic · 08-19-2009, 06:23 PM

Where do those of you that have the Sewer Solution carry them? Does the Sewer Solution sewer hose fit into the sewer hose tube under your AS? How about the unit itself?

**moosetags** · 08-19-2009, 06:51 PM

I've been using the Sewer solution for over two years now.

I do carry a 10 ft slinky in case I have to dump at a community dump where there is no water source to hook to the Sewer Solution.

I carry my Sewer solution drain hoses in the "tool shed" (outside storage compartment) of my 25FB. It gets washed out so well that this has never been a problem.

The Sewer Solution and its connector do not fit into under trailer slinky tube.

Brian

hookedonclassic · 08-19-2009, 07:11 PM

Thanks Moosetags for the reply. By the way, what purpose does the orange clamp have on your picture?

**moosetags** · 08-20-2009, 06:45 AM

We have been using our Sewer Solution exclusively for over two years now. We have camped over 200 nights at campgrounds all over the United States without any problems from anyone.

Brian

**Kevin245** · 08-20-2009, 07:10 AM

I like the concept of the Sewer Solutions as an effective and reasonably priced alternative to the stinky slinky, but I'm not at all excited about hooking up a fresh water supply anywhere close to the holding tank outlet. I see that a vacuum breaker is part of the system, but it still doesn't inspire my confidence. Am I alone with this concern?

Thanks All,

Kevin

caadoptees · 08-20-2009, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin245

I like the concept of the Sewer Solutions as an effective and reasonably priced alternative to the stinky slinky, but I'm not at all excited about hooking up a fresh water supply anywhere close to the holding tank outlet. I see that a vacuum breaker is part of the system, but it still doesn't inspire my confidence. Am I alone with this concern?

Thanks All,

Kevin

It concerned me a bit but I hook up to the water from the trailer. We have one of those ports where we can inject water into the black tank with a hose. This also means we have a valve that taps to the trailer water. I usually hook that to the SS with a short piece of hose. This valve has a vacuum breaker ALSO so I have two of them which makes me feel better.

I also constantly monitor it. I only hook up the fresh water when I am dumping. During a stay I leave the gray open so it can trickle out and it does a good job.

FreshAir · 08-20-2009, 10:58 AM

I have an anti siphon valve plus to be certain I turn off the water supply to the trailer.
Neil.

markdoane · 08-20-2009, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin245

I like the concept of the Sewer Solutions as an effective and reasonably priced alternative to the stinky slinky, but I'm not at all excited about hooking up a fresh water supply anywhere close to the holding tank outlet. I see that a vacuum breaker is part of the system, but it still doesn't inspire my confidence. Am I alone with this concern?

Thanks All,

Kevin

Kevin,

I share your concern, especially when I see the SS hooked up to a wye on the potable water line. I would only use a Sewer Solution or Hyrdoflush at the dump station with the non-potable water hydrant.

I wouldn't trust a single check valve or antisiphon either. Leaving the Sewer solution hooked up (as in #30) to me is like watching the cook not wash his hands after going to the bathroom.

I've also got to say I don't think the water hydrant in post #30 would be legal in most states. It's too close to the sewer and not high enough off the ground.

Mexray · 08-20-2009, 01:12 PM

In my way of thinking, there's a bit too much concern in regard to the anti-siphon issue with regard to the SS...

The anti-siphon 'use' would ONLY come into play if there were to be a drop or loss in the fresh water supply pressure...you only turn ON the water to the SS when you are using it - standing there watching the process...if the supply pressure were to drop while the water is ON to the SS, you'd know it by seeing that it wasn't working AND the anti-siphon would prevent any back-flow - but in any event you would turn off the water supply to investigate about the pressure loss...

You only use the water supply when using the SS - the water is not ON to the SS at any other time...

You can see in my pictures above that I have a ball valve that must be turned ON to activate the SS - when finished, I turn the ball valve OFF, and there is no danger to the fresh water supply - if there were a pressure failure while in the SS use mode (valve ON), the check valve would stop any back flow or contamination in the line - about 2 feet away from the SS - AND I would be there to turn OFF the valve, in any event, as I would see the SS wasn't getting any water pressure...

In my way of thinking, you'd have a much greater chance of some kind of contamination handling the slimy slinky than you'd ever have with operating the SS...just my 2 cent's worth...

markdoane · 08-20-2009, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mexray

In my way of thinking, there's a bit too much concern in regard to the anti-siphon issue with regard to the SS...

The anti-siphon 'use' would ONLY come into play if ...you only turn ON the water to the SS when......if the supply pressure were to drop while the water is ON ....... but in any event .......

...that must be turned ON to activate.... when .... I turn the ball valve OFF, ... if there were a pressure failure while.... AND I would be there to turn OFF the valve, in any event, as I would see the SS wasn't getting any water pressure...

...

Mexray,

The only issue I have is there are way to many ifs, whens, onlys, and anys in your operating procedure.

You sound like you understand the risks of cross contamination and have thought out all the risks. It's not you that I'm worried about.

It's the one guy out of ten that doesn't understand backflow that worries me, the one who doesn't follow all the ifs, whens, and onlys and leaves behind a slug of contaminated water for the next guy, who might be me.

Foiled Again · 08-20-2009, 01:43 PM

I found out that it IS considered illegal to use potable water to flush the black tank. YAWN - 99% of the time no one notices. I've always hooked up a "garden green" flush hose whenever I wanted to flush the tank - never had a "Y" set up with both hoses active from the same spigot.

Whenever I boondock I always fill my gray tank in three days - just cannot learn to do a real GI shower - besides I'm a big woman and have a lot more to rinse off!

So I did something CHEAP to transfer gray water into the black water tank. I went to Home Depot and found a low volume water pump that is powered by a cordless drill... that same drill you can use for your stabilizer jacks. I cut two pieces of hose about three feet each and attached to each side of the pump. I take my shower with the plug in the drain, then pump my gray water into the toilet - takes a minute or two. Equalizing the filling of the tanks lets me go quite a bit longer without dumping and dilutes the stuff in the black tank.

Then one day it hit me - sh.... I could use that little pump to flush out the hose and tanks when I use the Sewer Solution. One five gallon dry wall bucket (I use an empty kitty litter bucket) filled with either potable or gray water... hook up the outlet hose from the pump into the flusher side of the Sewer Solution and drop the intake hose into the bucket, and I'm in business.

No one in the world even notices if you hook up a white hose to the built in tank sprayer on newer Airstreams. It's a gravity thing with that since the inlet is ABOVE the tank. If you're flushing from the drain side of the system... the "water police" may have a point that even with the best backflow protection something bad can happen. I still use my green car washing hose most of the time, but I can just as easily put 5 gallons of water in the bucket and pump it into the flusher side of the SS.

Paula - (east coast Paula)

Disclaimers:

I fulltime - so I never need to super-clean a black tank for the winter or for a month between trips. It's not that I'm filthy, but realistic. I'll be using that tank within hours at the longest, so it doesn't have to pass a white glove inspection.
I'm a freewheeler - no kids, few and infrequent guests. If you have 4 or more people "contributing" to the black tank's contents it could be more likely to have clogs in the line. I've never come near filling my black tank... and with good odor controlling chemicals I could probably go 3 weeks without emptying it. With a family of 4 or more clogs wouldn't dissolve if you have to drain the black tank every 3 days. A big family might need more than 5 gallons to move it all down the line.