Macerator Won’t Start

[theHueg]

I own a 2018 Winnebago ERA 170X. When I push the button to activate the Macerator to pump out my gray and black tanks, nothing happens. It worked two weeks ago. In the interim, my wife and I raced back to Texas from Florida arriving in very cold temps but before the worst hit and parked the unit inside an enclosed storage facility and we kept the Truma heater at 68. I will check the fuses, assuming there is one, tomorrow. Any other things I should check on before taking it to my dealer for them to have a go at it? I must say, as time passes I’m less enamored of Macerator pumps and wish my unit had traditional gravity fed units. They seem far less susceptible to problems.

[rowiebowie]

Try checking fuses. My macerator (not your rv model) quit because it started blowing the 15 amp fuse. No noise, nothing. Just immediately started blowing fuses. I went through all my spare 15 amp fuses so I put in a 20A and it worked.

My pump was not jammed, but jamming is a common problem that can sometimes be overcome by turning the motor manually with a screw driver or hex wrench on the shaft end (sometimes covered by a small plate).

Once home, I bought some additional 15 amp fuses and tried them with the same result so I went back to a 20 amp. Not ideal, but it works fine and while running the macerator I felt the wires and they never got hot. So for now, that's where I'm at.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by theHueg

I must say, as time passes I’m less enamored of Macerator pumps and wish my unit had traditional gravity fed units. They seem far less susceptible to problems.

It is interesting how people's experiences vary so widely when it comes to macerator reliability. Over 16 years and two vehicles, I have never had a failure. In both cases, I went to great lengths to install redundant gravity dumps as backups. To this day, my slinky doesn't stink.

I wonder if there is some usage pattern or installation detail that accounts for the difference.

[Ken Allan]

I did the final cleanout of our black tank just as temps were low 30's. Same as mentioned...fuse melted. Second fuse also. I removed small cap on end of motor and turned with screwdriver. A new 15a fuse and it ran fine.

There is a small (internal) space in the housing between the impeller and the motor. I suspect there was a drop of water that got around the shaft seal. While the water in tank has enough mass to not freeze quickly, that drop may have froze?

It may also be that the "flexible" plastic impeller gets just stiff enough in 30 deg temps to cause an extra load on motor, hence the blown fuse.

KenA Louisville, Oh

[rowiebowie]

Originally Posted by avanti

It is interesting how people's experiences vary so widely when it comes to macerator reliability. Over 16 years and two vehicles, I have never had a failure. In both cases, I went to great lengths to install redundant gravity dumps as backups. To this day, my slinky doesn't stink.

That's why you never had a failure!