One more macerator issue

[booster]

Weather turned good and we took the Roadtrek out of the garage to do a final check of all the new stuff, dual dump, solar, antenna, etc.

All was pretty much as expected on dump system, back flushed nicely, gravity dump fine, new level sensors reading. We then switched over to macerator, and got no water out, pump running, but nothing out. Looked underneath and water was running pretty hard from the splash shield under the pump, even without it running. Took a peek inside the cover and water was coming out of the weep drain at the bottom of the pump (lucky it was on the bottom now) and also from all around the gasket between the inlet fitting and the pump. All our testing earlier had been done with our old pump, in case some debris from all the work found its way to the pump, and it worked perfectly every time, so this pump had never been installed until the final assembly. The pump that was leaking was a brand new, 180 degree rotated, one we bought to put in because the old pump was over 6 years old. I had tested the new pump on the bench to make sure it ran, and confirm rotation direction, but hadn't pumped anything with it.

Pulled the pump out, which is pretty easy on the new system, maybe 10 minutes. Took it apart to see what was going on and found that the gasket between the inlet fitting and pump had basically turned into a gooey mush and squeezed out of the flanges. By one of the screw holes in the gasket, the screw had hooked the gasket and ripped a chunk out it. I found the chunk in the shaft seal, thus the leak out the weep hole. The pump was full of what looked like grey moly grease or anti-seize. Big globs of it on the seals, impeller, entire pump cavity. Whatever that grease was, must not have been compatible with the gasket that failed and deteriorated.

I put the old pump back in and everything worked as it should, except we got a big blob of the grease out the discharge hose when it started pumping, it must have been stuck in the hose from the other pump. Waiting for a replacement new pump to be approved and sent, hope it is not full of grease.

I mention all this because I know there are some folks that carry a spare pump, and if their new spare was like this new pump, it would not work.

If you have a pump, I would suggest looking into the discharge fitting with a flashlight to see if you see grease, you can rotate the pump with the manual override with a screwdriver at the end of the motor. If it is hard to tell, you can take a Q tip and wipe inside and see what you get. The whole pump end is held on with 3 screws, which you can check and if they are quite loose, the gasket may be deteriorating. Ours were very loose.

I hope we just got somebodies ill advised experiment to try to help new pump dry running failure, and there aren't many of them out there.

[markopolo]

That's too bad. Good that you had the old one ready to go. Hopefully you'll get no problems getting a new replacement pump sent to you.

Thanks for the info. I might buy a macerator pump this year so will inspect it in store.

[booster]

I am hoping that the problem is limited as this was the 180* rotated pump, and very very few folks even sell them. I wish I had looked for a date code on the model number sticker on the pump, but I had to send that in for the warranty claim. A replacement should come right from Shurflo, so I would hope it would be as new of production as possible.

[Caped Crusader]

Which brand pump, Flojet or Shurflo.

[booster]

Shurflo

[tlillard23]

well poop... I wish all of these posts weren't so dispersed. just replaced my macerator and it's leaking as yours is/ was. this sucks. I guess it's a warranty claim now for me?

see the other info here
https://www.classbforum.com/forums/f...ions-3249.html

[tlillard23]

if you need new gaskest for the 3200-001

SHURFLO 94-570-04 LIP SEAL KIT 9457004

[TX-Trek]

This and your main post on the additional drain line are super-helpful. I'll be using them as a guide on our 210, I'm always thinking the what-if scenario if the macerator fails on a trip.

One additional comment, I've found that in many cases moly and rubber don't play well together. Syl-Glyde is my first choice for brake caliper pins/rubber boots in particular, but I use it almost anytime there's something in contact with a rubber gasket unless the gasket is ok with petroleum based products. I've also found that HondaBond rtv works well when you want some additional adhesion/sealing when using a rubber gasket, like at sharp corners, etc.

I wonder why the pump mfg used a degrading lube in that macerator.

[booster]

Originally Posted by TX-Trek

This and your main post on the additional drain line are super-helpful. I'll be using them as a guide on our 210, I'm always thinking the what-if scenario if the macerator fails on a trip.

One additional comment, I've found that in many cases moly and rubber don't play well together. Syl-Glyde is my first choice for brake caliper pins/rubber boots in particular, but I use it almost anytime there's something in contact with a rubber gasket unless the gasket is ok with petroleum based products. I've also found that HondaBond rtv works well when you want some additional adhesion/sealing when using a rubber gasket, like at sharp corners, etc.

I wonder why the pump mfg used a degrading lube in that macerator.

The lube they chose has no explanation that I can think of other than pure dumb.


I also use Sil-Glyde or the slightly thicker silicone grease I have on non metal parts, particularly rubber and some plastics.


On metal to metal contact sliding parts, moly grease is best I think.


Bearings, usually regular lithium grease except for wheel bearings where I use synthetic high temp grease.


I just wish I could find a chassis type grease that doesn't drool oil all over the place after greasing the front end parts. The only one I have that doesn't drool is the moly grease, but after a while it seems to dry out in the joint and get sticky. Lately I have used the moly most of the time with an occasional shot of lithium grease to clean the parts out a bit and make the steering smoother.


My go to sealer is Right Stuff as it has been be far the most consistent for me. The only time I don't use it is if I want a very thin but still flexible coating and want the gasket to stick in place. Then I use the old Permatex non hardening black/brown stuff.

[TX-Trek]

Great info as always, thanks. Ditto on the Permatex #2, I used some of that today as a matter of fact!
In one of my current project cars, I've tried Valvoline Cerulean #2 (lithium based) grease in the suspension lube points.