Winnebago Macerator Pump issues

[ptpdx]

Hi everyone,

I have a 2017 Winnebago Class B Era70x.

I LOVE it, except for the macerator pump. Have had issues from purchase.

Dealership has replaced a FAILED pump twice (2 x in the first month I owned it) on warranty.

I went 3 months with no problems. Then, instead of a regular "fire hydrant" flow on emptying tanks, it was just a trickle.

Took back to dealership and they unclogged water traps (these got plugged as I had inadvertently cleaned my black tank, but failed to leave the emptying valve open, so water had no where to flow).

All was well until two months later and back to the same issue of barely a trickle when emptying tanks. Normally, when they are full, I can empty both tanks at 5 minutes. With barely a trickle, it can take over an hour.

Also of note: I do NOT put anything down any drain (including the toilet) except for gray water/human waste. I do NOT use any TP/RV TP (I have a separate container I put that in).

I also full-time in this, so I don't think my tanks sit long enough to get plugged or clogged. And I do use RV toilet treatment after every emptying of thanks.

Dealership showed me how to manually turn/crank the macerator pump using a Philips screwdriver; and this helps some, but doesn't completely solve the problem.

This is my first RV, and you don't know what you don't know. I wish I knew about macerator pumps. After I sell/trade this thing in, I will never get another RV with a macerator. I also asked about switching out to a gravity fed system; but it is not possible on this type of RV.

Any ideas/suggestions? Have other people had this type of problem?

Thanks for reading. Happy travels!!

[ptpdx]

Thanks all! I think I'm making sure to put enough water down the toilet for clog prevention.
As for material being left in the tanks during the manufacture process, I hadn't thought of that, but will ask the tech's to look into that when I take it in for service in a couple of weeks. I can hear the pump trying to do its thing; so it's not like when I click on the pump button, nothing happens, i.e. no sound from the pump. I'm confident the answer will come!

[TinyoneRV]

Since it's a relatively new vehicle could it possibly be material left in the tanks from manufacture. From your description it appears to be something destroying the impeller in the macerator pump or something stopping up the pipes into the macerator.

[garyemunson]

Best macerator pump system I ever had was in a 1972 "Leisure Lodge". It had the regular gravity dump (one tank for both grey and black water back then) but also had the macerator. It had a control module that had a driveshaft speed sensor and a temperature sensor clamped to the radiator hose. When speed reached 40 and temperature was greater than 175, the pump would start and the sewage was injected into the exhaust pipe right behind the manifold. I don't remember ever having to connect the sewer hose. Always wondered if people driving behind us noticed anything......

[midnightsadie]

just a guess, maybe not enough water being used.