Question Sanicon Why???

[DKRITTER]

We’ve had several RV’s over the years all have been mechanical dumping systems. We bought our DS about a year ago and it has the Tecma macerating toilets and they work perfectly. I continue to be amazed at how little work it is to rinse the black tank and get clear water.

We have also had a few different sewer hoses, the one that came in the welcome kit, we bought a rhino but I didn’t care for the sewer connection then 6-7 years ago I bought the Valterra Dominator series sewer hose and have had it since. All of this works fine, and I have had no issues at all. I also own a Flojet macerator for the 2 times a year we go to our sons because he doesn’t have access nearby.

All that said, I see threads on a regular basis about Sanicon issues, retrofits, tubing, sheaths, leaks and so on. I’m just not wrapping my head on the need/justification for macerating something that’s already been macerated.

Some of y’all have a good bit of time and money invested in these things, I have a $40.00 sewer hose. What am I missing???

 

[Neal]

I added sani-con to mainly check it out as being new to RVing I wanted to learn what it was about. I've had several places where the sewer connection is uphill and this is where sani-con really comes in handy, pumping the fluids to the sewer vs. gravity. The other benefit I've really enjoyed is I don't have to disconnect and stow a stinky slinky. My hose and fitting remain connected all the time. If I am pulling up to a dump location such as Cabella's then I open the wet bay door, pull out the hose, connect and dump. When done I push in the flexible hose S curving it into place in the wet bay and stow. No elbows, twist connections, sewer connections between hose and ground fitting, etc. It has been quite more convenient but installation and setup was a bit of work at least in my setup. You'll need electrical, potentially add another hole in the wet bay floor which was ideal for me, so there are some tradeoffs but once done it is very nice and I do prefer it over the stinky slinky setup. I was NOT on board like you (it seems) and didn't get it, now that I have it I swear by it. And I've had quite a few locations where I'm dealing with up hill connections some even elevated off the ground for some reason. After hearing about all the troubles the DS peeps had with the 600 series Thetford told me to use the Turbo 400S which is a bayonet connection and it works great. Supposedly pumps just as fast as the 600 series.

 

[NWIP]

I had considered installing Sanicon on our 2017 DS, but like you heard all the issues people were having and decided I didn’t need a $800 headache. I went to several places like @Neal mentioned where sewer connected uphill and hated having to walk sewer line getting it to drain.

Fast forward to 2020 DS and Newmar really improved the installation. First it is centered in the wet bay, hole in floor is unobstructed. Secondly they used 3” ABS for both gray and black drains. Third is there is gravity 3” drain on unit with gate valve that can be used without changing any other connections.

I like the addition of Sanicon with the improvements

 

[DKRITTER]

$1323.00 Option on a new Newmar.


I know the few times a year I use the Flojet I have to stay there and make sure it doesn't run dry for more than a few seconds. Does the Sanicon also need to be monitored?

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

$1323.00 Option on a new Newmar.


I know the few times a year I use the Flojet I have to stay there and make sure it doesn't run dry for more than a few seconds. Does the Sanicon also need to be monitored?

Yes, it does. Running any pump dry for more than a short time leads to a quick failure.

That said, the ease of using the Sani-Con and the speed with which it accomplishes the task make it worthwhile IMHO. We have it in our 2018 coach and would not have another coach without it.

TJ

 

[Neal]

$1323.00 Option on a new Newmar.


I know the few times a year I use the Flojet I have to stay there and make sure it doesn't run dry for more than a few seconds. Does the Sanicon also need to be monitored?

No, it has a thermal cutoff so it protects itself. I left mine on by accident when dumping from inside probably a half hour as I got distracted somehow and it’s so quiet it’s hard to hear. No damage. Not ideal. You want to take proper care as it is expensive. I learned a lesson not to leave the panel inside until complete. I love controlling this from inside the coach but you have to stay until done.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

No, it has a thermal cutoff so it protects itself. I left mine on by accident when dumping from inside probably a half hour as I got distracted somehow and it’s so quiet it’s hard to hear. No damage. Not ideal. You want to take proper care as it is expensive. I learned a lesson not to leave the panel inside until complete. I love controlling this from inside the coach but you have to stay until done.

Yes, there is a thermal cut-off on the pump motor that protects it from overheating. That does nothing to protect the close-fitted impeller seals in the pump, however. Now, since I have not disassembled my pump, I can't say for sure what kind of impeller the Sani-Con pump uses to move the sewage, but many types of pumps have rubber seals on the impeller blades that can be damaged by running dry.

As I recall, the Sani-Con manual says to not let the unit run dry for very long. I could be wrong here, but "good practice" will keep me from letting my Sani-Con run dry for very long.

EDIT: I did not find a caution in the Sani-Con Turbo 700 manual regarding running the pump dry as I had thought. There was a mention of the thermal cut-off. Guess I was wrong in my thoughts, though I still will probably avoid running the pump dry any longer than necessary.

TJ

 

[Neal]

$1323.00 Option on a new Newmar.

I would do it. I think the value is right now that Newmar finally got this right. The cost of the pump plus plumbing it in like they did I think this price is fair.

I still will probably avoid running the pump dry any longer than necessary

Agreed, I don't want my pump to run dry (i.e. extended period after fluid is out of the tank, it will run dry for a few seconds), I would not do so intentionally. Turn it on, open the gate valve, close gate valve, turn it off is my sequence.

 

[J&JD]

Some of y’all have a good bit of time and money invested in these things, I have a $40.00 sewer hose. What am I missing???

Probably in the minority here but I’m kind of on DK’s side. It never seems longer than a minute or so to hook up the slinky. I think I can count on one hand all the unusual problems I’ve had with the standard hose setup in many years of rving. (Well, maybe both hands in 15 years of class A setup). Old school here, KISS works for me. But, then again, I’ve never had a Sani-con unit?.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

From my experience, some dealers will price the option at their cost, which is significantly less than the retail Newmar quotes. It just takes a little bargaining. When we added it in our order for the 2018 MADP, the dealer agreed to price is that way and the cost was less than $1K (I don't recall the exact price at the moment).

TJ

 

[Just George]

A couple Sanicon questions (thinking of including it in a new Dutch Star order)

- For those of you with a Sanicon and electric drain valves that are operated from within the coach how does the process work to keep from running the Sanicon dry? I have electric valves with my stinky slinky system so no problem if I leave a valve open long after it has emptied the tank.

- We currently leave the gray valve open while at a campground for an extended time. No worry of full gray tank due to showers , loads of wash etc. So what is the "gray tank open" process with a sanicon? If the gray is open will it flow without running the sanicon?

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

I can't answer the first question; we don't have electric valves. As for leaving the gray valve open, it will flow through the Sanicon without it running. Works fine for us.

TJ

 

[Neal]

A couple Sanicon questions (thinking of including it in a new Dutch Star order)

- For those of you with a Sanicon and electric drain valves that are operated from within the coach how does the process work to keep from running the Sanicon dry? I have electric valves with my stinky slinky system so no problem if I leave a valve open long after it has emptied the tank.

- We currently leave the gray valve open while at a campground for an extended time. No worry of full gray tank due to showers , loads of wash etc. So what is the "gray tank open" process with a sanicon? If the gray is open will it flow without running the sanicon?

Most that have electric gates don't also have a feature to turn sanicon on and off, you'll have to figure that out as I did with the help of @Chuggs. Not overly hard but needs added electrical work, a switch, led light with the same zehner and resistor as the water pump switch uses on my coach at least. Moral is, to use sanicon from inside is a more complex setup but it's not required. You can still use a stinky slinky if desired.

As stated the sanicon has a built in bypass so if you open a gate without turning on sanicon it still drains like a stinky slinky. If you have all macerator toilets black would probably do the same. Most only use gray with sanicon off i.e. bypass.

 

[flyboy013]

I have both electric waste valves and a remote sanicon capability. So far I’ve been running the various steps manually whereas I would open the black tank, turn on sanicon, wait for black tank to empty, turn off sanicon, open grey tank to back flush black tank, close grey once level indicates enough grey waste has transferred to black tank, close grey tank, turn on sanicon, empty black tank again, close black tank, open grey tank until its empty, and then turn off sanicon and close the grey tank.

I plan on automating this process so that I only have to initiate the dump process and it then does everything automatically.

I have added a failsafe to my sanicon so that a remote activation is time limited. I currently have it set to running a maximum of 4 minutes.

 

[CaptainGizmo]

A couple Sanicon questions (thinking of including it in a new Dutch Star order)

- For those of you with a Sanicon and electric drain valves that are operated from within the coach how does the process work to keep from running the Sanicon dry? I have electric valves with my stinky slinky system so no problem if I leave a valve open long after it has emptied the tank.

- We currently leave the gray valve open while at a campground for an extended time. No worry of full gray tank due to showers , loads of wash etc. So what is the "gray tank open" process with a sanicon? If the gray is open will it flow without running the sanicon?

I'll get beat up here, but that's fine...I've been arguing with creditors for the past 2 days straight. ?

As said earlier, the Macerator toilets do a "fine" job on their own.

I an a HUGE FAN of streamlining, simplifying, AND automating to make things better. I mean, don't get me wrong...nothing would make me happier than to see the look on my guest's faces as I yell, "ALEXA, TAKE A DUMP!" HOWEVER, follow me through on this one:

Since the macerators have done the first part of the job, the only real advantage of a Sanicon is speed of dumping. Ok, yeah yeah, the hose is already connected, so sure, you'll save a couple minutes in connecting.

That said...so now, with everything connected...you're thinking about electric dump valves inside the coach. Reason being so you don't have to go outside and wait. Right?

Soooo, if you can open your valves from the inside and not worry about waiting around, then why would the speed of the Sanicon matter anymore?

My current system has indoor valve switches, and does NOT have macerating toilets. I have a single tank with a pre-connected hose, and dumping couldn't be easier. Just open the valve and carry-on. After a few minutes, the tank is empty, and I close the valve.

Therefore, IF I were to get another DS and could have inside valve switches, I'd make the same decision to not get a Sanicon. Leaving the valves open isn’t a problem when you don't have a Sanicon to worry about.

DISCLAIMER: IF...I needed the other features of the Sanicon, such as pumping uphill long distances, then the above suggestion would go out the window...uh, er...down the drain.

 

[Neal]

Sanicon is also useful for uphill scenarios. Yes, I've had a handful of those.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

It is also great for long-distance pump-outs. At the sticks-and-bricks, our septic tank is about 75’ away from where the coach Is parked. We use a 75’ 3/4” garden hose to dump the black and gray tanks when we get home from a trip. So as not to overburden the septic system, we try to arrive home with fairly empty tanks and then stagger the pump-outs over a couple of sessions with a pause between them.

TJ

 

[Just George]

Thanks for all the input. Like CaptainGizmo I currently use my autovalve to dump from inside the coach through my stinky slinky. I have a flowjet macerator pump that I use at the S&B to empty & flush the tanks when we return from travels. I think I'll spend the sanicon $ on something else and look at a way to pack up my flowjet & a section of hose to handle any uphill situations. So far I've only encountered a couple of uphill dump situations. In one the flow was "uphill" but not higher that than the dump valve so gravity still worked but I had to "walk" the last of the gray out of the SS. The other case I was just there for an overnight so just waited to dump until the next campground.