T&T: Holding Tank

[veiner at juno.com]

You can tell from the sound of the pump when the impeller has picked up the
last of the liquids, and in fact, from the sound and the pitch, when it is
nearing that point beforehand. Listen and monitor the pumping while it is
going on.

In no case, should you allow the pump to run dry for more than a few seconds,
for doing so leads to the impeller heating enough to break the epoxy bond from
the hub. Then you have a spinning hub and no impeller activity.

All of the suggestions given by others were excellent for troubleshooting your
macerator problem. However, I will add another suggestion.

I had my macerator pump run dry and ruin an impeller when a novice crew member
turned on the switch and left it on accidentally. It was impossible to hear
the macerator pump running from the fly bridge while underway. To prevent this
from happening again, I added a very loud backup alarm to the circuit (less
than $10 at an automotive store). Whenever the macerator is turned on, the
noise draws attention and also prevents forgetting to turn off the pump. Since
adding the switch, I have never had another impeller failure.  Martin Veiner



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