Saniflo rant Featured

"Warning: people of a sensitive disposition might care to venture no further.

Angus asked:

My recently installed Saniflo does not behave as described in the user manual. On flushing the WC it's supposed to run continuously for about

I am quite sure the designer was also an ex-submariner Frenchman who missed the strangled screams of seamen who had got the valve sequence wrong in the submarines toilet and just been rinsed down with a few gallons of seawater (and the recently donated contents of the bowl).

They break down at the slightest opportunity. The only thing you can actually guarantee about them is that they will break down - very frequently. Basically the only way of maintaining the slightest semblance of serviceability is to impose on pain of repair the same rules as for a small yachts sea toilet - if it hasn't passed through you it doesn't go in the bowl.

They have an interesting design. The motor has poor starting torque and the macerator lots of tiny teeth. Ergo anything that has strands in it catches on the teeth and stops the motor from starting. Things with strands include anything with cotton wool (including cotton wool buds) and anything with cloth. Females in particular must not be allowed anywhere near these devices. If you were unfortunate enough to have the added misery of a sink (oh dear - you were warned) then add hair, strands from woolly pullovers and almost anything else that's at all fibrous.

When they break (which they will - that's an absolute certainty) their endearing characteristic is that you are left with a bowl full of whatever which you have to empty back the way it came and more importantly many feet of 40mm pipe still full of minced whatever. When you disconnect the pipe I'll give you one guess where its going to go. Repairing or unblocking them is the most thoroughly revolting job.

Now to get to specifics - the pulsing is a fault in either installation or the pressure switch. Does it pulse with just the cold water tap running from the sink? The way they work is a low pressure trip switch switches on the motor when the small holding tank is full. This tank remains partially full all the time. If its pulsing either the switch has too low a hysteresis or water isn't getting into it fast enough. The motor should remain on for a few seconds after everything has emptied so that pulsing you are seeing shouldn't be happening.

As the failure rate of these diabolical things is worse than that of a F104 Starfighter I'd suggest you get the installer back (preferably to remove it forever). If it was installed by yourself then self flagellation with a few lengths of barbed wire and a call to the Saniflo people might be in order.

Angus asked:

Also, my system is a Sanit No, but if it's oversensitive this might be related to the pulsing you are seeing.

Angus:

I don't see why the washbasin water cant just bypass the cutter/pump internally.

Peter:

Because these horrors are designed to be installed pumping upwards - the raving idiot who designed them thought it would be pretty neat to have something you could stick in a downstairs cloakroom and run the pipe upwards to join the soil stack in the bathroom. If that's how your installation goes cut out the selling the house bit - just burn it now. When it fails there is 10ft of pressurised whatsit just waiting for that final turn on the drainpipe.

The other reason the sink must go through the pump is that the outlet of the thing is at some pressure. Connect the sink a bit downstream and every time you pull the chain the contents of the loo make a pretty little fountain out of the sink plughole (I've seen one plumbed like that - the owner kept a sandbag in the sink on top of the plug).

Some models have an interesting feature - on the top is a reset switch, under the top cover is a screwdriver slot on the top of the motor drive shaft to allow you to clear the (frequent) blockages. However to get the top cover open to get at the drive shaft to free it - you've guessed - you have to disconnect the drain pipe.

How they can be called Saniflow when they are anything but sanitary (as you will soon find out) and rarely flow is beyond me.

As I said - sell the house.

Peter Parry."

Sadly, this whole issue is down to mother in law. She had the macerator installed. Digging a new drain would be possible, but massively disruptive.

As to the 40 mm pipe going upwards, I'd be interested to know how to vacuum out the whole thing? They must have designed it with a valve that you can attach a wet and dry vacuum to? Surely? I mean, they must have ...

"The pipe bending spring Would anyone be able to explain and provide tips on how to use one to get the desired effect for a first timer?

1. Buy tool.
2. Discover it has no instructions.
3. Buy DIY book on heating.
4. Read instructions.
5. Rip up old bedcover to make bending pads.
6. Lightly oil spring.
7. Discover it won't go into the pipe you cut with your nice new pipe cutter, you have to use a hacksaw.
8. Insert in pipe.
9. Wipe up blood from cut caused by raw end of pipe using the flux rag.
10. Discover the flux really is acidic, scream a bit.
11. Bend as instructed.
12. Dislocate kneecap.
13. Push kneecap back in place.
14. Remember to bend a little too far and bend back a touch to ease tension on spring.
15. Insert tool to rotate spring to remove it.
16. Pull on spring.
17. Knock over cup of tea, stand in flux tin.
18. Swear several times.
19. Tell (without moving teeth apart) wife/partner/neighbour/children you know what you are doing.
20. Smash knuckles on wall as hand slips from pulling device.
21. Bang pipe on floor several times.
22. Saw off bent bit of pipe. Use vice, angle grinder, several mole grips and welding torch to recover pipe bender.
23. Repeat steps 6 to 22 until the pain and loss of blood gets too much or you run out of pipe.
24. Throw away now mangled pipe spring (or use as garden gate closer).
25. Buy a proper bending tool."

that involves dealing with a pressurised appliance full of someone else's s*it.

No worse than changing a nappy? ;-)

Tim

I think your mistake was going to the Saniflo website.

If it?s a straight swap the job should be a doodle. Even if there?s a bit of repiping involved, solvent weld stuff is very easy to use.

If you don?t want to do it yourself find an independent plumber and make it clear that it?s an exchange, not a new installation.

Tim

Your wet and dry vacuum cleaner then fills up with liquidised poo....

How do you empty the hoover's tank without getting liquid poo all over yourself?

Then the hoover will stink of poo for years!

S.

Perhaps one of those mini excavators that can fit through doorways?

You only need to dig a trench about 2.7m long x 1.2m wide and a suitable depth to resolve the problem. Owain

Nappys dont come precharged to 5 psi

The Saniflo engineers have vacuums dedicated to this job.

I would empty mine into the drain inspection chamber, and, at the end of the job take it to the dump.

I asked 4 local plumbers, and they all refused! :)

It?s still only s*it. Nothing to be overly squeamish about.

Tim

Just spray it with one of the janitorial products made by HG (or other manufacturers) for public toilet or pet clean-ups.

They obviously know something that you don't. £100 for the labour, £200 for the PPE :)

If that £300+ fitting cost includes free 24hr/365days per year call-out to clean the s*it out of it every time it breaks down then I reckon you've got yourself a bargain. Otherwise, D-I-Y.

Nick

You forgot the costs of the psychological treatment of the PTSD..... :-)

Well, I'd not know how hard they are to replace, but if you get the new unit how hard can it be to get a more local plumber to fit it at a more reasonable cost. Brian

He says he's tried four plumbers and they have all refused.