New macerator works for a week and then trips power. Help

[AliMan22]

hi all
I’m having a new en suite fitted and a couple of weeks ago had the Homac 400 macerator fitted for the toilet waste (the plumber took the waste vertically up into loft and across bedroom to stack pipe).
The macerator worked for about a week but one day upon flushing it cut out and tripped the power to the whole house. The only way to turn the power back on was to disconnect the macerator from its electrical supply. I’m fairly handy with a screwdriver so I removed the macerator and manually poured its contents away so it was all dry again and tested it and it worked. I refitted the macerator and it again has worked for a week but last night on flushing it’s tripped the house electrics again. It’s almost as if it’s ‘flooding’ internally and water is getting somewhere into its inner workings.

A reputable plumber fitted it so I’m confident it was fitted correctly. Does anyone have any experience of this type of issue? Would you say it’s a fault with the macerator?

To get it working again this morning I’ve had to drain the unit from one of its additional waste outlets on the side which seems to have solved the issue but probably for only another week or so. I’m thinking of just removing the Homac altogether and fitting a saniflo (I believe the fittings are the same so should be fairly easy to do?).

The company I purchased from aren’t coming back to me at all but am chasing that up separately.

I’m a stay at home mum and my husband is at work (long hours) while I’m trying to deal with a crying baby and a faulty macerator. Sorry for that info but I’m getting so down about this bloody macerator and just want some advice on what may be best. Any advice really is very much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Louise

 

[Gasmk1]

• Up to 80m horizontal discharge, 8m vertical discharge.(combination: please use the table below for your reference Every curve will also reduce the discharge distance with approximately 1m)
  Vertical (m) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
  Horizontal (m) 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10
  
  is it fitted correctly, not trying to do too much. could the pump be struggling when the pipe is full and it overheats, causing the power to trip

 

[AliMan22]

• Up to 80m horizontal discharge, 8m vertical discharge.(combination: please use the table below for your reference Every curve will also reduce the discharge distance with approximately 1m)
  Vertical (m) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
  Horizontal (m) 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10
  
  is it fitted correctly, not trying to do too much. could the pump be struggling when the pipe is full and it overheats, causing the power to trip

Hi thanks for the reply. The pipe work goes vertically upwards about 2m and then across the loft to stack pipe about 3m so it shouldn’t be under any strain as fits well within the max distance guidance etc. I read about an inlet valve needing to be the correct way round so now I’m wondering if that could be incorrect and is letting the waste water back in.

 

[Chuck]

Any advice really is very much appreciated.

It's difficult to be sure without inspecting and testing various things but if the 'whole house' was tripped-out it is unlikely to be an overload, which I would expect to trip just the circuit your poo-pump is connected to. That makes it likely that the problem is with the macerator.

If it's a relatively new installation, person who supplied and installed the macerator needs to sort the problem out for you.

This is a plumbing site, not 'consumer rights' , but there is some useful information here:

Consumer Rights Act 2015 - Which? Consumer Rights

, which may be useful if your supplier(s) are being less than helpful.

If you feel you are getting nowhere and just want the problem fixed, one approach would be to wait for the problem to happen again and then get an electrician to come and check the insulation and 'earth leakage' on the macerator and also test the circuit it is attached to. It is possible, albeit unlikely, that your house wiring the root cause or your circuit breaker is too sensitive. Unless you do this it is difficult to be *sure* the problem is with the maccerator.

 

[AliMan22]

It's difficult to be sure without inspecting and testing various things but if the 'whole house' was tripped-out it is unlikely to be an overload, which I would expect to trip just the circuit your poo-pump is connected to. That makes it likely that the problem is with the macerator.

If it's a relatively new installation, person who supplied and installed the macerator needs to sort the problem out for you.

This is a plumbing site, not 'consumer rights' , but there is some useful information here:

Consumer Rights Act 2015 - Which? Consumer Rights

, which may be useful if your supplier(s) are being less than helpful.

If you feel you are getting nowhere and just want the problem fixed, one approach would be to wait for the problem to happen again and then get an electrician to come and check the insulation and 'earth leakage' on the macerator and also test the circuit it is attached to. It is possible, albeit unlikely, that your house wiring the root cause or your circuit breaker is too sensitive. Unless you do this it is difficult to be *sure* the problem is with the maccerator.

Thanks for your reply. I think you are right and I need to get an electrician in. Tonight the electrics tripped and we weren’t even using the macerator! Something is definitely not quite right. I will call an electrician or a macerator engineer (if such a person exists?!). Thanks for taking the time to reply.

 

[rpm]

Louise,
Homac are made from recycled plastic, a basic copy of the Saniflo with substandard electrical parts, your problem is well known within the trade but the Chinese manufacture won`t own up to the fault and the warranty is worthless.
Throw it away and ensure the replacement has it`s switched fuse spur on it`s own circuit.

 

[AliMan22]

Louise,
Homac are made from recycled plastic, a basic copy of the Saniflo with substandard electrical parts, your problem is well known within the trade but the Chinese manufacture won`t own up to the fault and the warranty is worthless.
Throw it away and ensure the replacement has it`s switched fuse spur on it`s own circuit.

Thanks for your reply. I’m starting to realise that these macerators are no good after looking at reviews and the company’s trustpilot feedback. Problem is the macerator is sold as ‘Aquabest’ and it’s only upon receiving item you find it’s Homac branded. Wish I had researched a bit more before purchase. You live and learn! Thanks again