Latch.it RV Macerator Pump - Do you need this?

Review and disassembly of the Latch.it RV Macerator Pump. A detailed look at it's features, how to connect it, operation, performance and how it's constructed. I disassemble the pump to show how it's built.
This pump and similar ones are available through Amazon.

[@jupiterg9813]

very helpful video during a stressful time!

[@rickvandusen9271]

Over the last seven years I’ve used similar pumps (of two different brands). At home the sewer clean-out is 100ft from the RV. The pumps overheated and eventually failed until I actually read the directions and found that I was overloading the pump with excess back-pressure. I now use two hoses in parallel and the pump runs cool even after running through the black tank and gray tank running almost constantly. Also, gray water (leaving the valve open) will drain through the (not-running) pump, but it will likely damage the pump after a while. (I learned all of the above the hard way. Four ruined pumps.) I haven’t done it yet, but I intend to spray some red paint on the ends of all the hoses and fittings I use for waste water. I have anti-siphon valves on both ends of the hose I connect to tank flush. And one final: Camco makes a garden-hose-to-sewer adapter, which I’ve been using.

[@komtar7457]

Yours is the only video I've found that showed the internals of a macerator, thank you! I appreciate the detail and the thoroughness of your video. I hope you will do more RV-related videos with all the details and disassembly of devices to show how they work. That information is extremely useful for troubleshooting and DIY'ing, and it's great to know more than just the obvious stuff that most other videos share. Great for those of us who are detail-oriented and inquisitive. Thanks, again, for being different from the rest!

[@fixtinkerreviewrepeat3074]

Thanks for watching and for your comments. Gotta admit . . . I really enjoy taking stuff apart. Also, glad when I'm able to put it back together and it still works. Knowing what's inside helps to troubleshoot and fix a failure.

[@bklynman100]

Wow!! An honest review! Glad to see another video of yours pop up on my feed. Keep up the good work and happy camping!!

[@fixtinkerreviewrepeat3074]

Thanks. Glad you liked the review.

[@standsresolute]

Well done on the detail, explanation and step by step video. Nice job and thank you!

[@fixtinkerreviewrepeat3074]

Thanks for the comments

[@jking1286]

I like how you put your timepiece outside your nitrile😉😉

[@fixtinkerreviewrepeat3074]

Thanks for viewing and for your comment. I was hoping someone would notice that. . .

[@gregholder5283]

Great video! Love your process. Thank you!

[@awesomedee5421]

Those switches are cheap. I expected it to fail. Good review so I subscribed. and I like the channel.

[@fixtinkerreviewrepeat3074]

Hi and thanks for watching and your positive comments! They were under-rated. The amperage is the important number and the manufacturer should have used switches with a rating of greater than 12 amps. 15 amps was my recommendation, and the higher rated switch is only slightly larger in size, but is double the cost. I bought a replacement switch at Home Depot for about $7.00 so I could operate the pump safely.

[@wbforsure2104]

I went through several different pumps like this them decided to just go with a garbage disposal setup. I went with a 1/2hp disposal using 3/4 inch hose that's 75 feet long and it's still going strong 4 years later. Plus it only takes it 8 minutes to empty all 3 of my tanks.

[@fixtinkerreviewrepeat3074]

Thanks for watching and for your comment!!

[@rickvandusen9271]

My current FloJet empties 35gal black and 45gal gray in about 12 min (incl flushing black). Secret is having enough hose capacity.

[@TheLakingc]

Thank you. I had no idea how to hook it up to the battery. Other vids described or skipped that part.

[@fixtinkerreviewrepeat3074]

Thanks for viewing and leaving the comment. Glad it helped!!

[@JeffinTD]

Nice video. I see it claims to be capable of 10’ of lift. Have you tried this, and if so how much does it slow down? I’m wondering how it would do pushing waste up to a blue boy in the bed of a pickup, as people do when boondocking with rough road between the camp spot and dump…

[@jennifersmith7593]

Is there backflow prevention on the rinse hose connector?

[@phild1160]

What keeps that black tank mess from going into your water hose there

[@fixtinkerreviewrepeat3074]

Thanks for the question. The Macerator pump has a built-in check valve on the side port that blocks any backflow into the 3/4" hose used for flushing. Also, there's a similar check valve built into the 3" clear black tank outlet adapter I used to show the flow. The flushing hose is only used to flush the black tank and not for filling the fresh water tank. Care needs to be taken to avoid cross contamination into the clean water supply. Also, the 3/4" discharge hoses from the macerator are only used for this purpose and never anything else. Great question!

[@jennysigurani3920]

You make it look so easy. We did all these steps and we have a leak at the hose as soon as we turn it on 🤯 we thought it was the hose. Bought a new hose. Still happening. What are we doing wrong 😩🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

[@kaivonmortazavi8656]

Check/change rubber gaskets or try using just two wraps of plumbers teflon tape.

[@fixtinkerreviewrepeat3074]

@@kaivonmortazavi8656 Great advice. Some of the cheap rubber hose gaskets will deform and leak when overtightened.

[@fixtinkerreviewrepeat3074]

See advice below. Hope you get the leak sorted out. Try a different brand of hose gasket. Some cheap gaskets are way to mushy and flexible. they will deform and leak when overtightened or if the shape of the hose ends allow for the gasket material to flex and bend.

[@mikerossman9863]

Some one had some corn😂
How much of an incline you think it could reasonably do?

[@fixtinkerreviewrepeat3074]

I didn't test the ability to pump waste uphill. My site is is fairly level from the waste outlet to my septic inlet. Other channels have reported 10-15 feet height ability for this type of macerator pump. Best to check with the manufacturer or a reliable product review that tested this. Thanks for watching and your comments!

[@gottaluvthepets]

Will it chop the toilet paper too

[@fixtinkerreviewrepeat3074]

Maybe . . . Some brands of TP do not deteriorate in the black tank. If you use an RV / Marine TP you'll be OK. I use Scott 1000 and this TP breaks down nicely and will be processed by the macerator without issues. Charmin has thicker more sturdy sheets and does not readily breakdown in the black tank. This might cause the impeller in the macerator to clog. Cleaning the impeller is easy, but not very pleasant.

[@gottaluvthepets]

I got a clogged black tank will it suck the clogged out