Saniflo - anybody got one?

[BobbinThreadbare123]

I'm looking to create an en suite shower room in my house. There's an existing room but, for various reasons, it does not have a loo in it. Digging a waste pipe would be prohibitively expensive so we're looking at Saniflo on the advice of the plumber and builder we've engaged for the job.
Does anyone have a Saniflo system? Any good? Anything annoying about it? I've heard that they can be noisy and some alarming tales about excessive loo roll...

They aee noisy (so no quiet flushing at night) and they can be blocked with anything going down that shouldn't.

We stayed in a holiday home this summer with saniflow ensuite. I mistakenly dropped a tampon in the loo and was paranoid all week ot may block - fortunately it didn't. (My cousin used to tell me horror stories of the saniflow in her flat blocking). I also wouldn't let my husband do a number 2 in it for fear if blocking it....

Thanks @Mumdiva99. The big poo thing by DH concerns me too!

There was one in our house when we moved in. Couldn't wait to rip it out. You spend your whole time waiting for it to block. Yes a big poo will block it. Yes too much loo roll will block it. Yes it's noisy.

We have one just for water from the washing machine and it's fine. The saniflo bit isn't the worry at all, it's the macerator that causes horrible problems. I wouldn't put one in unless you really, really have to (and even then, I wouldn't use that toilet for solids...)

We inherited one in a house we bought, but it was in an en-suite we never used, so we forgot about it for years. Then when we moved and rented out the house, the tenant did use that en suite, the loo mechanism broke, and the replacement — and three subsequent visits by a Pumpmaster engineer to repair problems that meant the shower in that en suite was backing up with waste water — was expensive, messy and time-consuming.

This experience has meant I would definitely never opt to have one.

Yes, @User478, the macerator was what burned out in ours and caused all the issues.

Avoid, avoid, avoid - unless you want liquified waste coming through the ceiling of a room below... is truely a nightmare

@Mumdiva99

They aee noisy (so no quiet flushing at night) and they can be blocked with anything going down that shouldn't.

We stayed in a holiday home this summer with saniflow ensuite. I mistakenly dropped a tampon in the loo and was paranoid all week ot may block - fortunately it didn't. (My cousin used to tell me horror stories of the saniflow in her flat blocking). I also wouldn't let my husband do a number 2 in it for fear if blocking it....

You wouldn't let your DP do a poo all holiday? 😂😂

@LindaEllen that would have been messy!!!

There was a main bathroom and a downstairs loo too....

It is fine if only specific members of the household use it who understand the issues about what to put down it. They are quieter than they used to be and provide a good solution where you can’t have a usual loo.

They are not so good if they will be regularly used by infrequent visitors who just don’t understand. You can out a little sign up saying ‘human waste and loo paper only - macerator toilet which will easily block’ if you like....but there will always be the visitor who thinks that just one earbud or tampon will be fine...causing serious issues.

If it’s in an en-suite for your personal use, very few people should use it and it’s fine. If any children ever go in there, you have to train them hard about not putting random stuff down. But it should cope fine with big poos and loo paper.

We had one put into our office which is on a sloping lane below street level, so the loo is lower than the sewer outside, and was previously drained into a shared septic tank. The septic tank maintenance/emptying costs were horrendous and we were forever being told it was end of life and would soon need replacing which would cost a huge amount of money (tens of thousands). So, we opted out of the septic tank and put in a Saniflo so the waste could be pumped up to street level to join the street sewerage draining system.

It was a bloody nightmare. The noise was terrible which isn't good in an office with workers, and client meetings etc. It would block at least monthly as I had no control over what staff, clients, visitors, etc., would flush down it. Cleaning it out to unblock and repair was obviously a job few plumbers were willing to do, so it became increasingly hard to find anyone to maintain it. After about a year, we'd had enough, got it removed and rejoined the septic tank.

They "may" be OK for wee-ing, and maybe even OK for your family if they follow the rules (i.e. minimum loo roll, small poos only etc). But definitely not fit for purpose if you think they'll be used by visitors, husbands with big poos, daughters who'd put tampons or cotton wool balls or other small items down it.

So, to the OP, as long as no one is going to regularly poo down it or use more than a sheet or two of loo roll, and you all have the discipline not to put anything else down it, then OK.

We’ve had one in our en suite for the last 5 years and it’s got blocked 3 times. My husband fixes it, but he needs a medal for doing it as it’s a horrible job. It takes the water from our shower as well as the toilet so my hair causes the problems as it gets wrapped around the macerator.

No children. It will be used infrequently. I can't believe people actually put cotton balls etc in the loo - I'd have got hammered for that as a kid!

Based on this, I think I need to have a look at the multi-systems i.e. toilet alone if used carefully is ok, but if it's connected to the shower etc as well, maybe not so much.

I’ve had one connected to basin and shower too for about 5 years. It’s in an en-suite. No blockages. It’s been fine with family use.

Bought a house that had one in the attic. Wholly expected issues, but none so far (five years) and it gets used very regularly. We just make sure not to put too much paper down at a time. But otherwise it hasn't been restricted as far as normal toilet, er, 'loads' go and it's coped.

But it is noisy.

Shower on the same system, btw. Again, noise when it's running. I also had a little panic when I realised I'd put drain unblocker down that which wasn't recommended for macerators, but nothing happened.

You might be interested in this. If nothing else it's funny.

Peter Parry wrote (on the Subject of the Saniflo)

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 15 seconds, mine pulses on-off 3 or 4 times for about 2-3 seconds duration. Any ideas?

Peter replied:

Sell the house, failing that give it away, if that doesn't work pay someone to take it or burn it down. To give you a clue - these ghastly instruments of the Devil are French. Add the French and lavatorial engineering - now see why I say get out while you can. Moreover this particular Frenchman was a lunatic with strong Anglophobic tendencies and a bad case of coprophilia.

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 Sanitop with the outflow from a washbasin going into the top of the unit. I find that running the tap for a few seconds activates the Saniflo. Is there any way of adjusting the sensitivity of it so that it will only run when a reasonable amount of water has gone into the unit?

To which Peter replied:

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. www.wppltd.demon.co.uk

Read more: www.diynot.com/diy/threads/macerators.64170/#ixzz6k05cqGad

@VeniVidiWeeWee that is a very accurate description of what we have to do each time it breaks. Well, I say we...

I found it when a friend asked about them. They didn't get one!

PS IIRC Pigletjohn doesn't rate them.

We put in two 6 months ago and the more expensive professional quality ones rather than domestic (Saniflo branded not a cheaper version). We are now planning to dig new drains on the other side of the house as they are frankly a disaster as the quotes for repairs are so high. Meanwhile we won't use them and will save the repair costs to put towards the new drains (that we should have dug in the first place...). I think that tells you all you need to know about my feelings for Saniflo....!

No real issues with ours, which is getting on a bit, now - though we had to replace a washer in the cistern, when we moved in, and had to get it specially stamped because the size needed was no longer commercially available. The flush is pathetic, though.

It's best to use the cheap, flimsy loo roll and avoid anything "strong" or quilted.

I work in construction and we'll always do everything possible to avoid installing Saniflo. They're well known for needing regular maintenance and are easily blocked. Avoid if possible unless either you or your OH are handy at fixing things!

On my 'Threads I'm On' page, this thread comes just after a thread called 'Does evil exist?' Clearly it does, and its name is Saniflo.

Just don't