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1

General Discussion / Re: Sanicon Turbo 700 Macerator

« on: May 05, 2025, 01:07:35 pm »

My factory supplied stinky-slinky hose is stored in my spare tire enclosure thus not very convenient.  I only used this hose once when I developed a hole in the macerator hose which resulted from improper factory installation.  The bypass worked ok but not quite as convenient and quick as the macerator option.


I am coming to the conclusion that I will install a storage tube underneath the Phoenix and just use the old fashion gravity dump method.  I am not up to changing the sump type Sanicon system so I would have to find a reliable RV mechanic to change it which I am not so confident of finding that person in my area.


Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions.

2

General Discussion / Re: Sanicon Turbo 700 Macerator

« on: May 04, 2025, 10:44:01 am »

I was researching the macerator failure and ran across a video with the same Thetford unit I have.  He attributed the problem being since it was a brush type motor and sometimes where it stopped determined whether it started or not.  Having had hand drills in the past after several years they would not start without manually rotating the chuck.  After that it was roulette whether it would start the next time or not.  This is not a practical procedure for the macerator.


My unit is 9 years old and has had moderately heavy use.  I am curious as to how common this type of failure occurs.  Would this type failure led Phoenix into changing to what they currently install?

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General Discussion / Re: Sanicon Turbo 700 Macerator

« on: May 04, 2025, 06:11:02 am »

Photos of breakers and underneath macerator sump.

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General Discussion / Re: Sanicon Turbo 700 Macerator

« on: May 03, 2025, 03:22:47 pm »

Thanks for the suggestions.  I checked the breakers on your schematic.  In my case they were under the passenger side bed.  I checked them by turning off battery power and disconnected shore power.  I checked all 5 breakers to verify 0 ohms across each breaker’s two terminals.


I suspect my macerator is different from yours.  Both black and grey tanks dump into a sealed box.  The macerator is a submersible pump inside the sealed box thus without breaking the seal I can’t determine if the pump is free.



Photos of breakers and underneath the macerator sump shown below.

5

General Discussion / Re: Sanicon Turbo 700 Macerator

« on: May 03, 2025, 08:42:52 am »

I searched the main Phoenix fuse panel and couldn’t find any fuses designated for the macerator.  I searched the macerator manufacturers wiring diagram and it indeed shows a 30 amp fuse.  Any suggestions where to find the macerator fuse?


I would prefer to continue using the macerator option but if it is indeed is a failed macerator motor then replacement looks expensive and difficult to physically replace hence exploring the stinky/slinky option.


Thanks in advance for any info or recommendations.

6

General Discussion / Sanicon Turbo 700 Macerator

« on: May 02, 2025, 10:47:43 am »

I dumped my waste tanks a couple days ago and the macerator worked.  Trying to rinse and flipped the macerator switch it would not start and heard no noise.  It has been a good unit for the past 9 years.


I am just starting to think of options.  I have found Phoenix has used at least thee different models over the years. One of my options is to leave the macerator pump in place and just dump with the supplied stinky/slinky system.  I am curious how many have used this bypass option long term and if there are reasons other than the convenience improvements that the macerator has?


It looks like a pump replacement might be easier though still not easy to replace the complete Sump box and pump assembly.  Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

7

General Discussion / Re: Towed vehicle electrical

« on: April 13, 2024, 03:57:52 pm »

I finally found the problem.  It indeed was a 20 amp fuse that was blown.  It was in the fuse box under the hood.  There are two combination fuse/relays in the same box.  One operates the left turn/stop and the other operates the right turn/stop for the 7 pin connector.  The fuse/relays were ok.  The 20 amp fuse I think supplies power to the two fuse/relays and it was this fuse that was bad.  The location of these fuses are shown in the Ford Operators Manual.  It is not a normal blade type fuse thus it required a trip to the auto parts store to pick up two.  One to replace the blown fuse and the other as a spare.  I carry a pretty good assortment of blade fuses but they were no help this time.


I wanted to respond to my own question in case someone has a similar issue in the future.

8

General Discussion / Towed vehicle electrical

« on: April 13, 2024, 10:08:29 am »

I am trying to connect my towed vehicle to my PC.  I am having an issue with the taillights on the toad.  The towed charge wire and the running/tail lights work ok but the turn and stop lights do not.  I have checked the 7 pin connector on the PC and I do not get any voltage on the left turn or right turn connector pins.  The lights on the PC appear to working ok but no signal output to the 7 pin connector.


I am suspecting a blown fuse but do not know where to check.  Any thoughts/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

9

General Discussion / Re: Inverter "Remote" Madness

« on: June 23, 2023, 11:23:13 am »

I had Phoenix install a Samlex pure sine wave 2,000 watt inverter when the unit was being built in 2016.  They also installed a separate transfer switch.  Knock on wood I have not had any problems with this arrangement.

10

General Discussion / Re: Lithium Battery Install

« on: September 15, 2022, 06:36:37 pm »

I have recently returned from an extended trip with infrequent internet access and was not aware until yesterday that Lance was no longer on the forum.



I also met Lance at a Phoenix regional gathering and found him very cordial and willing to give of his time in helping others.  His background and ability to logically troubleshoot problems was a real asset to this forum.  I will certainly miss his well thought out answers and his sharing of his experiences.






Fred

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General Discussion / Re: Lithium Battery Install

« on: August 01, 2022, 07:30:12 pm »

Lance,
As expected from seeing some of your other PC upgrade projects,  the Lithium battery installation appears very neat and well thought out.  You should have ample electrical storage for most anything you choose to power.


I hope you provide a follow up after the batteries, solar panels, etc. are installed and you have a few off grid camping experiences to share.


Fred

12

General Discussion / Re: Xantrex 1800 watt Inverter

« on: July 23, 2022, 09:31:03 pm »

As a follow up to my previous post, I just confirmed with Battleborn they recommend a full charge voltage of 14.4 - 14.6 volts with an absorption (cell balancing) time of 30 minutes per 100 ah battery or in the case of two 100 ah batteries in parallel a 1 hour absorption time.  They use those settings on their MPPTs to balance the battery cells.

13

General Discussion / Re: Xantrex 1800 watt Inverter

« on: July 22, 2022, 11:28:44 am »

My 2016 model 2552 has a Progressive Dynamics 9270 (70 amps max) which I ordered from PC in the initial build.  It has their Charge Wizard control which allows one the choice of 3 voltage levels if manual control is desired or an automatic charge profile.  I contacted Battleborn and Progressive Dynamics before converting to two 100ah Battleborn batteries.  Both companies were ok with the 9270.  I very seldom use shore power or generator but rather rely on solar panels.  I have the Victron 30 amp solar controller which has the flexibility to change the automatic charge profile.


I know you didn’t ask about solar controllers but I thought I would share the charge settings I have programmed on my solar controller.  I consulted Battleborn to get their recommended settings.  I have the full charge setting at 14.4 volts.  The batteries have a battery management system (BMS) that at full charge voltage balances each of the individual cells in the battery but it needs some time to accomplish this.  I have mine set to hold 14.4 volts for 30 minutes to allow the BMS to optimize individual cell charge level.  I think that Battleborn is good with 30 minutes per battery or in my case with two batteries one hour.  Since I am typically on extended trips I chose to shorten this as the batteries are balanced daily.  After this balancing phase I have the controller to drop to 13.2 volts.  As I recall reading somewhere this balancing function needs a minimum of 14.2 volts to perform this balancing (this should be checked with the battery manufacturer).

14

General Discussion / Re: Lithium Battery Upgrade

« on: July 09, 2022, 01:19:39 pm »

As a bit of trivia,  I just used my instapot (electric pressure cooker) and was curious how much power was being drawn from the Lithium batteries.  It appears to be approximately 700-800 watts/60 amps.


I have measured my PC supplied microwave on high setting and it consumes about 17-19 amps at 120  Volts.  I would estimate if the power came from the 12 volt inverter the current would be on the order of 200 amps.  Thus I would be on the ragged edge of what my two 100 ah batteries could provide without tripping the overcurrent protection disconnect. Too close for comfort for me to try.  Lance with your much higher capacity battery bank and adequate wire and inverter size this certainly sounds doable.


I suspect though I haven’t researched it to confirm, the PC supplied microwave is a higher capacity unit than many of the other RV installed microwaves.  I suppose one could operate the microwave at a lower power setting if this was a problem but I will leave that to others to confirm.

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General Discussion / Re: Lithium Battery Upgrade

« on: July 08, 2022, 04:30:30 pm »

Lance,  I think you will certainly enjoy the benefits of the SOK Lithium batteries.  After about a year of use I much appreciate the benefits of Lithium technology.  When I had the OEM golf cart batteries I was anal about keeping check of the state of charge and if I was getting sufficient solar charging to get them back to full charge as quickly as practical in order to maximize their service life.  With the Lithium I pretty much trust them to do their job without any input from me.  I use what power I want and forget about it.  Even over the winter I left them in the PC outside and this spring found they stood very close to I where left them in terms of state of charge.


I have been out west dry camping for about a month and not needed any shore power for battery charging.  I have run my microwave once in the past month for about 6 minutes and did use the generator for that.  I expect with your much higher capacity system microwaving will be a non issue.  Do you intend to run your AC off the batteries and if so have you run any calculations as to how long could you reasonably expect to run the AC per day?