Macerator - strange smells

[Nigel]

When renovating our house we fitted an en suite, which included a lavatory, sink and electric shower. The plumbing solution was to utilise a macerator, pumping the macerator output up into the roof space, across the roof space and then down the main bathroom soil pipe.

Recently when having a shower (basically the sole use of the en suite - we use the sink and lav in the main bathroom, which has a roll top bath) the macerator has been producing a strong eggy smell. It may, or may not, be related to our recently clearing the shower trap of the usual hair and gunge.

Any thoughts as to the cause of the smell, which is quite strong right now?

Thanks



Nigel

 

[Penners]

The macerator will probably contain a strong drain smell as a matter of course, but the traps in your shower waste and washbasin should prevent this getting back into the room.

When you cleared out the waste, is it possible that you caused some kind of separation somewhere in the pipework?

The first thing I would check is the shower trap. When you smell the smell, have a look and see whether the trap is full of water or not. (It should be).

Also check the traps in the loo and washbasin - if they're not used regularly the water in the traps might have evaporated.

Finally, I should also check all the traps after the macerator pump has been running. I suppose it might be possible for an air inlet valve to block and cause the pump to "pull" one or more of the traps. But I'm not sure about that one.

 

[Gervase]

Also check the traps in the loo and washbasin - if they're not used regularly the water in the traps might have evaporated.

Good point - I've known water in basin traps to vanish quite often; it's a prime culprit for drain smells in spare rooms and holiday lets

 

[worms]

Is it possible that, the partially blocked shower drain was limiting the pull from the macerator and now that it is cleared the full pressure is sucking out the water in the shower trap?

 

[Lime]

The plumbing solution was to utilise a macerator, pumping the macerator output up into the roof space, across the roof space and then down the main bathroom soil pipe.

Perhaps you have been having a leak in the loft? :shock:

 

[Nigel]

Thanks everyone for your advices. It seems it may have been something fairly simple; as Mr Muscle patented hair destroyer has done the trick. It looks like in clearing the trap hair was dislodged and was then getting subject to friction in the macerator, generating a smell - plending clearance by Mr Muscle.

That problem solved and, anyway, such things are minor compared to the chimney fire we had last night, fortunately quickly brought under control. No more burning logs then!!

Cheers.

 

[Lime]

Chimney fires used to be common and quite serious decades ago.
I remember it was thought that throwing salt on a fire would put the chimney out.
I never believed (as a child) that it made any difference.
You need to have the chimney swept.

 

[Penners]

I agree with Lime. Don't give up on your chimney because of the fire. Get it swept.

 

[Nigel]

Thanks Guys

We had the three main chimneys re-lined with copex liners when we were renovating. Therefore the firelighting will definitely continue, we will just stick to coal to avoid the chimney sooting up too frequently. Over Christmas we burned a lot of logs and peat which no doubt contributed to the incident.

Having had a chimney fire once before (15 years ago) the routine had been rehearsed; loads of slack to smother fire and then pour water on carefully (to avoid cracking the 18th cast iron grate) to put the fire out.

The other routine clearly is - get the main fireplace swept more often!

Cheers

 

[Nemesis]

Apart from this spot of difficulty - how do you feel the sytem works?

I have a tiny dressing room which would be good to put a shower in, the problem is that the drain pipe thingy would have to stick out the front of the building (not good...).

If I could pump up the water into and over the loft it might work, but people here have posted in the past about the pump being noisy.

Wonder haow you find it.

 

[Nigel]

Nemisis

It has worked well. There is some noise when the macerator is working (a periodic pulse as it evacuates the water) but it is not too bad. Our macerator is located in an adjacent cupboard, separated from the ensuite by a stud wall. So it is insulated by being in a cupboard (and boxed in, with tongue and grovve, within the cupboard - they are not pretty things)and it is also at the end of the house, away from everything else.

We too had to exit via the front wall. We brought the pipe out close to the existing soil pipe and then joined the two. Once the pipe was painted the same colour as the soil pipe/wall (all the one colour for our house) you would not really notice it. It was approved despite a Grade A listing.

Our 1st macerator failed and had to be replaced but that might have been my fault - I am not sure using a plunger to remove hair build up did its internal valves any favours!

The horror stories I hear tend to relate to the macerator choking on lavatory contents; it appears they are delicate and you need to be careful what is flushed. We don't really use the loo much as it had to be tiny to fit into the en suite in the first place - so it is for emergencies really.

So, for a shower it works well.

Cheers

 

[Nemesis]

Right - thanks for that. I agree they aren't pretty but it could be useful for a shower.

In our case we could possibly pump water upwards and run the waste over the ceiling joists and out to join the existing soil pipe which isn't on the front wall, thankfully!

For occasional use I think the noise would be bearable.

 

[Moo]

Is there a difference between a macerator and a simple pump?
I only ask because in our house-before-last we used a Saniflo to avoid a 'Pompidou Centre' effect and it coped very well with bath, basin and loo. It was a bit noisy, but we just got into the habit of not flushing the loo in the middle of the night.

Here in Naarch we keep our washing machine in the cellar and another Saniflo thingy has been pumping the water up to the ground floor drain for about ten years. No noise problem at all - but then, it only has to cope with water.