I really hope someone can help us. We purchased our house in August 2004 and there was an ensuite shower room using a saniflo system already installed. The unit worked perfectly for 17 months (Dec 06) until the motor burned out, we assumed through age as we had no idea when the system had first been installed. We had the unit replaced at a cost of nearly £700.00 and it worked perfectly for 17 months until the motor burned out. (May 07) We then had the system replaced at a cost of £500.00.

This new system didn't seem to work the same as the other units had. The motor ran on for ages (20 mins) after a shower, instead of the normal 'pulsing' it used to do and water was backing up into the sink and shower stall when you flushed the toilet. So we called out pumpmaster - as recommended by saniflo, who replaced the unit for us (under warranty) and said they believed we had a blockage in the pipe work that was causing the motor to run on. We then had the pipe work jet flushed and no blockage was found but the unit still ran on after a shower (I would now "simulate" the pulsing by turning the machine on and off at the electric switch instead of leaving it to run)

June 07 the unit started to leak from the lid when the toilet was flushed and so I called pumpmaster out again, who told me they had found a tiny piece of silver foil in the air hole near the base plate (? ) and that was causing the running on of the motor, the turbulent flushing and the leak, they replaced the unit under warranty. The following morning, the unit would not pump at all even though the motor was running, water filled up the shower stall, toilet was full to the brim when I tried to flush... my usual trick of simulating the pulse at the switch didn't work either, so we called pumpmaster out again.

The next engineer assured us there was nothing wrong with the system (ok, so why wasn't it working? ) and that he still believed we had a blockage in the pipe work, so we replaced all the pipe work and removed one bend in case it was the bend that was causing the issue. The unit still ran on during a shower and wouldn't pump the water away. We scoured the saniflo website and checked all the installation instructions we could find and adjusted the run off degree to ensure a free fall all the way from the vertical pipe (2.3 metres approximately, the length through the loft is approximately 4/5 metres until it joins the main sewage pipe outside the house). The motor still runs on during a shower, although it ran fine when it was just water as soon as I used shampoo (no more than a teaspoon I have learnt to be meagre since the sanflo issues started) the motor just ran on continually.

So I am back to simulating the pulse at the wall switch, the toilet flush runs for 38 seconds and I am at the end of my tether. Pumpmaster say there is nothing wrong so what is the problem? We are hoping to rent this house out and cannot until these plumbing issues have been corrected.

Maybe all the pipes need replacing, maybe the run off from the shower is at the wrong angle, maybe a saniplus is the wrong unit and we should use something else... I just want someone to tell me what's wrong and either we fix it or rip the ensuite bathroom out and turn it into a wardrobe.

Please can someone give me some ideas as to what might be wrong!?

Sounds like simply a float is sticking, staying up and not showing the water level accurately

Although macerator manufacturers claim that 22mm pipe is sufficient in reality such small pipes get blocked up after years of service overloading [particularly if pipework not laid to correct falls] the motors causing them to work much harder taking longer and longer to push the macerated sewage through the increasingly restricted pipework [use minimum 28mm copper or 32mm plastic solvent weld [properly supported

The plumbers you employed may just be parts swappers

Hey BOG:

I don't think these guys will get your post... goes back to SEPTEMBER 2007!!