Tag Archives: review

Liberty Pumps ASCENTII-ESW 1/2 HP Macerating Toilet Review and Saniaccess 2 Comparison

If you’d like to add a bathroom to your basement or simply do some remodeling to an existing but non-functional half or full bath, you’re probably going to need a sewage pump (either an ejector pump or a grinder pump, depending on your specific needs). However, depending on your plumbing needs, you might also be able to get away with a macerating toilet system. A standalone sewage pump will allow you to pump sewage to much greater heights, at much greater pressures, and to much farther distances while processing larger solids and more wastewater. However, you’ll also spend significantly more on one, both to buy it and to install it–not to mention the additional time necessary for the installation. And if you’re adding a bathroom or working on a remodeling project or addition, you’ll be spending enough money already.

A macerating pump, in contrast, can potentially be installed without breaking up concrete floors or tearing into your foundation and walls. To put it simply, it’s a faster, cheaper, and more convenient job for either you or your plumber, which means more money left in your bank account. While you can buy a macerator pump independently and connect it to most toilets, we typically recommend buying a macerating pump and toilet system simultaneously to eliminate compatibility issues. We recently reviewed the Saniflo Saniaccess 2 Upflush macerator pump and toilet kit; today we’re going to look at a similar system, the Liberty Pumps Ascent II ESW 1/2 HP Macerating Toilet. It’s similarly priced and similarly featured, but is different enough to be worth considering carefully. Our full review is below, and you can buy the ASCENTII-ESW here. Canadians can buy the Liberty Pumps ASCENTII-ESW macerating toilet here.

Key Features of the Liberty Pumps Ascent II Macerating Toilet (60 Second Summary)

The Liberty Pumps Ascent II Macerating Toilet is basically a toilet connected to a miniature sewage grinder pump. Engineered for indoor use in remodeling projects such as basement toilet or bathroom additions as well as for business environments in commercial buildings, the system can pump sewage to existing sewer lines up to 25 feet vertically and 150 feet horizontally. The pump has a 1/2 horsepower, 115 volt motor that runs on 60 Hz AC while drawing 7.9 amps. The thermally protected motor turns at 3,450 RPM and includes an automatic reset feature. The power cord is 8 feet long and the pump can handle fluids up to 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

While shutoff doesn’t occur until a maximum head of 36 feet, the usable maximum head through a 1 inch pipe is 25 feet, presuming the lateral discharge is 150 feet. The ASCENTII-ESW is the macerator and elongated toilet; the complete system with a round front toilet is the ASCENTII-RSW. The ASCENTII-ESW weighs 121 pounds. The macerator unit by itself, the ASCENTII-MUW weighs 22 pounds.

Per Liberty Pumps, the system also accepts additional bathtub, shower, and sink connections, allowing you to form a full bathroom in any environment. This is achieved through a pair of auxiliary inlets; the macerator can use 1-1/2″ or 2″ pipe. It also includes a built in alarm and a 9 volt battery backup, as well as LEDs to provide power status, alarm condition, and alarm battery condition. The discharge and vent connectors can be oriented vertically or horizontally for varying pipe connections. The discharge is 1″ and includes a check valve; it can be adapted down to 3/4.” The vent is 1-1/2.” The toilet is ADA compliant and is a high efficiency toilet that uses 1.28 gallons per flush (gpf). It includes an insulated tank.

The system includes the standard 3 year warranty from Liberty Pumps.

Liberty Pumps Ascent II Macerating Toilet and Saniflo Saniaccess 2 Comparison

On the surface, the Ascent II and Saniaccess 2 systems are similar; they’re both systems integrating macerating pumps and toilets for residential and commercial applications where sewage can’t be gravity drained into a sewer line. The Ascent II, however, has a number of on paper advantages. the max usable head is much greater at 25 ft vs 15 feet; it also includes an alarm and battery backup to the alarm on the macerating pump. It’s also explicitly described by Liberty Pumps as capable of draining bathtubs and showers in addition to toilets and sinks while the Saniaccess 2 only mentions toilets and sinks. It also includes a high efficiency toilet.

That said, when it comes to reliability, we’d put our money on the Saniaccess 2. It consistently has stronger reviews from clients and appears to have greater long term reliability and a more thorough design. We’ll go into this in the next section.

Our Long and Short Term Experiences Installing and Using the Liberty Pumps Ascent II Macerating Toilet

The amount of work it takes to install the Ascent II will vary with your plumbing experience and plumbing environment. If you have prior experience either with sewage pump installation or macerating toilets, there aren’t any surprises here. If not, you’ll want to consider hiring a professional.

The basic installation steps involve connecting the pump to the toilet, connecting the toilet tank to a water inlet, connecting the pump to both a discharge pipe and vent system, and finally powering it up. We recommend a Ground Fault Interrupter (GFI) circuit. While the process will be easier if your plumbing is roughed in, the overall installation is rather straightforward, and you’ll be able to plumb a variety of fixtures into the unit, including sinks, bath tubs, and showers. When working, it’s a bit louder than a regular toilet but not significantly louder. Every now and then you might need to double flush to get everything out of the bowl.

The main problems with the Ascent II have to do with its engineering; as noted earlier, the Ascent II appears to potentially suffer from a poor design involving the conduction of the effluent through the electrical probes of the control unit in the macerator. In simple English, poop pushes around the electrical parts, potentially leading to malfunctioning and early failure of the control unit. This doesn’t always happen, but it happens more often than we’d like to hear about it.

It’s also worth noting that the warranty is voided if a range of artificial waste products (e.g., feminine hygiene products like tampons and pads) are flushed down the toilet.

Troubleshooting and Installation Tips to Get Your Liberty Pumps Ascent II Macerating Toilet Working Sooner

The main issues to watch out for with the Ascent II include circuit board failure in the control unit. Clients have also reported problems with constantly activating alarms. Unfortunately, there aren’t really any workarounds for control unit malfunctions besides replacing the unit, which can fail again if the initial issue (exposed circuitry) is still present. The toilet itself is likely to last a long time; toilets are very simple and reliable technology and rarely fail. The vulnerabilities in the macerating pump, however, are much more significant. Generally, if you don’t have any issues in the first year, you’ll probably be fine for additional years. However, if you start having problems within this time-frame, it’s likely you’ll continue to have them unless you replace the entire macerating unit.

A frequently-tried and often successful tip is to flush the unit several times to clear the alarm system; this isn’t a long term solution but it can temporarily clear waste and calm the alarm for anywhere from several days to weeks.

Liberty Pumps Ascent II Macerating Toilet Pros, Cons, and Value Comparison

In conclusion, if you’re looking for a way to add a bathroom or toilet to your below-grade basement, you’ll either have to put in a sewage pump or pair a toilet with a macerating pump and run any additional fixtures through the pump. If you choose the former option and choose a suitable sewage pump, it’ll be powerful enough to handle any residential or commercial application. However, you’ll pay for it through purchase and installation costs. A macerating pump and toilet kit like the Ascent II can get you there for much less money under the right circumstances, but it comes with potential reliability issues. Unless you have a specific need for the Ascent II, we’d recommend the Saniaccess 2 instead. It costs the same but has a much better reputation.

You can buy the Liberty Pumps Ascent II Macerating Toilet here on Amazon. You can buy the Saniflo Saniaccess 2 Macerator Pump and Toilet here.

Canadians can buy the Liberty Pumps ASCENTII-ESW macerating toilet here on Amazon.

If you find our work at PumpThatSump helpful, you can put our relentless reviewing of every pump and fixture on the market to the test by shopping via our links above for whatever you need to make your house a home. Despite being self-employed, we promise not to spend it all on health insurance.

Saniflo Saniaccess 2 Upflush Macerator Pump + Round Toilet Kit Review

In most homes, replacing or installing a toilet is a simple affair. You simply pick the one you want online or from a hardware store and either connect it where the old one went or call a plumber and have the work done in an  hour or two. However, if you want a toilet for in a basement or anywhere where you can’t simply drain what you flush into a sewer main or septic tank, you’re either going to need a sewage pump (e.g., an ejector or grinder pump) or a macerator to go along with your toilet. A dedicated sewage pump will give you more power and will handle more wastewater and solids than a macerator pump, but it’ll also cost much more to install, both in terms of time and money. And if you’re installing a half bathroom, you’re probably spending enough money already.

A macerator pump, on the other hand, can potentially be installed with much less interference in your flooring, resulting in a faster job for you or your plumber and more money in your wallet. While it’s possible to buy a macerator pump independently and connect it to almost any toilet you wish, whenever possible, we recommend buying macerator pump and toilet kit simultaneously just to avoid compatibility headaches. Today we’re going to look at the Saniflo Saniaccess 2  Upflush Macerator Pump + Round Toilet Kit. It’ll cost you a lot more than a regular toilet, but it’s one of the cheapest ways we’ve yet found to add a toilet to a below-grade sewage system or system requiring a septic tank. We review it in detail below, and you can buy it here.

Key Features of the Saniflo Saniaccess 2 Macerator Pump and Toilet (60 Second Summary)

The Saniflo Saniaccess 2 Macerator Pump and Toilet is essentially a toilet connected to a small sewage grinder pump. Designed to be used indoors in environments such as in half bathrooms in basements, the system is capable of pumping sewage up to 15 feet vertically to a sewer line or up to 150 feet horizontally to a soil stack. Per Sanfilow, the system can handle effluent resulting from both the included toilet and a nearby sink; two inlets are included to make this possible. The system has a 10-15 second operating cycle and the maerator blades turn at up to 3,600 RPM. The system includes a 1-1/2″ inlet, a discharge elbow, and a 1-1/2″ vent connection for a two-way air vent. A non-return valve is installed at the discharge elbow.

Our Long and Short Term Experiences Installing and Using the Saniflo Saniaccess 2 Macerator Pump and Toilet

Installing the Saniaccess 2 system can either be a very quick process or a somewhat longer one, depending on a.) the experience of the person doing the job and b.) the pre-existing plumbing environment. If you’ve installed a sewage pump or macerating toilet before, nothing here will surprise you. If not, you might want to get the job professionally done.

The process involves connecting the pump to the included toilet (or to a horizontal rear discharge toilet if you somehow bought it separately), connecting the toilet tank to your water supply, connecting the pump to a discharge pipe, connecting it to a vent system, and finally connecting the pump to your power supply; a Ground Fault Interrupter (GFI) circuit is recommended.

While the description above suggests the installation only involves basic plumbing, the complexities, if they arise, will involve your drain lines and accessing them. If you call a plumber, you might get away with paying as little as $200 if s/he can get to your main stack easily. However, if things aren’t accessible, you might spend several hundred. If you can get it done when your plumbing is roughed-in, you can save yourself a lot of money and also tie in your system with other fixtures, such as a bar sink, shower, or bathroom sink (or potentially all three).

We’d estimate the 15-foot head figure provided by Saniflo is correct; many clients and DIY enthusiasts have noted similar heights in their home projects. Similarly, you’ll likely be able to get dozens of feet of horizontal distance out of it without issue; the pump is a small one but it’s strong.

Regarding lifespan, you should get several years out of the system with zero to minimal maintenance; Saniflo talks up the relative lack of movable parts and the durability of the impeller and other macerator components. The toilet itself isn’t where things are going to break down, as it’s not doing anything a regular toilet wouldn’t the pump is the high-stakes portion, but it’s a good one.

Troubleshooting and Installation Tips to Get Your Saniflo Saniaccess 2 Macerator Pump and Toilet Working Sooner

Remember that if you’re installing it on your own, you’re going to need to vent the system. Similarly, you’ll also need to vent a sink, shower, or anything else you tie into the system for drainage.

If you buy the pump and toilet kit, you’ll get a sink attachment that allows you to easily connect a utility, bar, or basement sink to the system for drainage.

If you’d like to use the toilet as a standalone system without the macerator and pump, you can do so so; it’ll cost you more than if you just bought a cheap standalone toilet, but there’s nothing stopping you from simply using the toilet and not connecting the macerator. You’ll just need to make sure you’re discharging to a sewer line that is below the grade of the toilet’s discharge line. You’ll also want to install a valve to prevent backflow, especially if you’re planning on installing the toilet close to your sewer line. Make sure you have the necessary gravity flow; it’s recommended to have at least 1/4 vertical feet per horizontal foot of travel.

Saniflo Saniaccess 2 Macerator Pump and Toilet Pros, Cons, and Value Comparison

In conclusion, while the Saniflo Saniaccess 2 macerator pump and toilet kit isn’t the cheapest toilet out there, it’s one of the cheapest ways to add a toilet to a basement when you need to drain what you’re flushing against gravity. Compared to a dedicated sewage pump, it can save you a significant amount of money. As noted above, we’d definitely recommend an ejector or grinder pump if you’ve got a business environment or if you need to drain multiple toilets, sinks, showers, and similar sources of water. However, if you want nothing more than a simple toilet or half-bath in your basement, a macerator pump and toilet kit will likely get the job done for far less in installation costs, and this is as good an example as any.

You can buy the Saniflo Saniaccess 2 Macerator Pump and Toilet here on Amazon.

Canadians can buy the Liberty Pumps ASCENTII-ESW macerating toilet here on Amazon; unfortunately, the Saniaccess 2 is unavailable.

If you find our work at PumpThatSump helpful, you can put our relentless reviewing of every pump and fixture on the market to the test by shopping via our links above for whatever you need to make your house a home. Despite being self-employed, we promise not to spend it all on health insurance.