Automatic Litterbox Central

Has anyone thought of using the plastic pellets that are sold for use in rock tumblers (the type kids and rock collectors use to polish stones)? These pellets are designed to float, and you can buy 5lbs for ~$12.00. I'm just not certain what size they are since I have only seen them on websites for hobbyists.

Does anyone know if these would be the correct size, or are they too small?

Also .. does anyone know where to buy another one of the little filter thingies that go on top of the drain hose (the little black rubber flap shaped like a cone)? Is that thing even absolutely necessary? I can see that being one item that will eventually need to be replaced.

And one last thing. I have always kept the litterboxes in my garage. The cats come and go through a cat flap. Because of the way my garage is set up however, I need to extend the hoses. I don't think it's a problem for the water supply, but I am a little leery of cutting the drain hose and putting an adaptor in it in order to add another length of hose. It seems like that might create a bottleneck and "stuff" might get caught in the adaptor (me shivers at the thought).

I took the processing unit apart with the intent of replacing the entire drain hose with a new one. I was going to remove the hose and the fittings and put them into a longer hose. But it appears that the fittings are stuck very firmly inside the hoses and since the fittings are somewhat proprietary, I don't want to mess up the unit. I'm having second thoughts about the idea. Does anyone have an opinion or suggestions?

One other thing I've found of interest is plastic BBs (BB guns). The only problem is that they appear only to come in 6mm size. I'm not sure if this would be too large, and I don't know if they float or not.

Still looking ..

Anything over 3 MM in size won't clog the unit. As to whether or not non-Litterfree pellets will work - I don't think anyone has tried this as yet, but I would be interested in knowing if it works for you if you try it.

Rather than replacing the entire drain hose (or intake hose), I would suggest just getting food-grade hosing of the same diameter, and then using a short length of slightly larger diameter hose to act as a coupler on the end of the existing hose and the new length. Several small hose clamps on the ends of the coupler should work well to seal the junction - just don't tighten them to the point that you collapse the hosing.

The "Duckbill" as the LF developers call it, is a backflow preventer.
In certain instalations it's required to keep the waste from coming back into the box.
I've plumbed mine in to it's own drain level with the box, and was able to skip all of it.
Longer hose is not a problem- Horizontally
Once it stands up three or four feet to the washer drain, it's a problem for the pump.
Lengthening the supply might be best.

I have been searching for a raw material of the ABS or polypropylene pellets. If they are too round and perfect, they roll all over the place. If they are too small the clog the machine. I think a company is going to have to extrude and manufacture the 3 mm size or larger of this. I don't care if they are scented or not.

I am having a hard time locating the right size, shape, etc.

Just got off the phone with a contact at Petco Corp and found out that they are in discussions with a company in France to make an alternate granule for the Litterfree unit. Said it would take a couple months before they would have it for sale but to hang in.