Blocked waste (1 Viewer)

Jerrymjj

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Apr 3, 2014
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Sat on a campsite in Kent watching the contents of the sink going nowhere. Waste tank gauge telling me tank is 100% full (fully emptied before we left home) but just a dribble coming out of the vent pipe if I open the valve. Clearly something is blocked somewhere. Can't really start dismantling it here so can anyone advise me of something safe to pour down the sink once it has lost enough water to let me add something? Are the domestic pipecleaners safe enough to use? Many thanks, Jerry
 
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Aug 6, 2013
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Sat on a campsite in Kent watching the contents of the sink going nowhere. Waste tank gauge telling me tank is 100% full (fully emptied before we left home) but just a dribble coming out of the vent pipe if I open the valve. Clearly something is blocked somewhere. Can't really start dismantling it here so can anyone advise me of something safe to pour down the sink once it has lost enough water to let me add something? Are the domestic pipecleaners safe enough to use? Many thanks, Jerry

If you can find an empty plastic bottle (milk maybe) with a top that fits your sink drain you can use it like a plunger: press it firmly into or over the sink outlet then squeeze hard. It needs to be a decent seal to the sink outlet but it always works for me. You can do the same with the tank outlet - open drain push bottle against it & squeeze. Move bottle (and yourself!) away quickly.

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magicsurfbus

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Oct 11, 2010
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I had this problem with the sink at home, and no amount of so-called Mr Muscle drain cleaner would shift it so for about £4 I bought one of those converted 3 metre curtain wire thingies with a winding handle on the end, cut the useless stretched spring bit off the end and shoved it down the pipe after the u-bend as far as it would go, then jiggled it about. That loosened it up, and after a good flush of water and detergent the blockage is gone. For now.
 

Styx

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May 1, 2010
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I had this problem with the sink at home, and no amount of so-called Mr Muscle drain cleaner would shift it so for about £4 I bought one of those converted 3 metre curtain wire thingies with a winding handle on the end, cut the useless stretched spring bit off the end and shoved it down the pipe after the u-bend as far as it would go, then jiggled it about. That loosened it up, and after a good flush of water and detergent the blockage is gone. For now.


Still some in the local Aldi when I was there this morning

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cmcardle75

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Jun 8, 2012
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Sat on a campsite in Kent watching the contents of the sink going nowhere. Waste tank gauge telling me tank is 100% full (fully emptied before we left home) but just a dribble coming out of the vent pipe if I open the valve. Clearly something is blocked somewhere. Can't really start dismantling it here so can anyone advise me of something safe to pour down the sink once it has lost enough water to let me add something? Are the domestic pipecleaners safe enough to use? Many thanks, Jerry

You need to work out if it is the tank not emptying (hence the 100% reading), or it is the pipework from the sink to the tank.
 
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Jerrymjj

Jerrymjj

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Apr 3, 2014
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Now home so hope to investigate properly. Bought and administered some disinfectant scented drain unblocker and then drove home to no effect. As very little comes out of the waste when valve is opened I assume the blockage is at the tank end but unfortunately the vent pipe goes through a right angle as it enters the tank and I can't get my drain unblocker wobbly wire to go into it from the end of the waste vent pipe. Going to cut it tomorrow and stick something in to try and unblock it. Have already tried blasting it with the garden hose stuck up it. Whatever it is, is tough!

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Vlad The Impaler

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Apr 22, 2012
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The same thing happened to me a couple of years ago,I tried wire ,hose etc with no joy.In the end I took off the 45 degree bend with the tap on and went to a garage with a pressure washer type car wash,shoved it right up the pipe,gave it a couple of pulses and the blockage cleared.
It blocked again a week later so I did it again,each time there was a slimy placenta like waste left after the tank had emptied,so I figured that the tank had never been cleaned in its life.I bought a tub of caustic soda mixed it in a watering can,poured it down the 2 sinks and shower and went for a drive!
When I got back I opened the tap and :Eeek: it was like a scene from Alien meets Ghostbusters,a strange gooey gunk that stunk like hell.Never had a problem since and still get no weeds on that part of the drive!:RollEyes:


Vlad
 
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Jerrymjj

Jerrymjj

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Apr 3, 2014
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Alton Hants
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Shoved all kinds of things up it but not much progress, finally got a bendy pipe thingy into the tank but had a terrible job getting it back out which suggests there is something in the outlet. No waste material on the probe when I go it back out. Shoved the garden hose up it and the water obviously got through as it came back out again. Now put some nasty chemical in it and leaving it overnight to assess results. If all else fails I guess I'll have to drop the tank but even then (it is a plastic thing) I wonder if there will be any access hatch. I doubt it...
 
Jan 28, 2008
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if you have put drain unblocker down it be very careful it will take the skin of your hands and i dread to think what it could do to your eyes
im a plumber by trade , ive asked people if they have put any acid down and been told no only to find my hands melting the second i open a pipe

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