Grrrrr ... our Accent has just been Christened ... literally! (1 Viewer)

[Minxy]

We have 'succumbed' to the dreaded waste water pipe coming adrift 'fault'. Grrrr.:Angry:

As we're about to go away for a long holiday in Germany shortly staying mainly on aires we decided to check the van over today. When we got to checking the water system we found when turning on the kitchen sink taps when the water went down the plug hole that water was coming out from the underside of the van where the exterior waste pipe pushes onto a 'through the floor' connector. As the connector has 4 slots in it around where the pipe pushes on hubby initially thought we might have a blocked waste pipe and that this was an overflow of some sort so disconnected the waste pipe and used a hose pipe to try to clear it, however it didn't appear to be blocked. oh:

We then turned our attention to the underside of the van itself and I noticed that water was dripping from the a point about 6 inches further along coming through a hole where some electric cables were which had been waterproofed with some sealant but obviously not completely. This got alarm bells ringing ... there should NOT be any water coming through there and the only way it could was if it was coming through from the inside!!!!! Oh heck (or words to that effect)!

Out came the rugs and sure enough under them we had water ... right along to the rear of the van and along the edge of the units. Out with the drawers but it was dry underneath so I removed all the stuff in the cupboard next to them and lo and behold the problem was found ... the blooming waste pipe had come off the 'through the floor' connector! What a stupid design - nothing to hold it in place at all, just a push fit!!

When I had dried everything out I managed to push the pipe back on but was worried about it coming off again - having read on previous threads on here and other forums about the problem of trying to use a jubilee clip to keep the pipe in place and cracking it I decided not to do that, but instead once I had the pipe well and truly pushed on I got my sealant gun out and have put a load of it round it right down into the 'well' it sits in - no way will THAT come out again!!!! :thumb:

What concerns me though is that the pipe seems to be too short so is under a bit of tension - another inch or two and the problem would probably not ever have happened as I assume it has gradually been 'pulling' itself off the connector.

Thank goodness we decided to check the water system rather than just assume it would be okay - I'm glad I didn't have to sort this on our way to Germany!!!

So if you have an Autocruise van conversion get your head in the kitchen cupboard and check that the waste pipe is pushed on fully then stick some sealant on it so it can't go anywhere!!!

 

[Mel]

Not just Autocruise

I had the same problem with my Rapido.

 

[GJH]

We had a slightly different, and rather less dramatic, problem in our van.

We noticed that water was leaking from the waste trap in the kitchen sink (Smev 928) into the cupboard below. When I investigated I found that the seal had gone and, looking further, that the waste trap is actually held on by a bolt through the sink drain - seems it had worked loose over the years.

When I removed the bolt I was able to rotate the trap about its outlet pipe (secure push fit) which enabled me to clean the top and then run a bead of silicone sealant onto it. Bolting the assembly together again squeezed the silicone bead to give me a good seal.

As Mel says, regular checks on the water system (and other systems) are well worth doing.

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[MikeD]

My Autotrail has only push fit waste pipes - poor really


especially inside the van:Angry::Angry:

 

[hilldweller]

My Autotrail has only push fit waste pipes - poor really

So has our Burstner.

That may be fine in a house as houses don't get bounced around a lot.

 

[rainbow chasers]

Most are these types of pipe and they do come off over time being knocked around and with the heating/cooling of the plastic, the sealing 'glue' dries, cracks and falls out.

You can use any 'light' glue such as evostick or similar, put a light smear around the inner lip of the connector and slide on - allow to dry and it will keep it in place.....but more importantly, will allow the pipe to be removed if need be! (Which is why you shouldn't use a heavy duty glue - you need to 'tack' it in place rather than permanently affix) If you are able to access, you can use gaffa tape instead, but this will rot - or even waterprrof UV stable repair tape just to keep it in situ.

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[Jim]

We had a similar leaky thing happening one year at Stratford in our RV.

It has two water tanks linked by a couple of fat pipes. It was taking ages to fill, and I kept stopping to let people fill their aquarolls, but it was taking ages. So i stopped being so polite and starting saying sorry mate, give me a minute, it will be full soon. So the queue got bigger and I could feel the tension.

"save some for us mate"
"How big's your bloody tank then" "60 gallons mate"
"is the tap on pal?"

Bugger em I thought, and went inside the van, checked the water, we'd just made it to half full, next thing, big bang on the door.

"I think you're full mate"
"No mate, Im only half full"
"Why is water pissing out of that locker then?"

AAARRRRGGGHHH I was filling all my belly lockers, one of those fat pipes had come off it was just pushed on, we'd gone over rough ground and one of the tanks had shifted. Went a bit:Blush: as I handed the hose over to the next in line and drove of with water coming out of every locker