Shower drain blocked. B654

[MaidinDevon]

Hi all

Looking for advice and ideas. The shower has 2 drain holes. Neither one is letting water run away.
The grey tank is empty. The kitchen and bathroom sinks are draining as normal.
I have tried gentle suction using a cloth over the drain hole. No good. It was working perfectly last time I used it, on my way home from Spain in March.

Has anyone had this issue? Is it possible to access the pipework, the bathroom floor is suspended over the garage floor.

The van is on a slight slope, on the roadside.

Any ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Karen

 

[Theonlysue]

Wonder if it's just soapy stuff?
Pour some coke overnight, and a kettle or 2 of hot water next day.

 

[Hymerbell]

Had the same problem once....got the hose....put it in the drain hole and flushed it through...Seemed to work.

Hi all

Looking for advice and ideas. The shower has 2 drain holes. Neither one is letting water run away.
The grey tank is empty. The kitchen and bathroom sinks are draining as normal.
I have tried gentle suction using a cloth over the drain hole. No good. It was working perfectly last time I used it, on my way home from Spain in March.

Has anyone had this issue? Is it possible to access the pipework, the bathroom floor is suspended over the garage floor.

The van is on a slight slope, on the roadside.

Any ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Karen

 

[MaidinDevon]

Wonder if it's just soapy stuff?
Pour some coke overnight, and a kettle or 2 of hot water next day.

Hi Sue

Unfortunately, I can't get the coke in there, as its fully blocked. I did clean the waste tank with coke a couple of months ago and poured some down the shower drains then.

 

[Figaro]

On my B544 the waste pipes from shower run through the bottom of the wardrobe in front of the Truma boiler.
Accessed by lifting the bottom shoe shelf.
I`d use hot water and a plunger first.
Maybe one of those spring rodding drain unblocker things would help ?

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[irnbru]

Can you prod it from the waste outlet with a long piece of wire or similar.

 

[dunnah01]

I jabbed a length of mains cable down the waste pipe after first removing all the trap gubbins. Mr Muscle gel drain unblocker after and no issues since

 

[Landy Andy]

Wet vac would be my tool of choice. If not possible then I would try hose with very good water pressure.

 

[EuroTrotters]

Put a powerful hose pipe or jet wash on low power in the holes.
Prepare fir splash backs

 

[Lenny HB]

Best not to use drain cleaner as most are caustic and will soften & melt some of the plastics in Motorhomes.

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[Brains]

I had a similar problem with the sink.

An investment of £2.50 for a cheap plunger cleared it in seconds.

You may need to block one hole whilst plunging the other

 

[bobandjanie]

Find a plastic bottle about the same size as the plug hole, fill with hot water put it over the plug hole and squeeze.
Ours was the size of a 2lt milk bottle, but yours may be smaller. Bob.

 

[Jev88]

I have gone under the MH in the past and removed the grey tank bung. Then fed a springy drain cleaner wire back up the pipework to clear an old stubborn blockage.

 

[MaidinDevon]

Hi
Quick update, the shower is draining, but very slowly. I forced a plastic bottle of very hot water, through the drain hole, and then could hear it draining -thank you bobandjanie . I also used the shower hose to force water through both drain holes. One is completely clear and draining as normal, but the lower one(the van is on a slope) is still very slow. Next plan is to use the hosepipe, to force it through. If that doesn't clear the blockage fully, i might risk some Mr Muscle drain blocker gel.

I can't wiggle anything down the hole, as there is a flat plate across the drain, at about 2 inches depth and the water runs around it.

Edit - the plunger was of limited effect, because the area round is not flat, and therefore, cant get full suction.

Thank you for all the suggestions and support to date.

Karen

 

[G-RMPS]

I have the same problem. Same plate across the drain hole. Did Mr Muscle work?

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[MaidinDevon]

Hi, I didn't try it in the end because once the van was level, it wasn't an issue any more. Which may be because it is just draining from the other one, of course!
Good luck with yours. If you do use Mr Muscle and it works, let me know.

 

[kevenh]

Minor hijack but our recent experience with our shower draining is a match for the OPs

A day or two before the end of the last trip, mrskevenh said the shower was blocked & not draining.
She managed to cleanup or otherwise "push" the last of the water down the plug hole.

Later, I verified that a cup of water does indeed flood the plug hole

We were able to switch to the campsite facilities for the last of our shower visits.

An odd thing on the way home, with the grey emptied on site, was that by a layby's manhole cover I randomly decided to open the grey waste tap. For an empty tank, quite a lot of water came out. I assume that was the now unblocked shower water finally exiting.

Anyway, back at home, last night I poured a couple of litres of Coop cola into the sink & shower plug holes. Both drained OK.
Today, with the grey waste tank open, I've used a low/medium pressure hose pointed at the plug holes to shift any extra blockages.

Oops!! Now there's water coming out of the waste pipe under the shower bowl. It at least drops straight to the ground and not flowing inside the motorhome.
More water does flow to the grey water tank than what leaves the "hole".

Well, so now I've some questions. How is my pipework fitted? Is it all press fit?

Some pictures: -
1. so here's an action shot taken while mrskevenh is using a hose pipe to add water to the shower bowl.

2. Just a drier, closer pic of the area underneath the shower bowl plug hole.

3. An overhead of the shower bowl plug hole. Does unscrewing the screw help get access to refit pipes, etc.?

4. Just a general pic of the shower area.

 

[Jev88]

Minor hijack but our recent experience with our shower draining is a match for the OPs

A day or two before the end of the last trip, mrskevenh said the shower was blocked & not draining.
She managed to cleanup or otherwise "push" the last of the water down the plug hole.

Later, I verified that a cup of water does indeed flood the plug hole

We were able to switch to the campsite facilities for the last of our shower visits.

An odd thing on the way home, with the grey emptied on site, was that by a layby's manhole cover I randomly decided to open the grey waste tap. For an empty tank, quite a lot of water came out. I assume that was the now unblocked shower water finally exiting.

Anyway, back at home, last night I poured a couple of litres of Coop cola into the sink & shower plug holes. Both drained OK.
Today, with the grey waste tank open, I've used a low/medium pressure hose pointed at the plug holes to shift any extra blockages.

Oops!! Now there's water coming out of the waste pipe under the shower bowl. It at least drops straight to the ground and not flowing inside the motorhome.
More water does flow to the grey water tank than what leaves the "hole".

Well, so now I've some questions. How is my pipework fitted? Is it all press fit?

Some pictures: -
1. so here's an action shot taken while mrskevenh is using a hose pipe to add water to the shower bowl.
View attachment 613522

2. Just a drier, closer pic of the area underneath the shower bowl plug hole.
View attachment 613523
3. An overhead of the shower bowl plug hole. Does unscrewing the screw help get access to refit pipes, etc.?
View attachment 613524
4. Just a general pic of the shower area.
View attachment 613525

The corrugated pipes can split and personally i put jubilee / circlips on the junctions. High pressure will often disturb your MH pipes as they aren't designed for anything but low flow. Easy to buy new pipes from caravan shop or usually chaeper at pond accessory company

 

[sonar]

A curtain wire can sometimes be the best solution to clear small pipe work..

 

[Itsmcb]

Your picture shows that the lower grey part of the drain has split. If you undo the screw in the shower tray drain the grey part underneath will come away. The pipe will just pull off the grey bit. You should be able to source a view one from a plumbers merchant.

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[kevenh]

Thanks all.
Itsmcb I'll clean up the area, dry it and then repeat the "soak test".
There looks to be a couple of places that could be cracks.

I'll make it a two person job so the one outside can look for the 1st wet bit

 

[kevenh]

the drain has split

Yikes. Yes. That was obvious in today’s check that the water was leaving by the new holes near the drain’s centre.
Off to source a new part.
Tnx for the prompt feedback.

Odd how we went from a near complete blockage there to a leak.