Waste water- driving me nuts (1 Viewer)

Sep 29, 2017
59
23
Ely, UK
Funster No
50,762
MH
About to buy again!
Exp
Several years
I have an Autotrail Cheyenne 840d and am away for a few months in Spain And Portugal. Before leaving the waste water was slow to drain from the shower and bathroom sink. I did everything to clear the waste pipes and thought I had it solved. However still slow to drain and it's driving me nuts. Has anybody ever tried changing anal the waste pipes to a lager bore? How easy was it? Cheers Dave
 

Badknee

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Aug 25, 2014
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Four bottles of cheap Cola into an empty tank. Drive round for a few miles and drain. Dismantle the valve as the bore is very small and may be partly clogged with waste food, ours was rice and fat deposits.
 

EX51SSS

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Jul 18, 2015
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changing anal the waste pipe
images (2)_7.jpg

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pappajohn

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Aug 26, 2007
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Four bottles of cheap Cola into an empty tank. Drive round for a few miles and drain. Dismantle the valve as the bore is very small and may be partly clogged with waste food, ours was rice and fat deposits.

In the shower and bathroom wastes....the mind boggles. ;):D
 

Shrimp

Funster
May 27, 2015
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Bedfordshire, UK
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Ours are slow-Hymer-but when they get too much I have a half a tennis ball which I use as a 'sink plunger', put a small amount of water in the sink, place tennis ball over open plug hole and use the flat of you hand to pump the ball.
Being in the bathroom the drains are probably blocked with hair etc, so you may have to dismantle & clean right thru!
Try the tennis bal trick tho it might work, don't pump too hard tho as plastic sinks aren't that strong!
 

DBK

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Jan 9, 2013
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It may have a one-way valve in the pipe which is built a bit like the thing which makes the noise in a whoopee cushion. :) It is possible the rubber has become hard and replacing it would help. I'm not sure your MH has one, but ours, a different make, did.

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Feb 16, 2013
19,513
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uttoxeter
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24,713
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ambulance conversion
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50 years
Dont know how yours works but on ours the pipes are leval under the van and if the van isnt dead level they dont drain right which it never is so we also end up pushing the water to the plug hole or wait till we move.
 

lawry

Free Member
Jun 25, 2017
172
168
MERTHYR TYDFIL
Funster No
49,154
MH
Autotrail Cheyenne 840se
Exp
8 years
I have an Autotrail Cheyenne 840d and am away for a few months in Spain And Portugal. Before leaving the waste water was slow to drain from the shower and bathroom sink. I did everything to clear the waste pipes and thought I had it solved. However still slow to drain and it's driving me nuts. Has anybody ever tried changing anal the waste pipes to a lager bore? How easy was it? Cheers Dave
I have same MH and tried everything to no avail
In the end I removed pipe from the waste and used my pressure washer
The pipe did expand where I thought it may split but all of a sudden it cleared
Perfect now

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lawry

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Jun 25, 2017
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168
MERTHYR TYDFIL
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Autotrail Cheyenne 840se
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Forgot to say that I obviously removed the pipe completely first to check no blockage before and as I said perfect now so changing bore in my opinion wouldn’t help you
 
2

2657

Deleted User
Our Globecar was virtually unused when we bought it at 3 years old, we don't use the shower but both sinks are usually very slow to drain. Occasionally they drain correctly, I put this down to parking at a slight tilt, I took a cover off to look at the pipe and it runs virtually horizontally over the wheel arch and is very narrow bore which does not help.
 
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kelpie

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Feb 1, 2015
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Bessacarr E745
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Cheap fix, bicarbonate of soda down the plugs in powder form, followed by distilled white vinegar. Watch it froth up , leave overnight and rinse down into waste tank. Liberal amount of bicarb should help greatly.
Good burping .
John

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OP
OP
C
Sep 29, 2017
59
23
Ely, UK
Funster No
50,762
MH
About to buy again!
Exp
Several years
Thanks for all your tips. Sounds like changing the pipes is not an option and as they are difficult to get at that's not so bad. I will try some of the the others and see how I get on. Cheers.
 
Jan 3, 2008
3,329
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Pakefield, Lowestoft, Suffolk, UK
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1,118
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Looking
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Had the same slow draining in our Rapido clearing the sink drain pipes did no good, murther did drain cleaner etc. Them I thought that there must be a breather pipe which lets air out as the waste water goes in. I found it and cleaned that through with a curtain wire followed by a hose and they did the trick, problem solved. It must a have been far drpodits etc blocking the breather when at times the tank filled up to their level. Just a suggestion but worth a try perhaps. Good luck
 

Steely Daniel

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Mar 4, 2015
62
13
devon
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MH
Roller Team T Line 590
Exp
returning to motor homing.
Hi
Just the same problem in mine. Motorhome is a Roller Team, which was new in April. The bathroom basin is really slow to drain and has been since new. Thought I had found the problem when I took the two plugs out of the shower tray wastes, which I thought were creating an air lock
Sadly and predictably it made no difference.
I have had to resort to using a small plunger after using the basin. It then empties rapidly. Obviously undid the bottom of the trap and that is clear.
So, I cannot answer the problem so I'll let the dealer have a look when I go back with a couple of other things. However, not too hopeful that they'll resolve it especially after this thread suggests that this is a common problem.
 

EX51SSS

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Jul 18, 2015
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Try a bottle of cheap Coke, if that doesn't work Preparation H, if that does not work changing the anal waste pipe is a difficult and complex operation :(
And, if expected, it works very well, then Imodium might help.

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Apr 17, 2016
492
547
Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
Funster No
42,532
MH
Carthago Chic E Line
Exp
Since March 2004
As Matamoros says it is probably the routing of the drain pipework if it has always been slow. Motorhome manufacturers sometimes try to "re-invent" the laws of physics by suggesting that water will flow uphill!! Or put it another way, sod it as long has it has a drain pipe that's our job done. It is also most probable that the drain pipes are ribbed which again from the manufacturer's point of view is great because it is much easier to route it underneath the van (yes even uphill!!) but it will within a fairly short period of time become "narrower" internally because the ribbing is ideal for allowing fat and other deposits to collect. As others have said, next time you drive it, coke, fenwicks bicarbonate of soda. I would still devote some time to looking at the routing and modification.
 

GWAYGWAY

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Sep 6, 2014
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My sink does that with a bit of water in it, but more than an inch deep, and it pours away very fast. I think they put valves in to stop NIFFS coming up and the valve needs a weight of water to open it.
 

Minxy

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Aug 22, 2007
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Carthago Compactline
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Since 1996, had Elddis/Swift/Rapido/Rimor/Chausson MHs. Autocruise/Globecar PVCs/Compactline i-138
One other option is that the metal sink waste/plug hole itself has a blockage or some debris just underneath it, I found this to be the case when our camper's kitchen sink wasn't draining well and on initial inspection I couldn't see much wrong with it but after a closer look I could see just below the metal 'grid' part some bits of fluff etc, I got out some old tweezers and had a poke around and pulled out lots of bits of fluffy muck after which I used a very small bottle brush and poked it into all the holes, wiggling it around under the metal 'bars' themselves and then again using tweezers pulled out the bits I'd dislodged to avoid them going down the drain pipe itself and possibly blocking the waste trap. This worked a treat and the sink now drains better than it ever has!

The bit I'm referring to is this type of plug-hole/waste outlet.

her-down-the-plughole.jpg

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Jan 28, 2008
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Dovercourt, Harwich, UK
Funster No
1,353
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Renalt burstner
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7 years campers before that
one thing that can help is to loosen the screw in the center of the waste fitting and make sure the holes in the top part are aligned with the lower part even a bit out of line slows flow a lot
 

denisejoe

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Try Mr Muscle drain unblocker worked on our sink so used on the bathroom sink and shower just poured some in slowly so it didn't go over the shower tray left it 30 minutes then flushed it through

Joe
 
Aug 27, 2014
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McLouis Tandy 640+
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Our kitchen sink was very slow to drain, turns out that although the bore of the pipes was OK and all was clear, the way the pipe attaches to the waste tank was the problem. The tank has pre-moulded "nipples" ( Stop sniggering at the back!) on it that the converter cuts the end off and attaches the pipe to. The bore of these is really small - stupidly so - and I had no easy way of attaching a new connector to the tank, as there is no inspection cover to access the inside.

So, I bought a tee piece and new bit of waste pipe, and connected the kitchen waste to two of these nipples, and the sink drains much better now. Still though, sometimes it drains really fast as if the water is being sucked through - and sometimes it just drains at an OK rate - no idea why.

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Enword

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May 20, 2014
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On our mohican the waste pipe was fitted from new between the chassis & the floor & squashed to about half its size, I got new pipe & re routed it, much better but still need to mod the small bore inlet stubs on the original waste tank.
 

Musicboy

Free Member
Jul 18, 2012
191
182
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Rapido 7096+
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fulltiming since 2003
Have a look at the trap under the sink . Remove & clean or replace to a better flow one .
I had 840d & had sane probs but was able to modify the angle of the pipes to waste tank . Bit if a job .
Have Rapido 7096+ now & just recently totally changed the piping as most vans now are nose down .Again a bit of a job & had to cut out inspection hatch in secondary floor to get to some of the pipes . It's quite amazing that pipes are placed so water drains up hill !!! . I now have independent waste for shower & sink .They drain midshipman so doesn't really matter if vsn us not level & works very well .
Yep . I have a lot of time to do these projects. It's all good fun & extra knowledge .
Anyone doing the above check out the heating pipes too as they are mad too ....
 

GWAYGWAY

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Sep 6, 2014
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My slow flowing was there at the start, so My problem is a valve, I am sure. Just have to put more water than I would like to. I try and eke out the water to save it in case we cannot get any. It is a real pain trying to get some from a filling station screen wash filler.

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