Slow draining sinks

I've noticed my recently purchased 08 Nuevo ES kitchen and bathroom sinks drain very slowly, and disconnected both pipes from waste water tank but there was no significant decrease in drain times. I have also plunged both sinks and did notice that some water appeared at rear shower tray plughole when bathroom sink plunged (they are connected with a 'Y' connector before waste tank). The kitchen sink looks like it has a trap but not sure about bathroom sink. Does the van have to be absolutely level to drain properly and has any other Nuevo owner had this problem or any ideas on what the problem may be (and how to solve it)?
Thanks, John

Hi there,

Bear in mind that all motorhomes use small diameter hoses for waste water disposal but some owners use them in a similar manner to the way they use their sinks and showers at home; so ponder the facts that:

o Most of us chuck grease and bits of food down the kitchen sink.

o In cold weather grease will solidify almost as soon as it leaves the sink.

o All of us shed hair and skin when we shower and wash.

The already narrow pipes can therefore get clogged with grease, debris and hair. The already narrow pipes are flexible and can also kink.

So, in answer to your questions:

1. The kitchen sink will always have a trap fitted.

2. Some showers and shower-room sinks also have traps fitted.

3. No, the van doesn't normally have to be dead level for any sink or shower to drain.

4. If there is no sign that the drain pipe is kinked then the slow flow is most likely caused by grease, debris and hair restricting the flow, OR,

There is nothing wrong with the system and you are just too darned impatient!

Most systems can be cleared with a standard drain cleaner or with a good run through with some very hot water.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,


PS Please be very careful when using a plunger! The hoses are attached to fittings and to blow a hose off a fitting is relatively easy because they aren't designed to take the amount of pressure that can be generated with a plunger; and they are ALWAYS somewhere that is difficult to reach!

PPS I once had a blocked "tip-up" sink that defied all attempts to get it to drain. Then Number Two Son admitted that he had tipped "a bit of soap" up with the water and it all suddenly made sense!

This will be of little consolation, but you may be interested to know that this has long been a mystery on our Clubman, too! I keep the sink pipe as clean as possible, using occasional borax and bolling water etc. Yet on some days, the sink empties fast; and maybe the next day, or previous day, or even the same day without moving the MH, it's very, frustratingly, slow. I sometimes think it depends on how horizontal the MH is, but it's just one of those things which I've had to accept.

Hi,
our Nuevo sink and shower drains slow aswell. I have made sure all the pipes are clear, (air line down plug holes!), and used pipe cleaning fluids.
I have removed any high points in the drain pipes to the tank. No better after that! I agree with other peeps, I don't let any food or solid waste down the plug holes, if possible.
Mike.

Dutto wrote:....................

There is nothing wrong with the system and you are just too darned impatient!
.....................

Ooooh! I hate quoting myself but ...............

The restriction on the outlet of a sink or shower isn't normally the problem it's the length of pipe to the tank that slows things down.

When we lived in a caravan for two years I solved the problem by replacing all the drains with 1" pipes!

Best regards,

All of the above is pertinent plus on one of my vans the shower was on the other side of the van to the grey water tank and other plumbing. The drain from the shower had to get up and over two chassis members to get to the tank. The level of the van was critical to drain the shower.

Peter

Peter Brown wrote:All of the above is pertinent plus on one of my vans the shower was on the other side of the van to the grey water tank and other plumbing. The drain from the shower had to get up and over two chassis members to get to the tank. The level of the van was critical to drain the shower.

Peter

Agree entirely, especially with Peter's sentence which I've marked in bold. It's not the cleverest of arrangements.

My Mercedes based Suffolk is also very slow to drain and it has had no food waste through it as we always wash up at the site washing up area, the reason I have been told why it is slow draining is because A/S have put an uphill run in the pipe as Peter Brown said to go over the chassis before it goes into the waste tank.
Don

I've been wondering the exact same thing on my Sigma.

Thanks, Guys

We're just back from an 8 week trip around Europe and I learned a couple of bits'n'pieces about our ES during it. (The most important thing being don't break down in France in a Peugeot based vehicle if you don't want to spend 9 days in a hotel waiting for parts.....but that's another story.)
The slow draining from our sinks was 'cured' by assisting the initial flow from the sink by emptying half a glass of water from a height of about one foot - directly down the plug 'ole. Once that got the draining started, it continued remarkably quickly.
Unfortunately it has to be repeated for subsequent draining sessions. But it works, even with my uneven parking.

Thanks Guys for all the advice and shared experiences, I now have plenty to try. I timed the draining today and both kitchen and toilet sinks drain 4 litres of water in about 48 seconds. I also timed 4 litres of soapy water (washing up liquid), from the kitchen sink and that was also about 48 seconds. Funnily the flow seemed to go very well and I'm sure it has been much slower at times but you know the saying, "a watched kettle never boils" so maybe I am too impatient. These tests are being done with the van rear end slightly higher than the front end but don't know if that makes a difference.

My next step is to disconnect the waste pipes from the waste water tank and time the 4 litres when the pipes hang vertically. There are 4 pipes I can disconnect and after that I will see if the pipes will disconnect further back. I may also turn the van round and try with rear end lower than front end. Something else I may do is clean out the pipes if I can. Last week I spoke to the Autosleeper technical guys and was told there is a breather vent on the top of the waste tank which could cause slow draining if blocked, but dropping the tank will be a last resort for me.

I've only had the van away twice and not yet used the shower so I guess I'll have to try all 3 shower tray plug holes one at a time and then all together as each plughole uses a different waste pipe to the waste tank. I'm expecting the time to half when the shower tray is level because I don't think the tray in front of the toilet will get any water from the shower (unless the shower tray overflows).

I'll keep you posted on my experimenting and times and it would be interesting to compare with others.

Thanks again, John

I know of many different mods to improve drain speed but to my mind none are worth the cost and effort, I'm not in that much of a rush.

If you use your finger to start a little whirlpool in the plug hole that gets draining started.

Peter

When I had a Hymer the kitchen sink would not drain at all if the van was significantly off level,, as it always was on our drive.  Using a plunger gently would start it and then it would go. I was always very careful as none of the plumbing was accessible and all was rigid pipe.

Our Duetto suffered from the same problem although we kept the pipes and the grey water tank as clean as possible.
I found that the sink emptied OK if I opened the drain tap from the tank so maybe the breather was blocked.
I drilled some extra breather holes at the top of the tank and it worked much better.

Pete