Blocked drain

silverfox1964 · Newbie

Blocked drain

yobarr · Guru

silverfox1964 wrote:
I own a Winnie Bourke A, can I use draino, I've used the old bicarb and vinegar but still very slow drain. Thx

Heaps of boiling water? Cheers

Whenarewethere · Guru

Around our block of units I use a tongue strip from chipboard flooring, very useful stuff! You can prebend it to get it around bends. You may need something a bit thinner for caravans, but I am not familiar with how tight the bends are.

Mike Harding · Guru

Are you sure you have enough fall on the drain pipe?

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

silverfox1964 wrote:
I own a Winnie Bourke A, can I use draino, I've used the old bicarb and vinegar but still very slow drain. Thx

Is this a new problem or has it always been this way?

Cheers,

Peter

ConsumerMan · Senior Member

If the slow draining has always been a problem then I suggest a breather tube inline about where your grey water hose attaches to your rig. I had a slow draining shower in my van from day one. Over twelve months I tried several unsuccessful fixes until recently an irrigation supplier recommended the breather pipe. Fixed the problem immediately and all for a cost of a few dollars.

Tony Bev · Guru

A lot of RV's do not have a "S" trap, to stop the smell coming back to the sink/shower etc

Some have the grey water hose, go to an outlet

Some have the grey water hose go to the grey water tank, and then to the outlet

Some have the grey water hose go through a Hepvo valve, to the grey water tank, and then to the outlet

The Hepvo valve is not much good at letting solids through, but would probably be easy to remove and clean

For those who have never seen a Hepvo Valve, below is a pic from the Hepvo website, with my text and yellow line

Hope that this info is useful to someone

Hepvo valve.png

Cupie · Guru

Good, informative post Tony Bev.

My waste pipes go straight to the outlet. Haven't got round to installing hepvo's yet. It's only been 21 years ...

When I get an obstruction, usually an onion skin or similar, I put a rag over the sink outlet and reverse flush the waste pipe (with a hose on full pressure) from the outlet pipe. Works every time.

When at home doing my annual service routine I use the 'snake' attachment on my Karcher pressure cleaner to clean out all of the waste pipes. My Son the Plumber, has some gunk that they sometimes use. I presume that it is a commercial grade DrainO or similar. I haven't needed to try it yet but he reckons that it is the goods.

dieseltojo · Senior Member

I have to say.... do not put boiling water down a plastic system....as suggested. If it actually does have an obstruction it will retain the heat in a confined area and may cause some damage.

Just saying smile

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

20mm of water in sink . With high detergent .Slam your hand over the plug to shock the water down the drain . If its hair ? Theres an acid you can buy to dissolve it . Chances are someone has put cotton buds or similar down sink ? You may have to disconnect top fittings near sink ?? Hot water is fine . PVC is designed for it. A hose with cloth around sink plug is another option. If theres a restriction ? Chances are itll need some removal to clear ?