Zydeco Joe Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Hi all, Have had a problem with my kitchen sink not draining in our 2005 Auto Trail Tracker.Have removed drain cover and the push on water trap beneath the sink and cleaned out pipes as far as the van floor all ok .Will I have to remove the pipe that is underneath the van which has a connector with a bend at 90 degrees and it has a jubilee clip and a couple of brackets that I can get at to use a drain unblocking wire that I have for home use. What sealant will I need to replace the clear sealant that was between the chrome drain cover and the drain pipe at the bottom of the sink ?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALAN G Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Our van was built using small bore corrugated flexible drain pipe. Very neat to install but blocks fairly readily.. Most of the blockage in ours occurs in the horizontal pipe that is below the floor and heads for the waste water tank. As it is flexible and is only supported at about 12 inch intervals it is quite easy ( with a little body manipulation past the rear wheel) to move the pipe up and down while someone inside watches the sink to yell "Geronimo" when the blockage clears. I did once remove the connection to the tank and gave the pipe a good wash. But that is best done at home. Clean holiday clothes always attracts dirty water. First try flexing any visible pipe without removing it. I'm not sure why you need sealant for a push on connector. It should self seal. In an emergency Blu Tack is always useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I certainly would not use any form of wire drain clearer as you run the risk of it breaking through the very thin walled convoluted waste pipe. Personally I find that a generous helping of hot water followed by use of a plunger shifts most blockages. Not to violent with the plunger at first until the bulk of the blockage has shifted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 ALAN G - 2013-01-28 1:18 PM ...I'm not sure why you need sealant for a push on connector. It should self seal I got the impression that 'Joe(OP) was envisaging stripping the whole drain "rose" from out of the sink..and was therefore looking for something to re-bed it with..? ..I wouldn't have thought that needed separating though..? :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zydeco Joe Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 Yes I took the Rose out of the sink and it had a small amount of sealant both under the rose and on top of the grey plastic waste pipe,so I need to replace this sealant and I dont know what sealant or where to get it from. While on our recent trip to France and Spain where the blockage ocurred we did try putting hot water down the sink but to no avail but did not have a plunger.Also tried soda crystals this also did not shift the blockage. Am now back home and have waited till the snow has gone to try unblocking the sink, it was not frozen as it first appeared while in Roses Spain. Thanks for advice on not using wire drain clearer. Will try undoing a couple of the pipe supports underneath the van and moving the pipe using the "Geronimo" technique". Regards all. ZJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minstrel Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I'm sorry you have this problem, but in the future it might be a good idea to try to prevent, as much as possible, the amount of 'floaters' from the washing up and and also grease. We are people who drain water into a bucket from the waste tank and we're fortunate that it's by the habitation door so it's easy for us to throw washing up water out there. I use kitchen paper to wipe grease off plates and pans. We also use a silicone spatula to scrape all the porridge from the sides of the pan. There are times that I think perhaps I'm getting a bit OCD! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zydeco Joe Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 Hi Minstrel, we did try to do as you have said but it still blocked up, the joy's of motorhoming LOL Have just this afternoon got some clear sealant to re seal the sink rose and in the next day or 2 hope to get it all back and running again as we are out in the van this weekend.That is if we can clear the blockage!!!! ZJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 For resealing the sink outlet I'd probably opt for Fernox LS-X http://www.fernox.com/files/Fernox/Content/PDF/English/LS-X.pdf Regarding the blockage, you could try Tracker's plunger method, which should be safe enough with a kitchen sink, though you'll first need to reinstall the sink-outlet before 'plungering' and I'm wary that your sink's push-on trap may not stay in place. Otherwise (and assuming it's practicable) you could try poking a garden hose into the waste pipe that connects to the sink outlet, taping securely around the end of the pipe and the outside of the hose to provide a temporary seal. There is the risk with this ploy of blowing a joint in the pipework apart if the blockage won't shift, so you'd need to be careful not to over-pressure the pipework and, if the blockage refuses to clear, to immediately stop using this technique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zydeco Joe Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 Thanks Derek, I was thinking of trying this by using my garden hose as a next step as I only need to remove a jubilee clip to give me access to the waste pipe underneath the van, the pipe looks like its just a push fit on a 90 degree connector so should be ok to insert the garden hose. ZJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 The trouble with a hose is that it can take a few seconds to turn it off if the pipework breaks whereas with a plunger you can stop immediately and leave the plunger in place to seal the sink from further flow? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Just a thought have you tried it from the other end :$................as in my experience that's what clogs up ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Tracker - 2013-01-28 8:05 PM The trouble with a hose is that it can take a few seconds to turn it off if the pipework breaks whereas with a plunger you can stop immediately and leave the plunger in place to seal the sink from further flow? Sure (as I pointed out) using a hose involves some risk. However, as ZJ has been able to confirm that there's no blockage in the pipework between sink and floor, and there's a handy entry-point to the waste-water pipework beneath the floor into which a hose could be inserted, this seems the most logical way forward as far as I'm concerned. If ZJ reinstalls the sink-outlet and reconnects the pipework, and 'plungering' fails to clear the blockage (and there's no way of knowing one way or the other without reinstalling/reconnecting/plungering whether plungering will be effective), garden-hosing would be the next logical step. Me, I'd go for the garden-hose ploy now rather than later, but it's up to ZJ which approach he prefers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zydeco Joe Posted January 29, 2013 Author Share Posted January 29, 2013 I think I will go with the garden hose as as Derek said the access looks easy to get at by just losening a jubilee clip and I should have room to use my garden hose and hope that shifts the blockage. Hope this does the trick as we plan to use the van this weekend. ZJ ps thanks all for helping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zydeco Joe Posted February 4, 2013 Author Share Posted February 4, 2013 In the end I had trouble getting the hose off at the back of the van but the hose came off the waste water tank end, removed a small amount of gunge and bingo we now have a drain that works, well it did ok this weekend on a trip to Bury on a Caravan club site, our first ever cc site. If this sink blocks up again I now know what to do LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Glad you're sorted 'Joe.. I'm probably stating the obvious but minimize the amount of "debris" that gets swilled down the sink. If we're doing a major washing-up session,we tend to keep a small plastic bucket outside the hab' door,with a fine sieve across it.We then empty our washing up bowl into that,so that it can be emptied straight down the appropriate drainage point..and any food "debris" can be tapped out of the sieve,into the bin. Although I suppose if you are staying on a site,you could always use their washing-up facilities and gunk-up their pipes..;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zydeco Joe Posted February 6, 2013 Author Share Posted February 6, 2013 Thanks Pepe, We do try not to let too much food waste go down the plug hole and if we are on a site we do in the main use the washing up facilities but stuff still gets washed down the sink. It looks like this must have been a problem in our van (a 2005 model) with the previous owner as the pipe pulled off the waste tank even though I could not undo the jubilee clip.The tank has only a small bore about 1/2 inch dia even if the boss and pipe is about 1" so this does not take much to block up. We also at times use a bowl to wash up in and I guess it all helps keep the pipes free of blockages but now I know how to get at the problem all should be ok. B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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