Can anyone please explain why it is that the kitchen sink and bathroom handbasin is sometimes very slow to empty and is there anything I can do to speed it up. Sometimes it gushes away and at others it just goes at a trickle.
You may have to use something like fenwicks drain cleaner or puraclean dont use bleach as this will rot the pipes.You may also have the outlet pipe to far in the waste barrel, as when it fills up stops the water in the pipe from filling it..
Make sure the waste pipe that goes into the waste master stops at the top rather than going down into the wastemaster.
The water will then drop into the wastemaster without restriction.
If you push the pipes inside then as others have said the back pressure will slow it down.
Are you new to caravanning at all because some people think that the sinks in the caravan empty at the same speed rate as they do as your domestic ones at home home which they don't. The reason is because you have an overflow on a domestic sink and wash basin but because there isn't any overflow holes in the caravan ones then there is no air above the draining water which causes the water to empty much slower as there is no breather above. It's very much like filling an empty milk bottle with water and then emptying it straight out. It won't rapidly drain out until the air gets in to create a faster flow. I have had a blockage a couple of times and have used a small sink plunger which has solved the problem immediately.
Sorry Tango, but your explanation is incorrect. You only need an air breather when waste goes into a sealed tank, which caravan wastes do not have.
It is much simpler than that. Domestic waste has a 32mm diameter waste, and is generally straight pipes with few bends which do not constrict the flow. Caravan wastes are 20 or 25mm diameter, often corrugated tubes, with perhaps more bends which constrict the pipes further.
The difference between 32mm and 20mm might not sound much, but in terms of cross sectional area the 20mm pipe is just over half that of the 32mm pipe.
It is worth tracking the caravan waste pipe and see if the pipe has any particularly sharp bends which constrict the flow. A couple of heavy tins rolling about in the bottom of the cupboard can easily move the pipe.
Spigot type joints used by some manufacturers reduce the bore of the pipes even more and it only takes a small piece of waste to cause an obstruction that may or may not clear itself. A good caravan tank/pipe cleaner will keep the pipes clean and reduce the chances of gunge building up.
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Thanks for the replies everyone. We're in our 4th season on a seasonal pitch so never move the van but still check that it remains level from time to time. We seem to be doing everything that you have recommended but my main concern was that it sometimes drained really quickly and other times not. We'll just have to put up with it I guess. I had realised that it wouldn't be the same as home though.
Use a length of curtain wire to poke down and up at either end when it's draining slowly. Could just be debris stuck in the pipe. Used this method once with mine, rice was the culprit, but a quick poke and it was gone!
If you put your waste pipe into the wastemaster, and the end is submerged: it will airlock and go down slowly. Make sure you waste pipe end is in open air, and it will flow freely. If you're in doubt, take the pipes off as if for towing, and I bet it flows freely.
(Like Clever says above)
Beware that your internal plumbing is only pushed together, so its possible to pull it apart to clean it, or to nudge it apart when you put something big in the under-sink cupboard, like the table which Bailey put in ours! Grrrr
When we level ours we always 'tip it back' ever so slightly (and I do mean slightly) as it makes a huge difference with the water drainage. We used to have the same problem until someone else told us...now it drains away just fine, but slows down considerably when the wastemaster is close to the max.
------------- Claire x
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I have tried tipping ours back very slightly too for drainage reasons which is a very good advice providing that the drain holes are at the rear end like ours is. Some drain pipes are located on the side which probably wouldn't work but this handy tip is okay just for weekends away but if away for longer periods it's rather impractical because then the shower tray doesn't fully empty which the remaining water puddles towards the rear end of the shower tray. We then have to sponge it dry afterwards but as the shower is actually used less than the kitchen sink then this is a solution to help draining away waste water from the kitchen sink and washbasin.
I've already tried keeping the pipe clear of the waste but I really like the sound of tipping the van slightly. As I've said, we're on a seasonal pitch so always use the site facilities so using the shower doesn't come into it. We're going down to the van on Tuesday (dentist tomorrow) until Sunday so will defo give it a go.
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Topic: Sink slow to empty
