Clogged pipes!!! - RV-Dreams Community Forum

pootinlady · RV-Dreams Community Member

Clogged pipes!!!

Roz · RV-Dreams Family Member

Robin,

I purchased a device that attaches to a garden hose. It has a rubber bladder that you insert in a drain. Turn the water on and bladder inflates with water and seals the pipe. Once pressure builds to a certain psi, it releases the water out of the down side of the bladder giving a strong "gush" through the pipe away from the hose.

This has unclogged our drain twice without the help of a plumber.

You could likely find this at an Ace Hardware. You will need to know the inside diameter of your drain pipe in which you will insert the bladder. I assume they come in various sizes.

Hope this helps!

GENECOP · RV-Dreams Family Member

Tell your husband to get some new friends.......After of coarse you hire a plumber and send your husbands friend the bill........Good luck....

The Bear II · RV-Dreams Family Member

I'm assuming this is happening in an RV.....

I would try opening the gray water dump valve to see if the tank is empty. They may have filled up the tank if they're not RV savvy. Once the tank is completely empty take the sewer hose off and shine a flashlight in to see if you can see the inlet pipe for the bathtub/kitchen. You may be able to use a small mirror on a stick to look for the inlet. You're trying to see where the clog is and if it is accessible from the dump valve.

If this won't work, I would have someone plug the kitchen sink with a wet rag and hold it down while you use the plunger on the bathtub drain. You may need to plug the bathroom sink drain as well. You want to make sure the plunger can get a good vacuum going to move whatever is clogging the pipe.

Sometimes backfilling the gray water tank from the dump valve will help dislodge a clog. You need to make sure the pressure doesn't get too strong and crack the tank. Plus you need to monitor the drains to make sure water doesn't overflow out of the top of the sinks or baththub. Just wrap a big rag around the end of a hose and jam it into the dump valve. hold it there and turn on the water to back fill. Have someone yell when they see the water coming up in the sink or bathtub. Close the valve as you remove the hose and then connect your sewer hose to dump the tank.

I once had to cut a section out of the drain pipe to get to something that had been dropped into the drain by accident. I was able to access the pipe from one of my storage compartments.
I cut out a section removed the clog and then rejoined the pipes using two connectors and a pipe fill piece. Luckily there was enough play in the drain pipes to move them apart to insert the fill piece.

pootinlady · RV-Dreams Community Member

Ok so update, we have taken apart the traps under all the sinks and the bathtub, still nothing worked, going to try thr bladder thing next.

Racerguy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Would be a lot of help if we knew what your RV was.

AnCndRV · RV-Dreams Community Member

First check your grey tank to make sure its empty. We recently had this problem. Of course I dont recommend you do what we did - that is pour boiling hot water down the drain in the tub and in the sinks. But in our case, it worked. Must have been gunk from washing dishes that did it for us.

Workinrvers · RV-Dreams Family Member

House plumbers are hesitant to work on RV's even though the plumbing can be similier. Look for a mobile RV repairman and they can help you solve the problem if you are unable to handle it yourself. Sounds like you have tried a lot with no success and may need a professional to look at it. I am assuming you do not want to move the RV, if this is not the case you can take it to an RV dealer for repairs. Try calling the nearest RV dealer or park and they can sometimes provide info for the nearest mobile RV technician that can come to you. They almost always charge a trip charge as well as the time to do the repairs and are sometimes expensive so make sure you find out the charges ahead of time to avoid any surprises.

Good luck,

Phil

-- Edited by Workinrvers on Tuesday 10th of April 2012 09:09:09 AM

pootinlady · RV-Dreams Community Member

The RV is a Monitor like a 78 or so, and yes I did poor boiling water down all the pipes didn't work, also, can't find a plumber to come out nobody works on RV's. Where would I find the grey tank?? And how do I tell the differance, between to two tanks?

Racerguy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Just to be clear.You have opened the valves to empty the tanks, right?

pootinlady · RV-Dreams Community Member

Ok fixed it, we forced water through the bath tub and a bunch of hard grease came out, not sure how to stop this from happening, I do not pour grease down the drain,

Happy Prospector · RV-Dreams Community Member

What I have done to clean a sink drain is once a month:

Pour 1/2 cup baking soda followed by 1/2 cup white vinegar down the sink drain. The baking soda cleans and deodorizes, making it perfect for kitchen drains with food odor. The vinegar disinfects, plus mixes with the baking soda to create a foam reaction.

Let the baking soda and vinegar foam while working down the drain for 20 minutes.

Pour 1 gallon boiling water down your sink drain.

I hope this works for you.

millwright01 · RV-Dreams Community Member

Hi

Just joined here but might have a bit of info I can share. i work in water/waste water. It is great that you don't dump grease down drain as that will surely cause some trouble. That being said, grease builds up over time, even just washing dishes and pots after wiping them out. Just a little maintenance will help keep you clear like is mentioned above. If it came from the tub drain, could it be soap? We experience lots of issues in homes with slow drains from soap build up. It looks and feels like grease, but usually not as strong a smell. RV's use little water so this can become a problem. If you have a clothes washer attached to this drain, consider using liquid soap (not powder) if you don't all ready, it stays suspended with the water better when draining. Just my two cents.