Blocked shower drain

 
 
 
 
 
 
Flipperdipper
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Blocked shower drain

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Posted: 23.11.2017  ·  #1
Any recommendations for clearing a blocked shower drain in the MH. I've tried using a good plunger but to no avail. The drain hose is only about 20mm and I cannot get under the shower tray to disconnect it. I ended up draining it with a plastic bottle on tue evening, not to be recommended.


killiand
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Re: Blocked shower drain

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Posted: 23.11.2017  ·  #2
Rightly or wrongly, I've used different drain unblock products that form a gel and then wash through or the salt/powdery stuff that you sprinkle in and pour hot water through! Mainly as maintenance, but no problems so far!


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Re: Blocked shower drain

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Posted: 23.11.2017  ·  #3
Unblocked ours in the house a few weeks ago, a ball of thickly and densely packed hair had gathered. Had to do it from below the shower tray, hope you have better luck.

What about some of that drain cleaner stuff from B&M Lidl Aldi? it gets good reports.


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Blocked shower drain

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Posted: 23.11.2017  ·  #4
Try blowing it clear with some air.


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Re: Blocked shower drain

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Posted: 23.11.2017  ·  #5
Possibly your grey water tank is full have you checked if its emptying , or a kink in the drain pipe


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Re: Blocked shower drain

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Posted: 23.11.2017  ·  #6
Regular household bleach will do the trick. Pour some into the drain and after a few hours top it up again. Leave it overnight and flush with warm water.
It great for clean the pipe from the kitchen sink to your grey tank.
After flushing the drains ,leave the bleach and water in your grey tank because the mixture will clean out the grey tank.


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Re: Blocked shower drain

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Posted: 23.11.2017  ·  #7
I routinely IMO


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Re: Blocked shower drain

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Posted: 24.11.2017  ·  #8
Thanks for the tips guys. I'll try some, or all of them over the weekend. I had just emptied the grey water prior to taking a shower and discovering the blockage so that is not the cause. Before the comments start, the dirt that washed off me was not the cause of the blockage. :lol: :lol: I'll let ye know how I get on. :up:


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Re: Blocked shower drain

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Posted: 24.11.2017  ·  #9
Thought never crossed our mind's 😇


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Re: Blocked shower drain

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Posted: 24.11.2017  ·  #10
Self adhesive velcro stuck to a piece of wire is a very good way of removing hair and the like from drains, the hook side obviously not the loop side.
I have pulled a lot of hair out of drains using this method, not my hair either, I use a blade on my head!


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Re: Blocked shower drain

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Posted: 12.12.2017  ·  #11
Been there done that have the t shirt. A lot of the manufacturers use ribbed pipes. I have changed a couple of these for regular smooth pipes and as long as you make sure you have a U bend water trap to stop the smells it seems to help the problem. I had a Kon Tiki once and before I discovered the smooth pipe. I used to fill the shower tray with water and use the sole of my foot to push the water through the drain. My wife saw me doing this and tried herself. She pushed the drain out and cracked the shower tray. She is under strict instructions to touch nothing on the van


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Re: Blocked shower drain

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Posted: 13.12.2017  ·  #12
I tried bleach with minimal effect, I then went with drain unblocker but no effect. I didn't want to put an air hose or water hose down the drain in case I blew off a joint in some inaccessible place under the floor. Today I bit the bullet, engaged contortionist mode and started trying to trace the waste pipe. After sponging the last of the cocktail from the shower tray and removing an aluminium panel / floor support I found this, What you're looking at is the waste from the shower coming in from the left to the center of the pump and exiting to the waste tank. the white thing in the center of the second picture is a solenoid which is activated when the pump comes on. Presumably it's there to stop any water flowing back from the waste tank into the shower tray. A daft idea in my opinion especially as it's reducing from 1" down to less than 1/2". Does anyone know if this is a normal set up for 2002 Hobby 600 and if so what switches the pump on ? Perhaps a pump is needed as the shower tray is so low but why cause such a restriction in the pipe ? Any ideas welcome.


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Re: Blocked shower drain

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Posted: 13.12.2017  ·  #13
Is it possible to swap that for a trap and see how it goes,
1" to half is a fair drop in the pipe size in fairness

Possibly a micro switch on shower tap opens the solenoid


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Re: Blocked shower drain

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Posted: 13.12.2017  ·  #14
I am stabing in the dark here but here's my thoughts.
The white pump looks to be a 3/8 bsp port. They are usually cheap to purchase. A bigger 1 inch bsp port pump ia a lot more expensive to purchase. Penny pinching by hobby.
I wouldn't be surprised if the switching of the pump is controlled by the shower tap, similar to the way that that the fresh water pump is controlled by micro switches in each tap.
Malcolm


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Blocked shower drain

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Posted: 13.12.2017  ·  #15
Do you know if the pump is working and is the solenoid opening ? They have to be operated by the shower valve.
If you can take the solenoid out of the system to see if the shower will then drain .
Then take the pomp out and do the same.
A bit of qual pex pipe should make a bridge
Connected a spare 12volt supply to both to check if there are workings


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Re: Blocked shower drain

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Posted: 13.12.2017  ·  #16
Quote by Flipperdipper

I tried bleach with minimal effect, I then went with drain unblocker but no effect. I didn't want to put an air hose or water hose down the drain in case I blew off a joint in some inaccessible place under the floor. Today I bit the bullet, engaged contortionist mode and started trying to trace the waste pipe. After sponging the last of the cocktail from the shower tray and removing an aluminium panel / floor support I found this, What you're looking at is the waste from the shower coming in from the left to the center of the pump and exiting to the waste tank. the white thing in the center of the second picture is a solenoid which is activated when the pump comes on. Presumably it's there to stop any water flowing back from the waste tank into the shower tray. A daft idea in my opinion especially as it's reducing from 1" down to less than 1/2". Does anyone know if this is a normal set up for 2002 Hobby 600 and if so what switches the pump on ? Perhaps a pump is needed as the shower tray is so low but why cause such a restriction in the pipe ? Any ideas welcome.


That does not look like an origional factory job to me,why would they reduce a 1" waste pipe down to 1/2" ? My take on it is that there has been a bit of d.i.y going on here.
Sprinter has come up with an idea worthy of a try,good luck. :up:


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Blocked shower drain

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Posted: 14.12.2017  ·  #17
When looking at the small unit are your sure it's a solenoid ? it looks to have a screw cap which would be more like a filter unit ,
Anyway I would take the whole thing out ,then put power to each to make sure that they are working.
Try to find where they are getting power from.
If the shower drain outlet is lower then the tank then it makes sense to have it pumped and closed off when not in use ,to stop back flow and smell if a u-bend is not fitted


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Re: Blocked shower drain

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Posted: 14.12.2017  ·  #18
The Solenoid in your picture looks like the type used in domestic washing machines, not quite clear from the picture, and these have a filter fitted just inside where the hose screws on. The screw cap in your picture looks like the hose connection on a washing machine. Also these solenoids are designed to be operated in an upright position and not on their side, as in your case.
Regarding the size of hose used, 1/2" is perfectly adequate for a 'pumped' system but would not be up to the job in a 'gravity flow' system.
Switching of the pump/solenoid could be, as others have said, by means of a micro switch in your shower mixer tap. You will need to trace the wiring to determine it's source. How is your main pump activated? If there are micro switches fitted to the other taps then this would rule out this method for the drain pump, but if you have a pressurised system then the micro switch would work for the drain pump.
I would start by tracing the wiring to try to find the switching method and to confirm if the circuit has a 12 volt supply and then check to see if there is 12 volt getting to the pump when it is switched on. I don't see any type of filter before the pump so is it clogged with waste from the shower, hair etc.?
It's all just physical work to find the source of your problem, i'm afraid.


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Re: Blocked shower drain

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Posted: 19.02.2018  ·  #19
How did you get on with this Liam?


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Re: Blocked shower drain

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Posted: 19.02.2018  ·  #20
Quote by mad max

How did you get on with this Liam?


I contacted Hobby in Germany and they passed my query on to Hobby UK who informed me that information for this age of motorhome was no longer on their system. I wasn't in any hurry over the past couple of months and let it slide while I attended to other chores. I'll get out my multimeter and trace the cables next week. I'm beginning to think that the supply to the waste pump is wired in with the shower tap and as soon as the shower is turned off the pump looses supply before fully clearing the the water from the shower tray. If this is the way it's done I'll either wire in a timer or put it on a separate switch. :up:


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Re: Blocked shower drain

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Posted: 20.02.2018  ·  #21
Hope you get it sorted handy enough 👍


Flipperdipper
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Re: Blocked shower drain

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Posted: 26.03.2018  ·  #22
UPDATE
I finally got stuck into this last week and discovered the following. The waste pump is controlled by the shower switch in the shower tap. When the shower is switched on it brings on the main pump and the waste pump, when it's switched off the waste pump switches off while there is still water in the shower tray .F*%#ing design engineers. By opening the tap just enough to bring the pump on with hardly any water flow I can clear 99% of the water from the tray. I can live with that. One problem that I discovered is a very small drip where the waste comes out under the tray. It is only a very slight but will have to be tackled eventually but unless I dismantle the entire shower room and lift out the tray I can't get at the outlet. Any double jointed craicer with five foot arms out there? :-)


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Re: Blocked shower drain

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Posted: 27.03.2018  ·  #23
Could you get a spray can close enough to do a temporary fix.
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Flipperdipper
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Re: Blocked shower drain

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Posted: 03.10.2021  ·  #24
Finally got this problem sorted, I hope.
 

The old system was reducing the inside pipe dia from 20mm down to 8mm. As well as the reduction in pipe size the pump switched off as soon as the shower was switched off so all the water hadn't a hope of draining. I bought one of these on ebay, €70 delivered from Norway.
 

When the box/tank is about three quarters full the pump comes on automatically. There is provision to wire in an override switch to turn it on manually. It pumps out far quicker than the water can come in and clears the tank in a couple of seconds.


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