slow draining grey water

[joand]

It seems to me that the water draining out the kitchen and bathroom sinks and the shower is draining much slower than it used to. We have the valve wide open.

Does anyone know if there is a safe drain opener we can use?

Thanks for your help.

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

You may have a build up of scum and more concrete-like debris. If you leave the gray and galley tanks open ALL the time, they dry out in between showers and washing the dishes. The nasties do not float, they drop to the bottom of the tank, dry out and turn to a hard rock like deposit.

IF, this is the problem, you could try letting the water build up, SteveR and some others have used some enzyme thingy to break up build up, I am sorry, I have NO idea what the stuff is called, hopefully one of the will happen along at some point.

Now, this assumes you are sitting someplace warm and you have not frozen up the drainage lines!

And, I am sure there are other explanations, and we will hear about them right soon like!

[ggranch]

Had a similar problem in a TT a few years back. I think Carol has the right problem pegged. Because the enzime thingies take a while to work and then not all that great, you might try what I did. I used very hot water in the tank, all that the heater could provide and water heated on the stove, released all stablizers/jacks, and rocked the trailer like you would a boat for a while. With the fiver, you should hook up and raise the front legs. This action softened the grease/crud build up and restored the propper flow.
Bob

PS: Leaving the valve to the gray water closed and using it to rinse the line after dumping the black tends to prevent this condition.

[Lambchop]

When leaving the valves open all the time.......It seems to cause the gate valves not to work smoothly. I am going to let the tanks fill from now on.

Lambchop

[Waynem]

You should not leave the gates open. If the gates are open, the matter inside the tanks does not have the capability to dissolve and settle as lumps in the bottom. For the black tank, just before you take off on a trip, dump about 20 to 30 pounds of bagged is (without the bag) into the toilet. The action of the ice in the tank will break up the lumps. Flush out the tank when get the first chance.

Edited because of Phatt fingers.

[TLightning]

When at one CG for a good while, we initially close the black and leave both grays open. A day or so before it's time to dump the black...we close the grays. Doing it this way does not allow the grays to fill up (as they like to do), and we still have a way to flush out the hoses after the black tank empties.

[Waynem]

If you use the back flush capabilities of the Montana, would that not flush the hose?

[simonsrf]

quote:Originally posted by Waynem

If you use the back flush capabilities of the Montana, would that not flush the hose?

Well, it would flush the black tank, but you can never get everything out of the black tank, so by flushing it first and then dumping the galley tank and then the soapy grey tank water, you get a better flush.

[Exnavydiver]

If the slow drain is just the floor or sink drains take an old tooth brush and drag it across the shower drain a few times. You won't believe how much hair is hanging onto that grate. The vanity sink may need to have the brush thrust down bast the stopper seal. That seems to be where ours was collecting hair. As soon as we did that everything ran fine... Dave and Betsy