Shower drains s l o w l y - Montana Owners Club

exav8tr · 12-08-2008, 08:31 AM

Anyone have this problem or had it? Other than buying a plunger, not sure what to look for. Gray tank is empty. Does empty completely albeit very slowly......

Mrs. CountryGuy · 12-08-2008, 08:51 AM

Found hair wrapped around the drain, hard to see.

Used long handled sutures to grab and remove.

H. John Kohl · 12-08-2008, 09:00 AM

Check the trap in the basement but hair removal would be my first recommendation.

ols1932 · 12-08-2008, 10:08 AM

Ditto on the hair removal. That's the only thing that has ever given us slow draining from the shower in the over eight years of full timing.

Orv

rogue · 12-08-2008, 10:37 AM

On the outside chance its not hair, is the roof vent for the gray tank clear, if the air can't get out when you put the water in, it will go in slower.
Bob

Exnavydiver · 12-08-2008, 10:41 AM

Phil, I had a similar problem right after we got the Big Sky, it turned out to be a thin layer of hair laying across the drain cover. I was going to go out to check the tank level when I just slid my toe across the drain and it drained right away. I did get slow during the rally and the old "toe slide" didn't work so when I finished I got down and took a close loom, the hair had built up enough to clog the holes and I just took DW's tooth brush and dug the stuff out, worked great

... Dave

HughM · 12-08-2008, 10:54 AM

Yep it's the hair in the drain. I can always tell when its time to unclog the drain. I just look in the mirror and yeh I'm getting balder.
Hugh

exav8tr · 12-08-2008, 12:12 PM

Hair today, gone tomorrow, Thanks everyone.

Exnavydiver · 12-08-2008, 12:21 PM

Phil, don't say anything to the DW please, I like my teeth.

.. Dave

stiles watson · 12-08-2008, 12:31 PM

Remove the screw in the middle of your drain. When you open it, there is a cross piece under it and that is where hair is likely to collect. If that doesn't clear it up, perhaps some water under pressure may clear the trap.

Waynem · 12-08-2008, 03:49 PM

Stop washing the dog in the shower!

NCFischers · 12-09-2008, 10:15 AM

I had the same problem in the house. Vickie's two daughters have long hair and I had a problem with the shower drain in their bathroom. Lowe's sells a piece of plastic for $2.20 in the plumbing dept. It looks like a hammerhead sharks bill and is about 18 inches long. I shoved it in the drain and pulled out a very large wad of hair that was deep in the drain. Problem solved. The package says it is for a single use. I cleaned it off and it's in my plumbing box ready for the next time.

NCFischers · 12-09-2008, 10:20 AM

Edit my last reply. Hammerhead shark is the wrong shark. It's a long piece of plastic with serrated edges. Sorry.

Waynem · 12-09-2008, 10:35 AM

Kidding aside, they make a wire mesh drain strainer (Similar to what we put on the outside of rige for heater exhaust, but much finer). I put those in my shower in the Hanna and BR Sink. Just pick it up every couple of days and use a tissue to clean it out. Worked great for catching hair and other particles. They can be bought and most hardware stores in the plumbing department. You can actually look and see the accumilation of crud and know it's time to clean, plus it will also get slow in draining because of buildup.

Lambchop · 12-09-2008, 11:14 AM

Yep....................Hair is the culprit.

We wash our Shelties in our Garden Tub & then it's clean the trap!

Happy Holidays!!!!!!

Roy & Kay

VanMan · 12-09-2008, 11:41 AM

NCFischers' thinking of a sawfish. It's called a "Zip-It". It's about 2 feet long, 1/8" thick, 1/2" wide plastic with "backwards" barbs on each side. We have one of those things and it's great for hair and "stuff" removal from all the drains.

http://www.zipitclean.com/
http://www.zipitclean.com/more_info/unclog_a_drain.htm

Driftwoodgal · 12-09-2008, 02:16 PM

Shucks my slow drain was in the sink. I just poured bleach in the bathroom sink because there was a dark stain on the drain thingy. I first thought it was because of mold, found out that it was hair that was caught allowing mold to build. Used a Qtip to clean it, only to find that hair was there. Cat drinks out of the sink.....so some of the shedding hair must have stuck when I clean the sink.

Thanks for the post, I will watch out for the shower. Won't be the cats hair there.

Colleen

blamb · 12-31-2008, 06:01 AM

I am having the same problem, only it's NOT hair causing the problem, I checked. Water sits at the top of the drain, never completely drains away, even though the rest of the shower will drain, albeit slowly. No other drains are having problems. I stuck things down the drain and dug around to see if I could pull out any hair wads but nothing happened. And if the shower sits for a day or so without being used, some weird cream colored residue builds up on the top surface of the water that stands in the drain and never goes away - I touched it, and it is very seriously sticky hard to remove goop, like caulking. I tried running just straight hot water, that didn't help either.

What do I try now? How do I fix this? Is there some other place I can dig around for hair?

Mrs. CountryGuy · 12-31-2008, 06:49 AM

blamb,

Cannot help ya there, but, as a reference point, I have very long hair, and have 3 yorkies with long hair. With all that long hair, I only need to clean the drain about once every 2 to 4 months.

I probably could clean it more, but, to date, have not found it necessary to do so.

You have been in that unit, what 6 weeks?? You might have hair buildup, would think, from our experience, you are on the line there, IIRC, you stated you have long hair as well??

That goop you are describing, have no idea, but, I don't remember ever having that issue.

Someone must know what that is????

blamb · 12-31-2008, 06:59 AM

Yes, I have long hair, and you're right on the time line. I am going to see if I can get one of those Zip-It things mentioned in this thread and see if I can get any hair out that way. I really stuck a number of things down there trying to pull hair out, but I couldn't see or feel any hair to be pulled out. I have had long hair my whole life and I have a routine in the shower when I wash it that helps prevent a lot of loose hair getting to it in the first place which helps but isn't foolproof.

I am suspicious that my draining problem has a lot more to do with that weird goop coming up out of the drain. When it's floating on the standing water in the drain it looks like cream colored dust... if you stick your finger in the water it clings to your finger and then when you try to wipe it off it does NOT come off. It took me about 20 minutes scrubbing with soap and rinsing to get it off! (I was afraid I'd rub it in my eye).

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