Very slow shower drain

[Willey]

On a 2018 Hummingbird 17 RB, the shower drains extremely slowly, and the grey tank capacity appears well below the stated 25 gallons, backing up into the shower drain. A navy shower and a few dishes did it. Even with the grey valve open and free draining it still backs up, and drains slowly. Far from home on this bird’s first outing for us. With the combination of two issues, I’m wondering if the vent piping might be compromised by location. When home Will investigate throughly, but wondered if this has been identified by others, as a place to start.

 

[norty1]

One easy thing to check is to clear the drain of hair. It can slow or stop drainage. Easy to eliminate that first.

On a small rig, it's common for a Blue Boy to accompany a small family!

 

[RogerR]

Lots of places sell a plastic drain clog removal snakes. Basically, a 3 foot long piece of plastic with little teeth along the edges to pull out hair clogs. Costs maybe $2 almost anywhere. Good chance you have something stuck in there. Or it could be the pipe was poorly installed and pinched or something. If a drain snake won't help you may have to go under to see what the drain line looks like. May involve cutting into the bottom Cloroplast to see the drain from below. If lucky, maybe see it from a closet wall hole behind the shower?
Don't forget to post if you figure it out for others to know how.
Good luck!

 

[stinger608]

Lots of places sell a plastic drain clog removal snakes. Basically, a 3 foot long piece of plastic with little teeth along the edges to pull out hair clogs. Costs maybe $2 almost anywhere. Good chance you have something stuck in there. Or it could be the pipe was poorly installed and pinched or something. If a drain snake won't help you may have to go under to see what the drain line looks like. May involve cutting into the bottom Cloroplast to see the drain from below. If lucky, maybe see it from a closet wall hole behind the shower?
Don't forget to post if you figure it out for others to know how.
Good luck!

You are mostly correct.

However, the plastic type with the "teeth" are sometimes a real pain to work with.

From years of being in the property maintenance field, I found that the Drain Weasel is probably the best hair remover in the industry.

https://drainweasel.com/

They can be found in almost all of the large box stores, such as, Home Depot, Walmart, Menards, Amazon, etc...

Much better than the plastic type with the barbs on them.
And, a person can get the refill sticks for them.

 

[Willey]

One easy thing to check is to clear the drain of hair. It can slow or stop drainage. Easy to eliminate that first.

On a small rig, it's common for a Blue Boy to accompany a small family!

Will get the strainer off the drain and get after that pipe. Also plan to dump 25 gallons more or less into grey to see if takes it. I’m 2500 miles from home.

 

[Willey]

Drain weasel.

You are mostly correct.

However, the plastic type with the "teeth" are sometimes a real pain to work with.

From years of being in the property maintenance field, I found that the Drain Weasel is probably the best hair remover in the industry.

https://drainweasel.com/

They can be found in almost all of the large box stores, such as, Home Depot, Walmart, Menards, Amazon, etc...

Much better than the plastic type with the barbs on them.
And, a person can get the refill sticks for them.

Never tried one, but appreciate the suggestion. Purchasing a used unit has been interesting.

 

[Willey]

Lots of places sell a plastic drain clog removal snakes. Basically, a 3 foot long piece of plastic with little teeth along the edges to pull out hair clogs. Costs maybe $2 almost anywhere. Good chance you have something stuck in there. Or it could be the pipe was poorly installed and pinched or something. If a drain snake won't help you may have to go under to see what the drain line looks like. May involve cutting into the bottom Cloroplast to see the drain from below. If lucky, maybe see it from a closet wall hole behind the shower?
Don't forget to post if you figure it out for others to know how.

Good luck!

Thanks, might have to expose the underside if the tank doesn’t have capacity and check out the drain line too. Not much vertical space under this rig, plumbing might have suffered it. Jayco consumer help sent me many construction documents to assist in the remodel. Plumbing was one.

 

[Willey]

Noticed your tow was a v8 grand. I’m pulling this 3200 pound rig with a 2015 V6 Overland. Mountains have been strenuous and flats at 65 mph need too much gear. Like the 8?

 

[Willey]

Finally home and dealt with the slow drain. Vinegar and soap solving ammonia didn’t do much on the road. The Hepvo trap on a Hummingbird rear bath is located at the left side of the kitchen slide, for those with the same rig. How I cleared this without removing the valve might be applicable to other units as well. On the Duo form shower pan used by Jayco, there is an access panel allowing serviceability to the shower drain connections. Both sides were threaded compression fittings. Long story short, removed the 90, made up pipe fittings to a vertical riser outside the pan, connected a hose fitting assembly using a Fernco clamping fitting so I had access to the full pipe opening for opening for vinegar etc. when connected to a garden hose, with a ball valve for safety, flowed 40 PSI water for several minutes. On a hot sunny day, 175 feet of hose provided a few shots of hot water.I did have to use a male to male hose connector at the final connection. Would have been satisfying to see a glob of hair come through, but evidently soaped up. Also corked lav drain in the event of a guyser. Now full open shower and lav valves are draining freely. 6 gpm at 40 psi did fine.