Background:
Used the shower twice when driving the coach home after purchase in October. Drained fine. Been living in coach for 3 weeks now, but not plugged in to sewer or water, so I was showing at work to conserve water until we got "our routine" down. Have two cats, kept littler box in the shower. They are usually indoor/outdoor, but kept them in for the first week after the move so they knew this was home. Unfortunately, the cats got very sick, and despite some basic precautions, the shower endured a minor war.
The spot we moved on is not level - ground at the rear tires is about 18 inches from the front to the rear tire, and it was parked like that, unleveled, for the first week. To give you a frame of reference on how unlevel that is, when I tested the leveling system, it was able to compensate for about 7 inches of heigh difference (on the 34' model). After the first week, I noticed there was a small amount of water in the shower. Assumed it was 'body water' from the cats. A few hours later, I put the FT on homemade leveling ramps/blocks and leveled her out. After the blocks + leveling, we are still about 5" higher at the front than in the rear. While leveling, water went away from the edge, and in the shower drain. Checked the bays (surface check - no screws removed) and found no moisture. So because we had wet/cold weather moving in, and I had rooftop accesories projects ongoing - I wrote this one off as "fine for now" while I dealt with more important items.
Fast forward to today. Cats are no longer using the shower as a litter area, and I was finally ready to start showering at home, but thought I should check the drain again just in case. Popped the drain top and, SURPRISE, water is standing 2 inches below the drain. So I figured that that I hadn't covered the drain well, and the cats had kicked enough litter down there to mix with some residual hair from the prior owners and cause a clog. But other than directly at the drain, my 24" snake and 12" angled needle nose pliers couldn't find anything in pull at in the water.
But here is the strange part.... I wanted to see better to be able to work the snake, so I tried to clear the standing liquid. I took a small liquid medicine syringe and pumped out about 2 cups of water, but the level of the water only dropped half an inch, if at all. It felt to me like that drain pipe was going uphill, but because of our unlevel parkng surface, the water couldn't make it around whatever corner it needed in order to get in the gray tank?
My question: Is it possible that the angle of the coach isn't letting the shower drain properly? Or am I just being naive, and I have a much bigger problem with a cat litter blockage further down the line?
Other things worth noting:
- After clearing the initial debris at the top of the shower drain, the water in the line STINKS. Not sure whether from 'cat body water' or other sources...
- Been using both sinks multiple times a day every day for 3 weeks, and they run and drain fine. No strange odors from the sinks.
- Checked under shower frame, under sinks, and edges of the wet bay. Still no leaks/moisture to be seen.
- Tank monitors read just under half full for all three tanks, and they have all been working correctly.
- I plan to dump and refill tomorrow
- Looks like some of the piping can be viewed if I take off the panel next to the dump valves... is that standard? Lot of screws on that thing for an access panel, so I don't want to poke around unless it's the right way to go....
Thanks,
James
Firstly I would encourage you to stop using it for the cats as they love to play with "things" and you do not know what at times. Second, I feel given your mention of prior use, that to check if you do have a blockage take a hose and put it in drain and use steady water pressure from the city supply and try to flush "whatever" out but firstly use a towel or? to close the drain off around hose end. Use a lower pressure first and increase if it does not drain normally after the first try.
I mention this as a few years ago I was called by a neighbour to see why her tub did not drain in the main bathroom of house. I pulled out enough hair to make a wig and had to use full pressure to get rid of the rest!! She said she washes the cats in there so I just looked at her and shook my head.
JohnH
I am guessing what you are seeing is water that is in the p trap. They are made to hold water so the smell from the tank does not come up. If you look under your sink you will see what I am talking about. There is a p trap under every sink also to hold water.
I agree with Turbojack. Your shower drain sounds normal to me.
Try taking a shower.......... probably be fine.
Yea, there should be water in the p-trap always and, interestingly, the gray tank contents smell worse than the black. Here's a photo of the area just under the shower showing the p-trap.
jor
James & Erin, If your coach is like ours, the black ABS drain pipe from the shower is a pretty much horizontal run to under fridge where it drops down into the gray tank. So any water in the pipe will all flow rearward to the shower if the coach rear is lower than the front.
I am concerned about using a metal snake on the 15-yr old ABS pipe as it sure seems it could damage it, especially if the pipe is already stressed somewhere. I would think that Drano would be a better start, if you were concerned about hair in pipe.
Viewing under our shower can be observed from a shower side removable vent and a bedroom furnace flex pipe.
Homeless Depot............$4.98
Sounds like it's time for a shower. Thanks for the plumbing 101 lesson everyone.
Barry, used a plastic snake and wrapped electric tape around the pliers.
John, cats are out of there. Not as bad as when they hit the Boost button while we were gone for Thanksgiving. There was a cover on that panel by Monday evening.