Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Topic: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain. (Read 2699 times) previous topic - next topic

Re: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Reply #25 – June 11, 2024, 03:46:13 pm

I'm not saying this is a good idea, but throwing it out there. The shower should be the lowest point for gray water backup right? If so, how about trying to get whatever is stuck to come back up, since it seems to be at the floor drain in the shower?

You could use an attachment like this and backwash fresh water into the gray tank with the gray valve open.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Camco-RV-Sewer-Cap-with-Hose-Connector-39463/100130743?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&pla&mtc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-GGL-D26P-026_007_PLUMB_REPAIR-NA-NA-NA-PMAX-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NEW-PMax_JControl24&cm_mmc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-GGL-D26P-026_007_PLUMB_REPAIR-NA-NA-NA-PMAX-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NEW-PMax_JControl24-71700000097492033--&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw65-zBhBkEiwAjrqRMDJHn7Atj2O-uKNCBLFIq2ajTNPD4QZmC5VqveXWgvF3BEXuS457DhoCS34QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Re: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Reply #26 – June 11, 2024, 04:45:36 pm

On your age coach the toilet don't have an AAV as the drop is strait into the holding tank.

With your coach being a 34' does the shower valves back a close cabinet or the TV. If so it is highly likely the AAV is hid in the wall. Some of the coaches have a hidden door that you can take off to get to the shower valve. In this area is where that they hid the AAV yes almost impossible to get to.

Does your coach have a washer? If not that line that vanishes could be for the washer option. If this is the case it is hid in a false wall also.

Mike

Re: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Reply #27 – June 11, 2024, 05:25:44 pm

Quote from: WS6_Keith – June 11, 2024, 03:46:13 pm

I'm not saying this is a good idea, but throwing it out there. The shower should be the lowest point for gray water backup right? If so, how about trying to get whatever is stuck to come back up, since it seems to be at the floor drain in the shower?

You could use an attachment like this and backwash fresh water into the gray tank with the gray valve open.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Camco-RV-Sewer-Cap-with-Hose-Connector-39463/100130743?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&pla&mtc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-GGL-D26P-026_007_PLUMB_REPAIR-NA-NA-NA-PMAX-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NEW-PMax_JControl24&cm_mmc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-GGL-D26P-026_007_PLUMB_REPAIR-NA-NA-NA-PMAX-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NEW-PMax_JControl24-71700000097492033--&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw65-zBhBkEiwAjrqRMDJHn7Atj2O-uKNCBLFIq2ajTNPD4QZmC5VqveXWgvF3BEXuS457DhoCS34QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Our thoughts exactly. James is out in the world looking for something similar. I appreciate the timely response- I'll send him the link now. Thank you!!😊

Re: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Reply #28 – June 11, 2024, 05:48:57 pm

Quote from: Pamela & Mike – June 11, 2024, 04:45:36 pm

On your age coach the toilet don't have an AAV as the drop is strait into the holding tank.

With your coach being a 34' does the shower valves back a close cabinet or the TV. If so it is highly likely the AAV is hid in the wall. Some of the coaches have a hidden door that you can take off to get to the shower valve. In this area is where that they hid the AAV yes almost impossible to get to.

Does your coach have a washer? If not that line that vanishes could be for the washer option. If this is the case it is hid in a false wall also.

Mike

Yeah, the shower stuff is hidden in a cubby in the front of the bedroom- on the drivers side. I took off the panels yesterday and all that's in there is the brass fittings and pex hose to feed the hot/cold water mixing valve.
There's no AAV back there. I can't for the life of me imagine where it could be. Unless it's hidden behind the wall of drawers on the passenger side of the bed. That's where the TV would have been. Hmmm. Maybe I'll take the lowest panel off- we thought it was exclusively for the batteries and the like.
Fritz's second companion, Tim did extensive work on creating a solar powered system that allows for boondocking for weeks on end. He was an aviation electrical engineer. Fritz has 16 lithium ion batteries in addition to whatever came with the bus back in 1997. So even though it's not always the most attractive addition to the bus it sure is useful. Got a steep learning curve tho. He did give us a lifetime guarantee of tech support though and it's come in handy.

Re: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Reply #29 – June 11, 2024, 05:55:08 pm

Different model different year, but here is where I found air admittance valves, including behind washer/drier. NO toilet AAV in our coach -- verifed by extensive search and checking each AAV and drainage. Includes some photos.

Sewer Odor, roof sewer vent, air admitance valves inside...

Re: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Reply #30 – June 11, 2024, 05:56:12 pm

Also, I may be able to get a peek into the shower pan area. There's a vent that runs the depth of the shower right there above the carpet. It's where we keep the hooded litter box- we use the Breeze system and there's no messy clay or paper litter to worry about. Also it doesn't seem to be functioning as a heat vent- the puppy pads that collects the urine would make that spot the worst possible place to keep a cat box.

Thanks for keeping the tips rolling in. What little soapy water that didn't drain immediately after my shower has actually drained overnight. I have done another round of baking soda and ACV. It's nearly time to flush it out so.. fingers crossed 🤞🏻

Re: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Reply #31 – June 11, 2024, 06:00:50 pm

Quote from: AC7880 – June 11, 2024, 05:55:08 pm

Different model different year, but here is where I found air admittance valves, including behind washer/drier. NO toilet AAV in our coach -- verifed by extensive search and checking each AAV and drainage. Includes some photos.

Sewer Odor, roof sewer vent, air admitance valves inside...

And I see that there's an AAV in the closet as well as the pipes going to the roof???

Way down on the page but it's got me thinking.
I can't thank you all enough. It's the constant flow of information and ideas that keeps me from absolutely loosing my mind.

Re: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Reply #32 – June 11, 2024, 07:27:59 pm

Quote from: Pamela & Mike – June 11, 2024, 04:45:36 pm

On your age coach the toilet don't have an AAV as the drop is strait into the holding tank.

With your coach being a 34' does the shower valves back a close cabinet or the TV. If so it is highly likely the AAV is hid in the wall. Some of the coaches have a hidden door that you can take off to get to the shower valve. In this area is where that they hid the AAV yes almost impossible to get to.

Does your coach have a washer? If not that line that vanishes could be for the washer option. If this is the case it is hid in a false wall also.

Mike

Yes!! There's something in the closet. It's held in place with four square headed screws. I got the ones ion the front of the little box that surrounds them pipes. But the other two are on the side.. running parallel to the closet wall. They must have entrusted this fine work to a Lilliputian!
This is where I take a quick breather, since where a tool of that shape and size is hidden in the Joey bed, I cannot imagine.
Better wait for the *old man* on this one. As much as it's fine for me to rifle thru his collection of tools 🧰 I think it's probably so easily accessible that I'd lose myself looking for it.

Got a look under the shower pan, sorta. They've run the heater hose to the bedroom thru there and I don't know how I'm supposed to get a look at anything other than dust bunnies.

I tried flushing the shower drain again. No dice.

Re: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Reply #33 – June 11, 2024, 07:35:14 pm

Supposing that all the pipes and AAV look just great when I get that panel off..

Is it possible that the opening up top the gray tank is plugged up from all the pushing and pulling of the mystery mass.

What then?

Do we disassemble the entire wet bay enclosure? Looks like someone was overzealous and quite untidy with the application of the caulking in that area.

I find it hard to believe that the coach was initially sent off the line and into someone's hands with work so... um... imprecise? 🤣

In today's dollars this coach would set a person back just about $450k. And that this was the last year they made the unicoach.. I'm not the first person to say that most coaches made in the later years just don't measure up.

That's not shade, friends. I'm only stating facts as I know them.

So yeah, what's next??

Re: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Reply #34 – June 11, 2024, 08:37:39 pm

Always go to the last thing you did before a problem shows up. Suck at the sink where the beans went down with the shop vac. Then proceed with trouble shooting.

Re: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Reply #35 – June 11, 2024, 08:48:15 pm

Maybe I missed it. Have you verified the gray tank valve is actually opening? And that the grey tank is in fact empty? If you open the grey tank valve and leave it open does the shower drain and/or can you see water coming out of the grey tank drain. If the answer is no then yes you have a stoppage upstream.

Re: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Reply #36 – June 11, 2024, 09:27:36 pm

Quote from: craneman – June 11, 2024, 08:37:39 pm

Always go to the last thing you did before a problem shows up. Suck at the sink where the beans went down with the shop vac. Then proceed with trouble shooting.

Okay. To the sink. Thank you!

Re: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Reply #37 – June 11, 2024, 09:37:00 pm

Quote from: Res777 – June 11, 2024, 08:48:15 pm

Maybe I missed it. Have you verified the gray tank valve is actually opening? And that the grey tank is in fact empty? If you open the grey tank valve and leave it open does the shower drain and/or can you see water coming out of the grey tank drain. If the answer is no then yes you have a stoppage upstream.

Okay so it gets weird here. He bought an apparatus that allows us to fill the tank from below. It's got its own gate valve and we are repeatedly filling, draining and retesting to see if the drain is draining. It's not.

I'm going to try plunging at the kitchen for a spell and see if the clog is there. I did snake but came up empty handed except for the coating of black sludge. I assumed it was going to be a mass of something or other but it feels like we're just pushing goo around in the pipes.

I did finally find the two additional AAV, in the wardrobe closet. I've removed them and I will replace all four. That's all of them, right?
The toilet doesn't have one. There's one next to the kitchen sink. One next to the bathroom sink and two in the closet. We've deduced (collectively?) that is where they meet up and head up to the roof vent.

So. Unless there's another one somewhere, I can't begin to guess what else could be wrong.

Re: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Reply #38 – June 11, 2024, 09:45:10 pm

Quote from: thelazyjays – June 11, 2024, 09:37:00 pm

I did finally find the two additional AAV, in the wardrobe closet. I've removed them and I will replace all four. That's all of them, right?
The toilet doesn't have one. There's one next to the kitchen sink. One next to the bathroom sink and two in the closet. We've deduced (collectively?) that is where they meet up and head up to the roof vent.

So. Unless there's another one somewhere, I can't begin to guess what else could be wrong.

Unless the closet has the shower drain pipe going through it you may have one more - for the shower.

Re: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Reply #39 – June 12, 2024, 01:07:05 am

VICTORY. We have achieved our aim. Showers first and the solution/explanations to follow. Tomorrow tho.
Thanks again to my wonderful comrades and fellow travelers. Your input and advice was invaluable. The constant flow of ideas kept our hearts alight when all seemed lost.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!!

Re: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Reply #40 – June 12, 2024, 10:30:01 am

Can't wait to hear what you found...and how you got it out.

Re: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Reply #41 – June 12, 2024, 04:59:36 pm

I can't believe that I've got to wait till tomorrow to hear what the problem/solution here was?! 😎

Re: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Reply #42 – June 12, 2024, 08:01:31 pm

And the tension MOUNTS!!!!
Chris

Re: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Reply #43 – June 13, 2024, 12:04:52 am

I won't be able to sleep tonight!

Re: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Reply #44 – June 13, 2024, 08:28:54 am

Re: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Reply #45 – June 13, 2024, 01:05:02 pm

Still waiting😁

Re: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Reply #46 – June 13, 2024, 02:11:41 pm

I'm so sorry!! That was pretty thoughtless of me to not update y'all, especially in light of your efforts to hunt down a solution.

So- I think I mentioned that I found the AAV in the closet.

First we used the back-flow do-hickey to clean the grey tank. Several times. Didn't help. So- we re-snaked all the drains. We cleaned and tested all four AAV.
No change
I was picking up a new shop vac (and some supper), James snaked the vent on top the bus. Ran water and plunged. Nope.
I came back with the awesome Armor-All 2.5 gallon 2hp shop vac. Sucked the water from the shower. Dumped it in the toilet.
Suddenly a cry from James who was sewer side scratching his head..

"What did you just do??"
"I dumped the shower water in the toilet!"
"Do it again!"
I did it again.
"Well..?" I ask
"That water went straight into the grey tank!"
Huh?
"Well," I said, "you better drain the black tank".

(We had not dumped the black tank during this debacle since we never had enough water in the grey tank to flush the hose.)
He dumps the black tank, while I run hot water in the shower.

And....
OMG. Drain fixed.

Huh? So he back-fills the grey one more time, and moves to back-fill the back tank.
I wait. And I wait.

"This is taking forever!" I holler. "Just dump the black tank while I flush the shower drain, again."

And wouldn't you know it, kitchen sink, bathroom sink and kitchen sink are now working.
Victorious and beaming, he takes a well earned shower. I make waffle fries and portion up the fresh roasted chicken from the store. We fall asleep immediately and don't even get to the ice cream..

We don't usually have ice cream on hand because I don't know the meaning of the word moderation.

So there you have it. One problem solved and a new mystery in its place.

What happened??
Why..? The back was full. All the water I thought was making it to the grey tank through the vigorous plunging wasn't shower water at all. It was the water and chemicals that I dumped in the black tank.

Clearly the sensors don't work and we've never relied on them anyway.
Was the drain ever clogged? Or are we absolute morons?
You can be absolutely candid, friends. I think we are officially dumb-asses.

Re: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Reply #47 – June 13, 2024, 02:20:47 pm

This makes me very confused....
Even more than before!
Are your tanks labeled correctly?

Re: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Reply #48 – June 13, 2024, 02:34:18 pm

Quote from: Kiwitex – June 13, 2024, 02:20:47 pm

This makes me very confused....
Even more than before!
Are your tanks labeled correctly?

They were. They are.
Now I think maybe the magnetic poles shifted or we have a nefarious sprite.

Re: Losing my mind... Shower will not drain.

Reply #49 – June 13, 2024, 02:34:48 pm

The black and gray tanks are not connected in any way (unless you made the "third dump valve" mod). If the black tank is allowed to get completely full (over-filled), your "warning" will be the toilet will not flush. However, a completely full black tank doesn't prevent the gray tank from dumping, or the sinks and shower from draining.

I don't understand what you think happened to "fix" your problem.

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