Help needed with clogged shower

[MioneB]

We have a 19 FR Wildwood Heritage Glen and we dumped the gray water yesterday and the standing water in the shower drained. Once again today, the water is not draining in the shower and the tank is empty. Water is currently hooked to city water.. what should we be looking at/for? This week is the first time using the shower. Any help is much appreciated! Thanks!

[youroo]

Remove access door/panel from the front of shower and remove Trap for inspection of issue! Youroo!!

[nomad297]

You most likely have a worthless and problematic HEPvO trap instead of a standard p-trap. It doesn’t take much hair and buildup of soaps and conditioners to render these things useless. Don’t even try to run a snake cable through it. Your best solution here, if you don’t have access to it where you can remove it to clear it or replace it, would be to use concentrated sulphuric acid.

Bruce

[RockDodger]

A word of caution. If you decide to use the acid, read this article first. Nomad297 is not wrong, but you should be aware of how dangerous acid use can be.

https://www.hunker.com/13421987/how-...drain-cleaning

[MioneB]

Thank you for the replies. Unable to access it (tub/shower combo) and when we crawled underneath the trailer it is sealed and sprayed and unable to locate the drain to know what it is. We are filling the tanks and flushing them out again to try and also contacting the dealership. I appreciate the assistance!

[rockfordroo]

Maybe just try a plumbers helper (aka Plunger) before you do anything drastic.

[DSMURPHY]

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

Maybe just try a plumbers helper (aka Plunger) before you do anything drastic.

X2
My be fastest and least expensive solution. Had a similar issue in the past , now carry a plunger in tote.

[houstonstroker]

I seen more than one post over the years concerning clogged tanks and construction debris. The tanks all get round holes in the top. Lazy installers have been known to cut the holes and let the round piece stay in the tank. Of course this piece never stays put and floats around until it blocks the outlet. A plumbers snake light scope might give you a clue.

[Scrapper]

Originally Posted by houstonstroker

I seen more than one post over the years concerning clogged tanks and construction debris. The tanks all get round holes in the top. Lazy installers have been known to cut the holes and let the round piece stay in the tank. Of course this piece never stays put and floats around until it blocks the outlet. A plumbers snake light scope might give you a clue.

Read the OP again. The OP is having problems with water standing in the shower drain.

[houstonstroker]

Originally Posted by Scrapper

Read the OP again. The OP is having problems with water standing in the shower drain.

Gotcha, my bad

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by nomad297

You most likely have a worthless and problematic HEPvO trap instead of a standard p-trap. It doesn’t take much hair and buildup of soaps and conditioners to render these things useless. Don’t even try to run a snake cable through it. Your best solution here, if you don’t have access to it where you can remove it to clear it or replace it, would be to use concentrated sulphuric acid.

Bruce

Bruce, the HEPvO is a "rubber" insert that folds flat when there's no standing water and opens when water is present, right? You damage it if you try to snake it.

Why can't the OP take an air compressor, remove the shower drain grate, wrap a rag around the compressor nozzle and blow the hair through the HEPvO?

(I think I use the trigger nozzles on my air compressor almost as often as I use the tire chuck.)

For that matter, how about dragging a garden hose into the trailer and using a (genuine) Drain King, another of my favorite tools?

[Adrian Gordon]

Originally Posted by Larry-NC

Bruce, the HEPvO is a "rubber" insert that folds flat when there's no standing water and opens when water is present, right? You damage it if you try to snake it.

Why can't the OP take an air compressor, remove the shower drain grate, wrap a rag around the compressor nozzle and blow the hair through the HEPvO?

(I think I use the trigger nozzles on my air compressor almost as often as I use the tire chuck.)

For that matter, how about dragging a garden hose into the trailer and using a (genuine) Drain King, another of my favorite tools?

Not to be redundant, but wouldn't it be easier to get the same effect from the plunger?

[markb422]

The "rubber" part inside the waterless trap is generally called a duck bill check valve. Effective when used almost anywhere but a shower. Our MH has waterless traps on kitchen and bathroom sink but, thank you, a standard "P" trap in the shower.

[rlocicero]

In the past, I used my smaller shop vac.

[johnlochbuie]

Are you nuts you never put acid or drain cleaner in rv drains it will eat right thru the pipes and the holding tank use a plunger.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by Adrian Gordon

Not to be redundant, but wouldn't it be easier to get the same effect from the plunger?

Since you asked, I can get up to 100 psi continuous from my compressor if warranted. The short-duration impulses from a plunger probably no more than 15-20 psi.

If you look at the image of the HEPvO valve, it's a rubber tube that naturally assumes a flattened shape. One end is stretched over a round protrusion. Water enters that end and if there's enough "head" behind it, it opens the flattened part to flow downstream.

I visualized that a plunger would merely move a hairball back and forth in the flattened part and never actually get through. The continuous flow of air (compressor) or water (Drain King) would better serve to flush the mass through.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by johnlochbuie

Are you nuts you never put acid or drain cleaner in rv drains it will eat right thru the pipes and the holding tank use a plunger.

Acid through plastic? You think?

Take a look at the image below. That's a bottle of muriatic acid (industrial grade Hydrochloric acid--HCl). And what do you see containing it? A PLASTIC bottle, right? The one in my shop hasn't leaked in three years.

As for plumbing use, it's not unusual. When I lived in Minnesota, we had hard water. The small holes in the underside of the toilet rim that provided bowl washdown would get obstructed with mineral buildup. The common practice was to place a PLASTIC funnel in the toilet tank overflow tube and pour acid into it so it would flow through the rim holes.

(Our house had copper DWV pipe but it was also done through cast iron pipe or PLASTIC. It was never a problem because it was in place for such short duration. As soon as you were done you flushed the toilet and washed everything away.)

[BDenn]

Instead of a air compressor. Water hose with a rag around it would work also. I would try plunger first. Mostly downward push.

[chapelt]

Use a plunger.

[CampingGator]

Originally Posted by chapelt

Use a plunger.

I’m no plumber or knowledgeable about these types of things, but it seems to me that the plunger would be the first thing to try. Cheap, you probably already have one, and I doubt you would damage a thing trying it.