Wildcat 5th wheel slow shower drain

[Vetteman71]

Our 2019 Wildcat 5th wheel shower decided to start slow draining after just four uses! While out on a six day trip I took a shower after my wife, hers was uneventful (3rd) use. My shower, very slow drain, trip to dollar store for a plunger. Several plunger uses and all kinds of junk floated out e.g. foam insulation, pieces of weird plastic! Still very slow and sink is slow but drains (after plunging). A thin manual sewer snake does not go in very far so I think there is some weird plumbing routing that has accumulated construction junk! Leaving on a trip in five days so a trip to the dealer is out for now...any ideas out there that could help?

[SeaDog]

check for an access panel where you can get access to the trap or piping and see if you can take it apart and remove the obstructions, the other thing you may try is remove the shower pan grate and put a shopvac over the hole and attempt to pull the debris out that way (make sure the dump for that tank is open and the tank has been dumped) Let the forum know what you find.

[chaps2018]

Many 5ers use a hepvo trap vs the traditional P trap for the shower. (Reason: less vertical height required).

That said, you should determine if your rig does have one. A plunger or snake could mess the one-way water valve...easy to fix but access may be the issue.

Video on how it works:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wiuygm5NUk

https://hepvo.com/

[Vetteman71]

Originally Posted by SeaDog

check for an access panel where you can get access to the trap or piping and see if you can take it apart and remove the obstructions, the other thing you may try is remove the shower pan grate and put a shopvac over the hole and attempt to pull the debris out that way (make sure the dump for that tank is open and the tank has been dumped) Let the forum know what you find.

What a mess! Using a slender snake I was able to push thru some unknown object and water did drain...for few seconds then backed up again. Used shop vac after opening outside drain and pulled up nasty water, but still no normal drain. Reversed hose and blew into bathroom sink which pushed water up into shower and thru vent stack on the roof! Called my dealer and we agreed something wonky is going on. I did suspect a vent issue, but kitchen drains just fine. Leaving this weekend and will use park facility for showers. After next trip the dealer can keep it until it works right!

[SeaDog]

Sorry to hear it didn't get cleared. It may be that the tank hole was not completely cut out or something like that. When they get it fixed let the forum know what the problem was so all can learn.

[dwreefs]

Try a shop vac , bigger the better. Might just pull some stuff back that won’t go forward. I be done it but not on a RV

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by dwreefs

Try a shop vac , bigger the better. Might just pull some stuff back that won’t go forward. I be done it but not on a RV

See OP's shop vac comment in post #4.

[Vetteman71]

Originally Posted by SeaDog

Sorry to hear it didn't get cleared. It may be that the tank hole was not completely cut out or something like that. When they get it fixed let the forum know what the problem was so all can learn.

Just returned from a week long trip, without a shower! That was very irritating but good trip overall. I kept all the stuff that floated out of the drain and gave it to the dealer when I dropped it off this week. All the service writers said they had never seen this much junk come out a shower/bathroom sink drain system. Something is wonky in the plumbing so the belly cover is coming down for sure. Told them to keep it until its right, along with 18 other items that require attention

[Vetteman71]

Originally Posted by Vetteman71

Our 2019 Wildcat 5th wheel shower decided to start slow draining after just four uses! While out on a six day trip I took a shower after my wife, hers was uneventful (3rd) use. My shower, very slow drain, trip to dollar store for a plunger. Several plunger uses and all kinds of junk floated out e.g. foam insulation, pieces of weird plastic! Still very slow and sink is slow but drains (after plunging). A thin manual sewer snake does not go in very far so I think there is some weird plumbing routing that has accumulated construction junk! Leaving on a trip in five days so a trip to the dealer is out for now...any ideas out there that could help?

After a few months (45 days waiting on warranty approval) our slow/non existent shower drain issue is fixed! A fix worthy of 'you won't believe this RV story'. After two months dealer called to say our rig was ready to pick up; while walking out to the parking area my first question was how did you fix the shower drain? After a few chuckles service manager said the tank needed drained...what the __! They could not believe it either, but the factory never connected a handle to the shower/bathroom sink gray tank drain valve! A tank that is NOT on the spec sheet, it lists one gray water tank of 75 gallons, but there is a tank for shower/sink, and one for the kitchen gray water. More confusion because there is only one gray water indication level on the panel and when that tank is drained the lights indicate empty. So I was hauling a tank full of gray water on at least two trips. Since there was no drain valve handle and the belly pan blocked any visual reference who knew ? I will be doing some testing in the coming days to see what kind of indication levels I'm dealing with...now that I know there are two gray tanks lol, lol, lol!