what is the plastic piece under my sink

[alan H]

I just purchased an older 13 ft scamp (not sure of the yr) there is a molded plastic piece that is mounted to the bottom of the sink and is attached to the drain hose. what is this ? is it some sort of backflow system for liquid ?
There is what looks like a very rusted scrw in the bottom....unfortunately my didgital camera died so i can't ake a pic.....is it even needed or can i attach the drain hose directly to the bottom of the sink some way

[alan H]

Boy do i feel dumb...it's obviouly the sink trap

I just purchased an older 13 ft scamp (not sure of the yr) there is a molded plastic piece that is mounted to the bottom of the sink and is attached to the drain hose. what is this ? is it some sort of backflow system for liquid ?
There is what looks like a very rusted scrw in the bottom....unfortunately my didgital camera died so i can't ake a pic.....is it even needed or can i attach the drain hose directly to the bottom of the sink some way

[FRANK MOLIS]

I just purchased an older 13 ft scamp (not sure of the yr) there is a molded plastic piece that is mounted to the bottom of the sink and is attached to the drain hose. what is this ? is it some sort of backflow system for liquid ?
There is what looks like a very rusted scrw in the bottom....unfortunately my didgital camera died so i can't ake a pic.....is it even needed or can i attach the drain hose directly to the bottom of the sink some way

Thats the sink trap. It prevents smells in the drain line from coming up through your sink drain. The screw in the bottom is just a drain screw. If the water in your drain line is not sitting and not getting funky smelling, you can eliminate the sink trap. I have it removed from a sink in a pop up I have, and since the water drains straight from the sink down out through a hole the floor, the water does not sit, and have no problem with any smells.

http://shop.scamptrailers.com/p-375-sink-trap.aspx

Frank

[Donna D.]

Boy do i feel dumb...it's obviouly the sink trap

Don't feel too bad, most of us are used to the one's used in our homes J-traps I think they're called. The ones used in RVs... especially Scamps look like a cup with a screw in the bottom. If I didn't know the one in my trailer was original, I would have sworn it was a bad-owner-mod. Not that it doesn't work, it does... just looks a bit weird compared to what I'm used to seeing.

[Roger C H]

A good discussion of traps is here:

http://chestofbooks.com/home-improvement/c...er-V-Traps.html

You wouldn't need a trap in an rv unless the drain goes into a grey or black water tank where, through biological action, gases could form, gases that could be explosive as well as smelling bad.

[Alf S.]

Hi: alan H...Was this a trick question or was it a "Trap"??? Glad you found the answer you were lookin' for!!!
In our former Boler the sink trap was a small rounded stump and plugged up easy!!! In our Escape the drain goes to a holding tank so ours looks like this
Alf S. North shore off Lake Erie