Occam's razor and Scamp sink drain

[BatDude]

Hmmm,

The issue of our slow Scamp sink drain revisited.

Scamp confirmed the diameter for the sink drain is .75" ID. So armed with that information I stopped in at Lowes when we went into town for groceries. They had many types and sizes of plastic hoses on rolls.

They had 2 types of ID .75", one was clear and the other with a "cross hatch" pattern with fibers to add strength. Both are very very stiff and hard, the type of tubing you would need to soak in very hot water to soften before slipping on to the connections.

I opted not to buy any at the moment. I did use the old remedy of a couple of TBS of baking soda in the drain followed by 1/4 c of vinegar. Seemed to "boil out" the trap and water sorta, kinda was flowing better, but still not great.

Then I had my Occam's razor moment, that the simplest explanation may apply. So laying on the floor and looking at the drain hose and DUH... it was clear why the sink was not draining very well.

When the trash container was put under the sink at some time in the recent past it pushed the drain hose such that what ever was once holding it in place was removed so the hose had popped up as an upside down U so the the highest part of this U was now inches above the sink drain.

Water could not flow easily uphill . A quick fix with a zip tie put the drain hose back in place with the correct slope and all is right in Scamper land again.

[Paul O.]

Occam's Razor - one of the best of mankind's "inventions"! We all need one in our toolbox, right at the top.

Glad you could solve it so easily. Your problem reminded me of my experience with the fresh water tank filling slowly. There was a kink in the venting tube, obviously from the beginning and it only took three owners and ten years to fix it. (Although I have to say that the previous owners were, I believe, almost always connected to city water, hence it never mattered to them.)

[MK Evenson]

I had no idea. Thought it was a tool, like a cutting blade

Occam's razor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stained-glass window showing William of Ockham
William of Ockham
Occam's razor (or Ockham's razor) is a principle from philosophy. Suppose there exist two explanations for an occurrence. In this case, the simpler one is usually better. Another way of saying it is that the more assumptions you have to make, the more unlikely an explanation is. Occam's razor applies especially in the philosophy of science, but also more generally.

[stevebaz]

If your draining out of your trailer to an external holding tank / bucket as opposed to a trailer mounted grey water holding tank You can put a tee fitting outside the trailer and run one leg down to the bucket and run the other leg up as a vent that is higher than the sink. Drain water will go down much faster. When I bought my trailer used it came with this contraption that the previous owner included with the trailer.

[CampyTime]

Cool! I've never heard that saying before. Glad it was all that simple. What would we do without zip ties?

[Mike_L]

Sometimes you get lucky!

[stude]

Originally Posted by BatDude

Hmmm,

The issue of our slow Scamp sink drain revisited.

Scamp confirmed the diameter for the sink drain is .75" ID. So armed with that information I stopped in at Lowes when we went into town for groceries. They had many types and sizes of plastic hoses on rolls.

They had 2 types of ID .75", one was clear and the other with a "cross hatch" pattern with fibers to add strength. Both are very very stiff and hard, the type of tubing you would need to soak in very hot water to soften before slipping on to the connections.

I opted not to buy any at the moment. I did use the old remedy of a couple of TBS of baking soda in the drain followed by 1/4 c of vinegar. Seemed to "boil out" the trap and water sorta, kinda was flowing better, but still not great.

Then I had my Occam's razor moment, that the simplest explanation may apply. So laying on the floor and looking at the drain hose and DUH... it was clear why the sink was not draining very well.

When the trash container was put under the sink at some time in the recent past it pushed the drain hose such that what ever was once holding it in place was removed so the hose had popped up as an upside down U so the the highest part of this U was now inches above the sink drain.

Water could not flow easily uphill . A quick fix with a zip tie put the drain hose back in place with the correct slope and all is right in Scamper land again.

:stude

[Jan Dyke]

new boler guy here, yes under my sink thinking this is really a small hose and for the most part the hose went nearly straight down, also wanting to make a bit of storage under the sink area, so dropped the hose down 2 inch under the sink, put in a poly 90 degree fitting, used another piece of hose to near the outer wall, another 90 fitting, then hose out through the floor pan. I set it up on a bit of downward angle so it should drain well, and bonus it gave me way more usable space under the sink
Jan