Casita Gray Tank Drain Line

[Gary B in Tenesee]

Our 2002 Casita 17SD gray tank drain line is obstructed. Cleaners have not helped. I would like to cut the drain line to remove obstruction. Is the drain pipe material PVC, CPVC or other?

[Kevin A]

Prior to doing any cutting, are you able to run a snake or hose up through the exit valve to see if you can dislodge any blockages?

[Gary B in Tenesee]

Could not get the snake to go past the elbow to the tank outlet.
Do you know what the drain line material is?

[Gerry]

never heard of the drain pipe, from tank to outlet, having a trap in it???

[mary and bob]

Originally Posted by Gerry

never heard of the drain pipe, from tank to outlet, having a trap in it???

I don't see any mention of a trap, only that there is at least one elbow in the line, same as our SD17. I would first try a small rubber hose, like automotive fuel line or something similar and flexible adapted to a garden hose and see if that would go up the line from the dump valve to flush the pipe out.

[Kevin A]

You asked about the pipe material: We don’t have a Casita but our Bigfoot has black ABS pipe as the drain lines.

[DaveLevenson]

Originally Posted by Gerry

never heard of the drain pipe, from tank to outlet, having a trap in it???

The original post referred to the gray tank, not the black tank.

I use a tool called Flush King that allows me to reverse-flush either of the holding tanks with fresh water from a garden hose connection. It connects to the dump valve where the sewer hose would normally connect. I suggest using this tool to back-flush the grey tank before cutting the line.

[ehoepner]

Is the gate valve opening? You should be able to get a snake up in there if the gate valve is in fact open.

Several years ago the PVC plumbing on my gray water tank was starting to deteriorate and come apart, the UV from the sun got to it. This is a problem of living at high altitude, above 6,000 ft. So I upgraded my Casita 2002 17ft SD gray water tank plumbing using the kit from Little House Customs. The PVC kit is a larger size so it drains faster. The kit comes with everything you need for the upgrade. I see there has been a price increase.

https://littlehousecustoms.com/store.html#plum

[BenBark]

Years ago when pulling wire through a conduit, we would insert a small sponge with a string tied to it into one end of the conduit and attach a vacuum cleaner to the other end of the conduit then use the string to pull the wire. It worked very well. If you have a good, strong wet / dry shop vacuum cleaner, and you attach it to the drain valve with an adaptor or some duct tape, it may pull something out. It may save cutting the pipe.

If you do have to cut the pipe you may be able to put it back together using a no-hub rubber coupling, which is installed without the need for glue. On my 2013 SD, the gray tank drain is black ABS pipe. In the attachment you will see the coupling I used to install the Little House Customs "Fast Drain" modification.

Good luck.

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by Gary B in Tenesee

Our 2002 Casita 17SD gray tank drain line is obstructed. Cleaners have not helped. I would like to cut the drain line to remove obstruction. Is the drain pipe material PVC, CPVC or other?

It sounds like the valve is not opening. The handle may be pulling out but the valve is not opening. Hopefully you can disassemble the valve assembly without cutting the pipes. The valves are made to be disassembled in case of them breaking so they can be replaced.

[John McDonald]

If none of the responses has helped you then perhaps you should cut the pipe.