Broadway bathroom: sink trap ?

We have a 2014 Broadway EK TB LP. Does anyone know if the bathroom sink has a trap in it, supposed to stop smells coming back up from the tank ?

On my 2012 Nuevo there were no traps at all on any of the 5 waste fittings. I fitted non return valve on the three in the bathroom floor (two in shower and one by door) to stop waste coming up plugholes when taking a left hand bend (!!) and also put a trap on bathroom sink waste. However the latter slowed down sink emptying so much that scum was left round sink, so I have removed it. If it smells it reminds me to empty waste tank and I then put the plug in until I can empty. But the non return valve were a massive success.

Thanks Ron. We thought that might be the case. We’re currently draining waste directly into the campsite drainage system.  Snag is we suspect that some are draining black waste as well as grey into the system and, over the past couple of days, have had the most horrible smells coming up the bathroom sink only as soon as the plug is taken out.

It could be residue in our tank but at least we can eliminate a grotty trap.

We have a 2013 Broadway FB and I can confirm that the bathroom basin does have a trap fitted.

Jansellsbond wrote:We have a 2013 Broadway FB and I can confirm that the bathroom basin does have a trap fitted.

Many thanks. I wonder if it was a case of “ some did, some didn’t “ ?  Is there any way of telling without having to dismantle the whole unit ?

Open the roller cupboard and look under the sink, that is where it will be.

On the EK you need to take off the small square panel on the back of the swing wall

Thanks both: panel identified for further investigation. So far lots of water and biological laundry liquid allowed to sit in the tank for a few hours today seems to have stopped the smell but we ought to check whether the trap is full of grot.

inspiredron wrote:On the EK you need to take off the small square panel on the back of the swing wall

Getting it off is easy. Finding the screw holes to put it back was quite difficult. At the least I would suggest you mark the panel before removal so you are sure it's oriented correctly when replacing it.

I ended up feeling through the holes in the panel with a thin nail to locate those in the unit, and even then it was tricky. Yours may fall back into place Quilter, but worth a caveat - just in case.

Dave, thank you very much. Sound advice and, the way our luck is going at the moment, might well save another disaster.

One of the first things I did when we acquired our preloved 2010 Broadway EK in November last was to reinforce the very thin sink around the "plughole". Off came the access panel. There was no trap. ( I've yet to find a trap under a bathroom or kitchen sink on an RV!).
The job was exceedingly tricky - and sticky!
BTW
I find that frequent flushing of corrugated pipes is essential to combat the inevitable  accumulations.

Thanks again to all. Today, pre-empting people asking to move pitch because of our smelly drain, my OH removed the waste pipe in the bathroom and gave the whole thing a thorough clean.  There is no trap.

I frequently give the plughole a good fettling and keep the plastic “ fork” from a box of dates especially to do this. However we got a huge glob of absolutely nauseous gunk out of the pipe. Goodness knows how water went down the sink at all let alone quite free- draining as it was. 

Fingers crossed, we seem to be smell free. 

I think this will be an exercise we shall repeat more frequently than 4 yearly.

I put the hose through all the drain holes 3 or 4 times a year. The corrugated pipes from the shower tray let the soap settle and 'cake'.

A chap called Graham who used to market "Zappy's Tablets" developed and sold a rotary brush attachment that fitted on the end of the hose. I never bought one but they were said to work very well at loosening the grot in the convolutions.

Wish I had bought one as he no longer seems to be around. Regrettably that might be literally true, as I know he had health issues. Hope not, as he was a very nice bloke!


P.S. http://zappysblog.co.uk/ is not the same source. It seems to be broken in several places too, with no mention of motorhomes. 

More information here, but none of it positive. http://motor-homers.co.uk/t4315-zappy-tabs

A memorable phrase; “ We’ve spent the afternoon loosening the grot in our convolutions”. 

Thanks! I needed a good giggle.

We had small traps on kitchen sink and shower waste pipes and a proper S trap on the bathroom sink. We never got any smells in the van.
However, we very often noticed there was a bad smell when the waste tank was emptied. 
Our latest van has two drain points. One at the side, similar to our Autosleeper, that empties around 90% of the water out, and a tap at the bottom of the tank which empties out the tank totally.
I am pretty sure that the normal drain tap on the Autosleeper left water in the tank which gets smelly, contaminating the “fresh” waste water.
The waste on our latest van gets smelly if we just use the side drain tap, so always empty out fully when we can.

I use  a small wheeled waste water container, when on site, I put under the waste tank tap and leave tap open so waste water goes straight into the wheeled container which is easily emptied, I also put in a spot of disinfectant,

I don`t get smells as such, as I wipe plates etc before washing them so no bits go down plughole, a practice I have used for decades in caravans as well as MH``s , makes life easier. in the long run, well does for me .

Best regards,
Margaret

We also wipe plates etc and be careful we don’t drain rice, pasta or boiled eggs down the sink. This trip we’ve often been on sites where we can drain directly into the pitch drain and, at one point we were convinced the smell was coming UP the waste pipe from the campsite mains. We wash the waste pipe between sites and try to leave own drainage places with an empty and rinsed tank. 

Yesterday we were able to drain while on a slope and did get a fair amount of gunk out of the tank but, it didn’t smell the same as the gases coming up into the bathroom basin. 

Last resort tomorrow is a 100 km journey with Spanish tank cleaner swishing around.

Good luck Quilter, smells not nice in the van.

We had bad smells when we were in France one year, smelt like sewage , soon moved to another site . turned out it was from their sewage system running across the pitch.

sunidorset wrote:One of the first things I did when we acquired our preloved 2010 Broadway EK in November last was to reinforce the very thin sink around the "plughole". Off came the access panel. There was no trap. ( I've yet to find a trap under a bathroom or kitchen sink on an RV!).
The job was exceedingly tricky - and sticky!
BTW
I find that frequent flushing of corrugated pipes is essential to combat the inevitable  accumulations.

Couldn’t agree more with this! A warning to others if you’ve not already done this, I’d do it at your 1st opportunity as these sinks are paper thin around the plug hole... Last trip away I put the plug in our sink to have a shave and it just popped and fell straight through! (Trust me when I say I’m gentle and far from the clumsy type!) I’ve temporarily repaired ours by reinforcing it from beneath finished off with some sikoflex inside the basin around the plug hole, but intend to replace the basin mould (that’s all it is) when I can bring myself to part with the £70+vat plus delivery AutoSleepers charge 

Does anyone know who is manufacturing AS’s plastics these days? Are they being done in house or are they using another plastic manufacturer as I got in touch with the company which I think was called PlasTec? on the sticker of our wash room and they say they have given up manufacturing for Autosleepers and that they have since returned all moulds back to them? So they were not in a position to supply a replacement basin even if they wanted to... 

With regards ‘Smells’ what are people doing to have smells? We’ve never had the slightest whiff of anything unpleasant from our plug holes or waste tanks when emptied? Use lots of detergent while washing up and when emptied usually but not always put some water in along with a capful of waste tank cleaner between use and have never encountered this phenomenon.

CC

CC wrote:

Does anyone know who is manufacturing AS’s plastics these days? Are they being done in house or are they using another plastic manufacturer as I got in touch with the company which I think was called PlasTec? on the sticker of our wash room and they say they have given up manufacturing for Autosleepers and that they have since returned all moulds back to them? So they were not in a position to supply a replacement basin even if they wanted to... 

I'm pretty sure they are not made in house. Cheltenham Laminating still do work for AS on bodies but I don't know which components they make. 01452 713098.

I know Cheltenham Laminators  still do the bumpers for the Clubmans, probably others as well, they still have moulds.

I thought Cheltenham Laminating concentrated solely or mostly on the exterior mouldings Peter or do they do other things too? I contacted them directly when we needed a new rear bumper moulding and found them most unhelpful, refusing to assist us directly but would only supply the panel to Auto-Sleepers directly for them to fit which I thought was most odd 

With regards the plastic bathroom mouldings I just thought it odd that the previous manufacturer returned the moulding equipment back to Auto Sleepers? Maybe they had a contract that wasn’t renewed or I thought maybe Auto Sleeper were maybe producing them at the factory to reduce costs, would be interesting to know. 

Does anyone with a newish van have any stickers on their bathroom plastic indicating who now produces it? The same bathroom as in our 2010 Broadway is still going into the new models so they are still in being produced by someone...

As a slight aside, AEG Motorhomes at Stourbridge have a GRP workshop where they can make replacement shower trays etc. They have a couple of boat builders amongst their technicians who are very experienced in GRP etc.

CC wrote:I thought Cheltenham Laminating concentrated solely or mostly on the exterior mouldings Peter or do they do other things too? I contacted them directly when we needed a new rear bumper moulding and found them most unhelpful, refusing to assist us directly but would only supply the panel to Auto-Sleepers directly for them to fit which I thought was most odd 

With regards the plastic bathroom mouldings I just thought it odd that the previous manufacturer returned the moulding equipment back to Auto Sleepers? Maybe they had a contract that wasn’t renewed or I thought maybe Auto Sleeper were maybe producing them at the factory to reduce costs, would be interesting to know. 

Does anyone with a newish van have any stickers on their bathroom plastic indicating who now produces it? The same bathroom as in our 2010 Broadway is still going into the new models so they are still in being produced by someone...

I've never seen any manufacture of plastics or grp components at the factory. Derek Murray, the MD of Cheltenham Laminating has been looking to work direct for owners but he did just mention bodywork.