Fairford kitchen sink

sink in kitchen area is not draining and I don’t know why.  Any ideas? 
It looks clean, there is never any fat or nasty stuff down it. I’ve made sure waste tank is empty and draining freely. Is it ok to access the drainage pipes in the cupboard next to it to check for debris? Surely it can’t be too hard to do? She says lol

I know it is slow to run away as pipes are fairly small, but it is not draining at all.

Give it some (gentle) welly with a sink plunger.

It's either blocked or has an air lock - most likely the former, even though you think nothing has gone down there to block it.

If you don't have a plunger you can probably still clear it. Half fill the sink and press down firmly over the plug hole with the palm of your hand. Then pull it up very smartly to "suck" some water up the pipe, and after a few goes it will probably clear.

I don't think A/S fitted a sink trap to that model, but if they did it will be obvious under the sink and the bottom will probably screw off - and make a mess if you haven't placed a bowl underneath! 

The trap look like it might be further down the pipe. I’ve tried the plunging thing but it didn’t work, I did hear some bubbling though. I’ll try again tomorrow when we reach our next stop. Maybe movement will help

Does sound like a blockage why not try a drop of sink unblocker  which you can buy from any supermarket for £2-3 might be easier 
David

Hadn’t thought about that , I’ll get some . Odd though when I look into the plug hole I don’t see a hose that takes the water away, looks like a bit of round flat metal.....maybe it drains over the sides of that ....dunno really

Worried I might not get anything down the plug hole

Lor fal, go sparingly with the sink unblocker fluids, some of them are corrosive....on a previous van, I had a slow drain and used some Spanish unblocker imhad at home....I poured it into the drain and it came up over the plug hole slightly and I didn't think to clear it up, I thought it would just drain...
however, it took the 'chrome' off the sink fitting (probably not a domestic type) and left it scarred which annoyed me every time I used it....if you clean up any excess you'll be fine, just don't let it do its thing....
the Spanish nuclear cleaner has been disposed of, too darn good...

Movement has done the trick, all is well in the world! I just get so annoyed as we haven’t yet had one trip without a problem!  And I hate that sometimes I can’t fix stuff myself, though I do try and I am learning! And it has snowed and rained a lot, never really yet experienced van at its best with rear doors open, sun shining in, awning up and cooking alfresco! .....but right now it’s glorious in the far north of Scotland , the rear doors are open, the views are fab and the sun is shining. The sink is draining , the heating is working and the wine is in plentiful supply! It’s all worth it. So I’ll stop ranting now as I might tempt fate and the toilet will break lol

Glad we were able to help!

I often have to “assist” the draining of water from our kitchen sink by swirling the water with my finger. If I didn’t it would just sit there 

Hmmmm , I shall try that next time

I often have to “assist” the draining of water from our kitchen sink by swirling the water with my finger. If I didn’t it would just sit there  

Oddly, so do we. Makes you wonder if gravity has taken a day off!

We do enjoy a twizzle as well
I think I read somewhere the reason it needs help is because it is a convoluted pipe, even after 40 years caravan and camper still don't know why.
David

Of course you need to remember to swirl in clockwise direction, anti-clockwise will only work if you live in the Southern Hemisphere  

Lol I’ve swirlled , it works !

How the sink drains may depend on the ground the van is parked. Bizarrely our van's drain from the sink appears to run horizontal perhaps slightly uphill. Therefore the van needs to be raised more at the front to facilitate a quicker drain.

I travel with a small plastic sink plunger for when the sink wont drain away freely, which usually gets things moving. The plunger also doubles as a 'poss stick' when I'm hand washing the laundry.

I've always been a bit leary of using a sink plunger as, presumably, it is possible to blow off one of the push-fit pipes and have water all over the undersink cupboards and drawers..

I put the heel of my hand flat on the plug hole and gently work my hand up and down. It generally does the trick, along with an odd swirl of the undrained water and the occasional kettle full of hot soapy water.

What Quilter said about the palm of the hand, but I do use the plunger as well.

Slowly and gently down, then a fairly vigorous snatch back up. This sucks water, and gunge if there is any, back up into the sink without putting pressure on the drain pipe joints. It's a bit messy, but easily cleaned up - and you can readily see what was causing the blockage.

Lorfal wrote:Lol I’ve swirlled , it works !

You know what they say......one good turn deserves another 

A kind of mid way between the heel of the hand and a plunger is using a plastic cup (yoghurt pot,etc) to generate a bit of suck and blow   We also stick some Zoflora down the tubes every other trip, helps to keep the waste tank from getting smelly.

Of course A/S designed the pipework to run uphill. They did this so that it would give us one more thing to scratch our heads about on this forum. What you need is a good pair of Mick Jagger lips and a strong pair of lungs. I think it's what's called a blow job. Make sure that Mr Muscle has not been there first though. 

Mindhyg wrote:Of course A/S designed the pipework to run uphill.  

Don't think A/S are the only ones with slow-draining sinks. We've had exactly the same in a Bessacarr and 2 Eldisss' ( Eldae ?) and umpteen caravans.  The only van we have not had problems with was a VW conversion but that was only because it had no sink and we used a washing up bowl outside.  The heel of hand response is so ingrained now that I find myself doing it at home as well without thinking.

Amazing! This is the year 2018 and we have 21 posts on draining a sink!!

On vehicles costing £20 to £60k as well!

Good job motorhome and caravan makers don't do aviation or we'd still be gluing the canvas on their sides!

 Thanks all! Stiiiiillll draining!