Draining through a garden hose

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biggersm

biggersm

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 26, 2016
Posts
100
Location
East Central Florida
We now have a Flagstaff 214HW (traded in our Toyhauler as discussed elsewhere in this forum).  Now that we don't have the luxury of a large diameter slinky hose we have to drain a sink through a garden hose. When we were camping recently we had a nice downhill run from the sink to the sewer but the sink would still vapor lock and hold water in the sink.  I could overcome this with a plunger and get a very fast drain but then the process would start over again.  There are no kinks in the hose either.  Any ideas?   
 
How does it drain when you're hooked up using the stinky slinky? 
If it drains OK that way, then it sounds like there isn't enough volume of gray water going down the hose to cause the air admittance valve to open.  As long as there is air behind the water, I think it should drain fairly fast.  Try removing the air admittance valve from the end of the pipe and see if that helps.
 
This is a hard-sided pop-up (folding) camper. They typically do not have 3" drain hoses. Maybe not even a waste tank (cassette toilet is typically standard). A garden hose drain is probably all there is.

The steep grade on that hose may actually be part of the problem. The steeper the grade, the faster gravity tries to push the water out, so air has to enter the top faster too.  Does the sink have an air admittance valve underneath? It should open if needed to relieve the suction.
 
Thanks to all who replied

Gary is the one who knows how our small, garden hose drain works (or in this case does not work so well) with the 5/8 garden hose drain.  I will check for an air admittance valve under the sink (I did not see a indication of one on the outside).  I was think that not getting air in was somehow part of the problem and I even considered putting a hole in the garden hose.  I know, it is kind of like holding water in a straw using a finger over the top.

Yes there is also a cassette toilet as well and I think I like that setup (very easy to clean at home). Also yes, other than the cassette there are no black or gray tanks and no 3" stinky slinky that would allow return air.     
 
I don't know if it helps but when we had a popup I used a short piece of hose to drain into a 5 gallon bucket and just dumped the bucket when full. We never had any draining problems since the end of the hose was open.
 
Try a 3/4" hose instead of 5/8". The flow volume is almost 40% greater.

There should be some kind of plumbing vent system, probably an AAV since there is no way to have a roof vent.
 
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