gray water drains

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Old_Crow

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 20, 2016
Posts
4,688
Location
Tom's Place, CA
I get to do some plumbing on the drain line from the kitchen sink and washer to the gray water tank.  Anyone know if the black drain pipe is ABS or something else?
 
Never mind.  Found a fitting stamped ABS.  Now, if I can only  find a local supplier before the weekend hits.
 
Yeah, the black stuff is ABS. Standard size for sink and shower drains is 1.5" but 1.25" is allowed where needed.  Toilet and main drains lines are 3". Any home or hardware store should have the standard sizes.
 
I needed a piece of ABS pipe for a mod I was doing to the RV. The closest RV place was quite a ways away so I ended up going to a Manufactured home dealership just down the road. (Double wide Mobile Homes)  Their units plumbing was all ABS. They had what I needed at no cost. It was all scrap pieces left over from jobs.
 
I called about 15 places yesterday and no one local had any ABS stuff in stock.  Then the parts guy at my favorite RV parts store asked why don't I just use PVC with the proper adhesive?
I did some Googling and found that there are two different types of adhesive that will bond ABS to PVC.  The hardware store closest to the campground I'm at had the adhesive and all the fittings I needed in PVC.  Since it's a drain line, with next to no pressure on it, I decided this would be a viable repair(as opposed to driving over 200 miles round trip to get ABS fittings)and my washer and kitchen sink are back up and running again.
Side note, I also picked up the stuff to build one of those rotating PVC flag poles at the same time, so I'm all ready for the weekend.
 
For anyone else with a similar project, most hardware/home improvement stores also have hubless rubber couplings that work well for installing dissimilar repair pieces for drain lines.
 
Yes, same rubber fittings.  Available at most hardware stores, Lowes and Depot.

You can use PVC for sink drains, but I suspect at least some of those clerks that said they have no ABS simply don't know what it is. Or they know is as DWV pipe (Drain, Waste & Vent). Lowes stores carry it in sizes from 1.5"-6" and lengths from 5-10 ft.

Any hardware store will have solvent weld adhesives that work with both PVC and ABS. Just ask, or read the labels on the cans.
 
I particularly like the hubless rubber couplings in tight areas where it would be difficult to solvent weld the pieces together. They're also good where the pipes don't quite line up perfectly...
 
I saw the rubber repair couplings at the store.  What I had to replace is called a sanitary tee, where the washer drain entered the horizontal run to the holding tank.  ABS stuff was available on-line from HD and Lowes, but none of the local stores had it in stock.
I tried multiple plumbing supply stores after I struck out at the big box stores, and was told that there was no longer any demand for the ABS in this area(one guy told me he was from Colorado and that ABS was used all over out there). 
I've washed a couple of loads of dishes and a load of clothes with no further sign of a leak, so I think I'm good to go on this one.
 
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