Cleaning the waste pipes

[Daveb999]

Ive had a search but cant find anything on this, so apologies as im pretty sure there are already answers to this.

What do people use to clean the pipes going from the sink to waste? Id never relly thought about it as generally only have water and sometimes toothpaste after brushing my teeth going don there. Yesterday though I got a warning that the waste tank was full. I checked the outlet and nothing seemed to be blocking it. Decided to leave it until after my drive but then noticed when I went over a speed bump etc that the waste emptied, before that it had been a very slow drip.

Bleach maybe, or something else to make sure its clean, and clear?

I should add that ive just tried closing the water off, and put down hot water with washing up liquid, leave that to soak a while and see if it makes a difference

Thanks

 

[Athas]

I use puriclean tablets to clean freshwater tank and then run it through the tap to the waste water tank then empty the waste tank, it should be enough to clean including the pipes.

 

[Daveb999]

Thanks - will try that as well.

 

[Almost bought a california]

My waste was very slow to drain when I bought mine (2 years old). I unblocked it and assumed that would be that as I don't flush fat or 'lumps' down the sink however the issue returned.
I concluded that it was just gunk and scale that forms on the inside of the tank when it's dry and flakes off blocking the drain tap (I think its a 1/2" reduced bore ball valve so only about 10mm dia).
I now drain my tank after each trip and the close the drain, dissolve a dishwasher tablet in 1 ltr of boiling / hot water, pour this down the sink and leave it to slosh around. It also mixes with the new waste and keeps any toothpaste and grease in solution.
This appears to work for me as the drain stays free running but as you say it also helps to open the drain when you set off for home and let it all slosh around.

 

[Andy C Berks.]

Toothpaste is terrible for clogging up waste pipes - I have seen recommendations elsewhere to never put toothpaste down there nor oil from draining things such as cans of tuna. The latter because of the smell being hard to get rid of. If you ever take a u-bend off a bathroom sink you can see the build up of paste and how that narrows the pipes, and also smells. Don’t think there is a u-bend mechanism in the Cali sink so smells won’t get trapped from resurfacing.

 

[Daveb999]

I didn’t know that about toothpaste, even although it been “brushed”. Good advice and I’ll stop that, easy enough to not do it. Thanks.

 

[Daveb999]

My waste was very slow to drain when I bought mine (2 years old). I unblocked it and assumed that would be that as I don't flush fat or 'lumps' down the sink however the issue returned.
I concluded that it was just gunk and scale that forms on the inside of the tank when it's dry and flakes off blocking the drain tap (I think its a 1/2" reduced bore ball valve so only about 10mm dia).
I now drain my tank after each trip and the close the drain, dissolve a dishwasher tablet in 1 ltr of boiling / hot water, pour this down the sink and leave it to slosh around. It also mixes with the new waste and keeps any toothpaste and grease in solution.
This appears to work for me as the drain stays free running but as you say it also helps to open the drain when you set off for home and let it all slosh around.

I really like the dishwasher tablet idea.

 

[Viktorgeorge]

…. I now drain my tank after each trip and the close the drain, dissolve a dishwasher tablet in 1 ltr of boiling / hot water, pour this down the sink and leave it to slosh around. It also mixes with the new waste and keeps any toothpaste and grease in solution.
This appears to work for me as the drain stays free running but as you say it also helps to open the drain when you set off for home and let it all slosh around.

Dissolved dishwasher tablets as above is a top tip.

It is remarkable what they can dissolve given some time. I had some old but top knotch and expensive stainless steel thermos flasks from my building site days. I was about to chuck them having inspected the inside and found all sorts encrusted despite regular cleaning out (thermos flasks have those narrow necks), then thought I would leave a whole dishwasher tablet and boiling water in each of them for 24 hours. The came up as new, after plentiful rinsing, obviously.

 

[sidepod]

One of the first things I learned almost 15 years ago when we got our first Cali was, just leave the waste tank drain open.

Like the OP we only use the sink for filling pans etc with water/for coffee and the odd hand wash or toothbrush.

Letting waste water sit in for any length of time just turns into a science experiment.

 

[KGCali]

Dissolved dishwasher tablets as above is a top tip.

It is remarkable what they can dissolve given some time. I had some old but top knotch and expensive stainless steel thermos flasks from my building site days. I was about to chuck them having inspected the inside and found all sorts encrusted despite regular cleaning out (thermos flasks have those narrow necks), then thought I would leave a whole dishwasher tablet and boiling water in each of them for 24 hours. The came up as new, after plentiful rinsing, obviously.

Puriclean will do the same in a flask and clean your teaspoons!

 

[willwander]

Nearly always leave ours ‘open’.
To clean it I ‘close’ it, fill it with hot water and bleach, until completely full, then drive round for a bit to give it a slosh, before emptying.

 

[nomadicjonboy77]

Post in thread 'HOW TO UNBLOCK THE WASTE TANK DRAIN (formerly waste tank leaking slightly)' https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/thread...waste-tank-leaking-slightly.51140/post-757896

 

[Daveb999]

Post in thread 'HOW TO UNBLOCK THE WASTE TANK DRAIN (formerly waste tank leaking slightly)' https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/thread...waste-tank-leaking-slightly.51140/post-757896

Thanks I’d actually seen that thread a while back but couldn’t find it before posting my one. Much appreciated

 

[NickiandDoraCandyCopper]

I use puriclean tablets to clean freshwater tank and then run it through the tap to the waste water tank then empty the waste tank, it should be enough to clean including the pipes.

So do we. It’s very effective. I add Puriclean via the sink and run the taps to empty the water tank into the waste tank. Leave for 24 hours then drain.