Draining the fresh and grey water tanks

[edocali]

Here you go.
Just in front of the rear passenger side wheel


View attachment 101813

thanks, never seen such a protruding pipe. will go back and look

 

[Resfeber]

thanks, never seen such a protruding pipe. will go back and look

Think it was well tucked away when I got the van but after grappling with it a few times to attach an extension hose for emptying at home it now protrudes a bit more, as you mention

 

[Themadwife]

Just went to drain ours for first time - read this first. Wouldn’t drain from fresh tank until I had opened filler cap!! Thanks for idea !!

 

[Hawthorn37]

Just went to drain ours for first time - read this first. Wouldn’t drain from fresh tank until I had opened filler cap!! Thanks for idea !!

Quite normal.

 

[Hawthorn37]

Drained the fresh water tank a week ago and today dealt with the delivery pipe to the tap. As it’s now comfortably minus C today, thought I’d best give it a go.

So, thanks to advice from @WelshGas I’ve disconnected the tap and blown the water out the tap back to the tank - nothing fancy, just cupped my mouth around the tap and blew - must sanitise before use!

On the first try I heard a gurgling and when I stopped blowing the air came back out the tap with more gurgling. Then I removed the fresh water filler cap and did the same - no gurgles and no air came back out. So I guess that pipe is 100% empty now.

For guidance, some photos below. You need to remove the cutlery drawer, which is easy - 2 pull catches as shown below.

 

[JuanVecino2023]

Bump to this thread. My waste water tank (1 month old van), refuses to empty.

I’ve poked around under the sink and in the LH cupboard where the drain valve is. All looks fine.

Just nothing coming out of the pipe in front of the passenger wheel.

It’s on a favourable slope as well, down a slight incline & sloping away toward the passenger side.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Plug in the sink causing a vacuum?
Blocked or kinked waste outlet hose?
Have you poured water into the sink and checked that it is not going somewhere other than the waste water tank?

 

[Resfeber]

Bump to this thread. My waste water tank (1 month old can), refuses to empty.

I’ve poked around under the sink and in the LH cupboard where the drain valve is. All looks fine.

Just nothing coming out of the pipe in front of the passenger wheel.

It’s on a favourable slope as well, down a slight incline & sloping away toward the passenger side.

Have you ever had water out of the waste tank?
One option is to see if the overflow works by filling the sink until you have standing water. This will bypass the normal outlet hose from the base of the tank to the outlet valve (connects just after the valve from the top of the tank).
If this is working then the issue is likely to be a blocked outlet valve with assembly material/construction debris, particularly if the van is just one month old.
Have you tried working the handle back and forth from the upright (closed position) to horizontal (open) many times to see if this May dislodge?
May be possible to use a wire coat hanger up the outlet to see if you can try a dislodge or pressurise with an airline.or hosepipe
Otherwise to the dealer for a dismantle

 

[JuanVecino2023]

Plug in the sink causing a vacuum?
Blocked or kinked waste outlet hose?
Have you poured water into the sink and checked that it is not going somewhere other than the waste water tank?

Thanks for suggestions. No to 1 & 2, yes to 3.

It just sits in the sink and eventually drains over 3 days.

 

[JuanVecino2023]

Have you ever had water out of the waste tank?
One option is to see if the overflow works by filling the sink until you have standing water. This will bypass the normal outlet hose from the base of the tank to the outlet valve (connects just after the valve from the top of the tank).
If this is working then the issue is likely to be a blocked outlet valve with assembly material/construction debris, particularly if the van is just one month old.
Have you tried working the handle back and forth from the upright (closed position) to horizontal (open) many times to see if this May dislodge?
May be possible to use a wire coat hanger up the outlet to see if you can try a dislodge or pressurise with an airline.or hosepipe
Otherwise to the dealer for a dismantle

I suspect blocked outlet.

I have worked the valve open/closed several times.

Toying with loosening the jubilee clips on the hoses either side of the valve and checking for blockages as the dealer is 5 hour RT away. Not sure if this impacts any hope under warranty.

 

[Resfeber]

I suspect blocked outlet.

I have worked the valve open/closed several times.

Toying with loosening the jubilee clips on the hoses either side of the valve and checking for blockages as the dealer is 5 hour RT away. Not sure if this impacts any hope under warranty.

The fact that it sits in the sink and drains over 3 days strongly suggests that the outlet nearly totally occluded AFTER the valve assembly, as the overflow should drain freely if the outlet is clear.
Do not loosen the jubilee clips unless you want a sink full (minimum) or 28 litres maximum ) inside your van
Try to clear by using a wire up the outlet or flush with a hose until you can at least get the overflow working fine. With the outlet hose clear your sink should empty via the overflow almost as quickly as it does into an empty tank

See my image at post #25 for outlet pipe location and where to insert wire/reverse flush with hose.

 

[JuanVecino2023]

The fact that it sits in the sink and drains over 3 days strongly suggests that the outlet nearly totally occluded AFTER the valve assembly, as the overflow should drain freely if the outlet is clear.
Do not loosen the jubilee clips unless you want a sink full (minimum) or 28 litres maximum ) inside your van
Try to clear by using a wire up the outlet or flush with a hose until you can at least get the overflow working fine. With the outlet hose clear your sink should empty via the overflow almost as quickly as it does into an empty tank

See my image at post #25 for outlet pipe location and where to insert wire/reverse flush with hose.

Understood re J clips.

I had planned to shut valve, loosen clip to outlet side and check for blockages on the outflow pipe.

Would this work?

 

[Hawthorn37]

Understood re J clips.

I had planned to shut valve, loosen clip to outlet side and check for blockages on the outflow pipe.

Would this work?

I know you’ve had lots of advice on this and other threads to sort out your issues. As it continues to be a problem, I’d really advise calling your dealer and getting the van booked in for an inspection. The van is one month old as I understand it, so you should get it to the dealer soon, as they have a carte blanc from VWUK to attend to teething problems and set up issues without referring them back for a limited time, I believe this is 3 months. After that they need VW to give the OK for warranty work. I certainly wouldn’t be unclipping hoses and the like on a brand new van.

 

[Resfeber]

Understood re J clips.

I had planned to shut valve, loosen clip to outlet side and check for blockages on the outflow pipe.

Would this work?

Only if the sink had fully emptied in the 3 days. The tank overflow is connected after the shut off valve, so if the outlet is blocked and you release the J clip then any water in the overflow and sink will empty into the van .

The problem lies in the red area at or after the Tee piece 7.

Try to flush or dislodge with a wire up the outlet to see if the overflow works. If no joy it does look like to the dealers for a dismantle.

 

[JuanVecino2023]

Sensible advice.

My inclination to do so is driven by inquisitiveness, stubbornness and an unwillingness to drive 5 hours to rectify what I will guess should be a 5 minute job.

Only if the sink had fully emptied in the 3 days. The tank overflow is connected after the shut off valve, so if the outlet is blocked and you release the J clip then any water in the overflow and sink will empty into the van .

The problem lies in the red area at or after the Tee piece 7.

Try to flush or dislodge with a wire up the outlet to see if the overflow works. If no joy it does look like to the dealers for a dismantle.


View attachment 121712

Got it, hadn’t appreciated the sink overflow is connected to the tee above the outlet pipe.

Completely understand the issue now.

 

[Lambeth Cali]

Mine used to drain very slowly after a week of the kids spitting toothpaste down it. When I got home I used normal sink/drain unblocker from Tesco followed by boiling water as per instructions on bottle just like I would in our kitchen.

The plastic tubing is normal plumbing grade and can be cleaned like a normal sink.

 

[Hawthorn37]

Sensible advice.

My inclination to do so is driven by inquisitiveness, stubbornness and an unwillingness to drive 5 hours to rectify what I will guess should be a 5 minute job.

Got it, hadn’t appreciated the sink overflow is connected to the tee above the outlet pipe.

Completely understand the issue now.

Out of interest, did you resolve your problem?

 

[JuanVecino2023]

Out of interest, did you resolve your problem?

I just waited for the slowest draining 500 ml to stop sloshing about in the sink.

I decided to heed your warranty advice. I love a bit of DIY. But when it might jeopardise a 5Y warranty, why bother.

I was scanning the Breeze club partner thread earlier. As someone wisely said, make a weekend out of the trip down.

I’ll get the techs to take a look while I take my daughter to the beach.

Thanks for checking in!

 

[Hawthorn37]

I just waited for the slowest draining 500 ml to stop sloshing about in the sink.

I decided to heed your warranty advice. I love a bit of DIY. But when it might jeopardise a 5Y warranty, why bother.

I was scanning the Breeze club partner thread earlier. As someone wisely said, make a weekend out of the trip down.

I’ll get the techs to take a look while I take my daughter to the beach.

Thanks for checking in!

Ok good luck. It’ll be interesting to find out the root cause (for others following this thread / later).

 

[JuanVecino2023]

It sounds like the water is sloshing about behind the right hand cupboard.

Last night, I parked it on my slightly sloped driveway and some water had splashec out onto the driveway.

But the drain pipe near the nearside rear wheel was completely dry.

Trying to sort this before we head on a trip next week.

Any ideas for some DIY plumbing? Checked for kinks in the pipe under the sink etc

 

[dspuk]

It sounds like the water is sloshing about behind the right hand cupboard.

Last night, I parked it on my slightly sloped driveway and some water had splashec out onto the driveway.

But the drain pipe near the nearside rear wheel was completely dry.

Trying to sort this before we head on a trip next week.

Any ideas for some DIY plumbing? Checked for kinks in the pipe under the sink etc

The grey waste container is behind the cupboard. If you take a look with everything out it's just sat there as a vertical plastic container. The whole setup is about as simple as plumbing gets. You have a tube into the top from the sink and a tube out the bottom that goes to a drain hole in the base of the van via a valve to the left hand side. It's three pipes. Any issue is likely to be at the drain hole or the valve. Unless you have been chucking lumps of something down the sink. Given it is grey waste there is no harm sticking a unblocking liquid of some sort down there so see if it will eat away what is causing the block. My money is on the valve. Leave it fully open and then put some drain unblock in there, or as in the post below, blow water up through the drain.

Accessing grey water tank

Hi, does anyone know how to access the grey water tank in a 1992 T4 california or have a plumbing diagram? My drain was draining very slowly and after pouring some drain cleaner down it has totally blocked up. Using a plunger I just feel resistance and the water does not move at all. I see that...

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