New (fast!) drain for kitchen sink: awesome!

[KGCali]

so am I correct in saying, If i leave the drain tap for the tank open all the time, thinking when i drain the sink it will just flow directly into and out of the tank, but if the outlet is blocked the sink will not drain ? So if i close the drain tap the sink waist will fill up the tank with flow, and when i empty the tank when full , i open the tap and it should empty all be it slow or not at all ??

Yes, but first try just opening the waste tap and pour a kettle of hot water down the sink, get someone to watch if it drains out in front of the rear wheel. If it doesn't, or is very slow, then put a hose up the outside drain pipe and slowly turn on the hose water to see if it clears the drain pipe blockage.

 

[Mowbotman]

Well took the plug hole and pipe out today and no blockage at all closed drain tap , goes down reasonably well when sink full, but then slow down at the end , in one of the above picture , the pipe is routed over to the left and then into the tank, I assume to speed up flow and let some air in as well, how long is the pipe and what size is the pipe please and the best place to get it

 

[WelshGas]

so am I correct in saying, If i leave the drain tap for the tank open all the time, thinking when i drain the sink it will just flow directly into and out of the tank, but if the outlet is blocked the sink will not drain ? So if i close the drain tap the sink waist will fill up the tank with flow, and when i empty the tank when full , i open the tap and it should empty all be it slow or not at all ??

I think you are overthinking the system.

See Diagram. Pipe 12 ( Red Star ) is connected to the Upper Left outlet on the tank as an air vent/overflow.

 

[Mowbotman]

Right, so if the outlet pipe 12 is blocked as it was suggested this will not allow air to escape when you drain sink ? Hence making it drain slow or not at all ? It was suggested in a previous post as in the picture I copied to make the pipe modification

 

[WelshGas]

Right, so if the outlet pipe 12 is blocked as it was suggested this will not allow air to escape when you drain sink ? Hence making it drain slow or not at all ? It was suggested in a previous post as in the picture I copied to make the pipe modification

Yes, blockage at the outlet .

 

[Marc Oldman]

Just got the bits to do this and am gonna do the work (to my 2016 T6) today / tomorrow. Any further top tips I need to be aware of?!

 

[WelshGas]

Just got the bits to do this and am gonna do the work (to my 2016 T6) today / tomorrow. Any further top tips I need to be aware of?!

I very much doubt if it will make any difference on a 2016 vehicle as these parts were fitted as standard from about 2010/2012 onwards.

 

[Marc Oldman]

I very much doubt if it will make any difference on a 2016 vehicle as these parts were fitted as standard from about 2010/2012 onwards.

Doh, how right you are. Exactly the same parts. Should have read that more thoroughly! (Though how my sink is already considered ‘fast draining’ is anyone’s guess!)

Well, if anyone watching this thread is interested in the parts to do this job let me know as I have a set for sale

 

[Carl M]

One annoyance for Cali-owners - certainly for us - has been the kitchen sink drain. It drains the sink so t e r r i b l y s l o w .... On various fora one can find suggestions to increase the draining speed. Some simply shorten the hose, cutting out the S-turn, but then you remove the smell stopper. Some add an extra vent hose between the sink and the S-turn, but that only helps a little, it seems.

Now, recently we stumbled onto the Youtube video below, showing a California sink that drains very fast:

We immediately thought: WE WANT THAT! I looked up the poster of the video on the net, and it turns out he had started a complete topic on the German Cali-board about it. To cut a long story short: VW changed the sieve and siphon they use in the Cali somewhere in 2013 for a much larger bore version, with the siphon doubling as smell stopper, thus eliminating the need for an S-turn in the hose to the waste water tank. All that making for a much faster draining of the sink.

So, we decided to give it a try, and ordered the new set:

• 7E7 068 159: sieve, €7,56
• 7E7 068 167: siphon, €5,61
• 7E7 068 177 A: rubber ring, € 1,83

Fitting them is fairly easy. Since sieve and siphon have a larger bore, we needed to widen the hole in the sink. It took me some 15 minutes of careful filing, often stopping to try the fit.

See the old situation below:

View attachment 2448

And here the new situation:

View attachment 2449

You can clearly see that the siphon is much larger, thus letting water through more easily. The hose is much shorter, going directly to the waste water tank. When shortening the hose, be careful: don't make it too short, or your kitchen drawer may no longer close...

Speaking of the kitchen drawer, we needed to make one more adjustment. Because the siphon is somewhat lower, our drawer wouldn't pass beneath it anymore. We didn't want to lower the complete drawer, because of what we store beneath it currently. So we simply removed a little piece of the back of the drawer, a good centimeter only, just until the built in reinforcement in the back. It is only plastic, so this was easily done with a little peeling knife from the very same drawer!

View attachment 2450

So, we went away for a long weekend this last weekend, and boy did our sink drain fast! :clap

I appreciate yours is an old post but just wanted to say thanks. Took your part numbers above to my local dealer and ordered them….the sieve had to come from Germany but was here in less than a week. Total cost for parts £27 and a 20 min job by me on my 2010 Cali. with no widening bore or cutting of drawer necessary. Result: fast draining sink. THANK YOU

 

[bvddobb]

Result: fast draining sink. THANK YOU

Glad it worked for you!