slow draining waste tank

What's the diameter of your drain valve, Nel? Ours is 1inch and the tank drains reasonably quickly. Sometimes there can be a sag in the pipe between tank and drain valve and that inevitably slows the process. 

We have the Bailey 625SE and yes the tanks are really slow to drain, my OH took the tap off and removed the baffles from the inside this has helped a bit. 

If you don't already know there is a facebook group of Bailey motorhome owners that you could join for lots of very good tips and help.

Mine, although not a Bailey, is also only one inch and it does take a long time to empty 200 litres of grey waste. Not much you can do about it other than be patient or change the complete drain system.

peedee

I have an Autograph 745 and a common problem is swarfe (cuttings from the manufacturing process) blocking the inside of the drain tap. It is possible to pull the tap off and then clean out the swarfe. I did it to mine and it did speed up the draining, but I've noticed all makes of MH are also quite slow at draining.

I have a Bailey 740 and would agree that it is a bit on the slow side. I have drilled out the baffles from inside the tap part and that did improve things. The main problem is that because Bailey use the low profile AlKo chassis the waste water system is already low to the ground. Using pipes of a great diameter might make that situation worse.

David

as above, it might also depend on how convoluted the route is from the exit point of the tank to the actual tap....in some vans, this can be quite a journey for the water, making it more susceptible to (say) height changes in the pipework.

if its really an issue (as in drives you mad) you could try the 'baffle' clearing as suggested earlier.....or, Id have a look at the route of the pipework and see if its possible to shorten it in any way, and if so, see if a larger bore pipe would have any adverse effect to put alongside its advantage of a faster flow.....

a further suggestion, ive seen some mods where most of the pipework is binned and the actual exit point from the tank effectively becomes the drain by fitting a gate valve very close to the tank, replacing the existing plastic tap....

the valve could be operated either from inside the van (small hole reqd to allow control wire through) or from outside by running the control cable to the outside edge of the van.

the mod was carried out by a reader and published in MMM a year or so ago...in fact, i think he used an electric gate valve, so just pressed a switch to dump the waste.....and far more quickly.

the other issue is that you would have to position the van a bit differently when draining and the control of the flow might be from the inside of the van, where you cant see what your doing.

however, this isnt a problem if the van is placed correctly.

although our outlet is to the offside of the van, its a very short and broad pipe with the valve inside the tank, rather than on the end of the exit pipe, so no water resides in the pipe.

your van can be improved, im sure, just depends on how confident you are on a DIY project, or your faith in others to do it for you...

good luck.

Thanks everyone, seems its a common problem, i will have a look underneath.

Hi again, problem solved slightly- simply pull off the tap and flow is greatly increased !

I don't know your specific MH, but just check that you have at least one plug removed when you drain, (to let air into the tank) it might make a difference.

Hi again, problem solved slightly- simply pull off the tap and flow is greatly increased !

as mentioned upthread, the tap (for those with the the ones stuck on the end of the pipe) usually jas a baffle which some have removed or drilled out....