Shower drain pipe: Is this normal?

[John and Jodi]

I'm not very handy so I haven't looked a lot under and around the bowels of our trailer, but recently I had an occasion to do so. Looking at my shower drain pipe I saw this:

It appears that the 1.5 inch drain line has collapsed. The shower still drains slowly and there's no leaks (yet?), but I'm a bit shocked. While the pipe from the shower pan is vertical, the connection to the gray tank(?) pipe appears to be at a 45 degree angle so that buying a new P Trap doesn't appear to be a good option unless I'm willing to re-plump.

Is this normal? I'm open for suggestions.

[Snackchaser]

Looks like they installed a flexible tube and left a twist in it.  You might try loosening a clamp and twisting the kink out.  Unfortunately that kink could be set and it seems like too a tight bend even for a replacement piece.  Oliver should address that despite the expired warranty, it was just a poor installation from the start.

Good luck, Geoff

Edited Sunday at 01:27 AM by Snackchaser

[topgun2]

Can we assume that you purchased this Ollie "new"?

I've never seen that kind of installation.

Bill

[John and Jodi]

1 hour ago, topgun2 said:

Can we assume that you purchased this Ollie "new"?

Yes. New from the factory in 2022.

[DanielBoondock]

Nice design actually for maintenance, should be easy to remove and clean out compared to rigid pipe

[Ollie-Haus]

Our 2023 has the same connection without the kink. Actually this is a nice trap design as the trap material is soft enough to prevent cracking if water is left in the trap during winter storage. It's a tough location to work in but should be able to be corrected. If the kink remains after removal try placing in boiling water for a few minutes to restore it to normal shape. Otherwise Oliver should be able to supply a new one. 

[Boudicca908]

16 hours ago, John and Jodi said:

I haven't looked a lot under and around the bowels of our trailer

Can you describe how you accessed that area for the photo? If I can, I will send a photo of my Spring 2022.... to see if it looks different. 

[John and Jodi]

2 hours ago, Boudicca908 said:

Can you describe how you accessed that area for the photo?

I removed the access panel on the dinette seat closest to the shower and looked down and right.

[Boudicca908]

@John and Jodi I wasn't able to get quite the same angle, but here are my photos. I have the same material, but it's not twisted like yours. 

.... why do I struggle with photo uploads?  I will try to fix these.... a few minutes.

Edited Sunday at 08:43 PM by Boudicca908
photo upload hassle

[jd1923]

5 hours ago, Boudicca908 said:

@John and Jodi I wasn't able to get quite the same angle, but here are my photos. I have the same material, but it's not twisted like yours. 

Good photos yep, one flexible P-trap is straight, the other is certainly twisted.
How do they twist this during installation? Sometimes a job is easier when doing it the right way!

Wish I had looked that direction when I had all the waste valves out (was instead looking forward to run DC-DC wiring)!

Can a person get an arm in there to loosen the two hose clamps? If so, all can be good.
You could put the part in hot water to get it back to original shape which was a great suggestion!
But first I would send picture to OTT asking them to replace the part ASAP no charge.

Also it's so cool to see the 3" ducting to the bathroom!
If it kills me, I've got to install semi-rigid ducting, a homerun from furnace to bath.
OEM ducting, Why, why, why? When the bottom hull is open for a few extra dollar full RIGID ducting SHOULD be laid. Ours was full of holes across the bottoms, everywhere. I replaced all I could within reach.

Edited Monday at 01:58 AM by jd1923

[John and Jodi]

On 10/11/2026 at 3:40 PM, Boudicca908 said:

I have the same material, but it's not twisted like yours. 

The biggest difference I see is that your gray tank connection seems more or less parallel to the drain pipe (both pointing down), so you have a true "U" shape in your tube. My gray tank pipe connection points towards the drain pipe at 45 degrees, so I think "they" folded the flexible tube to get it on to both pipes.

I think that if I removed my tube and warmed it up, it would return to a "U" shape, but not help me because of the angle of my connections relative to each other. It seems to me that the original "defect" is the angle of the gray tank pipe connection. I'm assuming that I can't just twist that pipe so that it points down.

Quote

But first I would send picture to OTT asking them to replace the part ASAP no charge.

I've contacted OTT. I'm not getting the support that I'd like. I've started to escalate, but the response has been disappointing.

Edited Monday at 10:19 PM by John and Jodi
clarify a point

[jd1923]

7 hours ago, John and Jodi said:

It seems to me that the original "defect" is the angle of the gray tank pipe connection.

Good observation, John.

I had not noticed it at first, but when comparing the two pictures (Thanks Toni!) it's your ABS Tee-junction that was installed incorrectly, which caused the flexible P-trap to fold due to the hard angle. You are certainly correct, the Tee must be installed straight down.

Given the Tee is glued firmly in place, you'd have to saw the ABS pipe before and after the Tee and remove it. If you could source a Tee that is 1" or so longer than the OEM part, the job will be easier. Otherwise, you need length to add a coupling too.

Could you get tools in there to rework this plumbing? 

It might be up to you, or a good plumber willing to work on your trailer. I'll keep it in mind to look at ours when I get a chance.

I hope they help you with this! 😂

Edited 18 hours ago by jd1923

[CRM]

2 hours ago, jd1923 said:

It might be up to you, or a good plumber willing to work on your trailer.   

The first thing a good plumber is going to tell him is that the whole design is wrong. You can't use a sanitary tee on a horizontal drain line and a p-trap must have a horizontal section after it and it can't connect straight to a drain line from the bottom as it is here. I need to take a look at mine to see if it's done in the same manner.

[HDRider]

On 10/10/2026 at 8:25 PM, Snackchaser said:

Oliver should address that despite the expired warranty, it was just a poor installation from the start.

Don't get his hopes up.  I had pipes in the bathroom that leaked due to installation errors and they still charged me.  Not much, but it seems that when the warranty expires it is gone.  I had even reported the problem while the warranty was in force, but we were on a long trip and by the time they could work me in it had expired. 

[Hokieman]

10 hours ago, CRM said:

The first thing a good plumber is going to tell him is that the whole design is wrong.

@John and Jodi   I’m not a plumber but I understand what  @CRM is saying.  It will be a major hassle to cut and refit those ABS drain pipes the way that OTT usually does it.   The result might be a plumbing mess, and  regardless, it’s still a poor design.   One possible solution might be removing the P-trap and replace with a Hepvo valve.   You could use the existing incorrectly installed sanitary tee, and with some creative plumbing install the Hepvo valve horizontally down low on the basement floor.   I do not know how well this would work, but throwing it out there for the more competent plumbers to consider.   Anyone ever use these Hepvo valves?   See link for installation ideas in RV’s. 

 https://hepvo.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/HepvO-US-RV-Plumbing-Applications-June-2021.pdf

[CRM]

1 hour ago, Hokieman said:

@John and Jodi   I’m not a plumber but I understand what  @CRM is saying.  It will be a major hassle to cut and refit those ABS drain pipes the way that OTT usually does it.   The result might be a plumbing mess, and  regardless, it’s still a poor design.   One possible solution might be removing the P-trap and replace with a Hepvo valve.   You could use the existing incorrectly installed sanitary tee, and with some creative plumbing install the Hepvo valve horizontally down low on the basement floor.   I do not know how well this would work, but throwing it out there for the more competent plumbers to consider.   Anyone ever use these Hepvo valves?   See link for installation ideas in RV’s. 

 https://hepvo.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/HepvO-US-RV-Plumbing-Applications-June-2021.pdf

I've never seen these before, but they look like they could be a good option- if they're not prone to failure. They *should* also prevent backup into the shower if the shut off valve is happened to be left open. To do it right, you would still have to remove the sanitary tee  and replace it with a "Wye" fitting entering from the side instead of entering from the bottom. 

For the record, I'm not a plumber either, though in the course of 30+ years renovating homes and owning rental properties I've learned a few things about plumbing along the way- especially from all my mistakes! 

[Steph and Dud B]

I understand the flexible connection because the shower pan actually flexes a little when you stand near the drain. But this was sloppy work at the factory. Can't say I'm surprised because we've had several issues with sloppy work in our 2022 as well. It's also disappointing to hear that they denied your warranty claim because you couldn't get it to them within the warranty period, even though you identified the issue within the warranty period. Hope you can resolve it without too much trouble.