Water not draining from sink or shower / no hot water

[Cort]

This is my first extended trip - so I may have done some things wrong. The grey tank is at 13% and water is backed up in both the shower and sink. The trailer is level. Auto drain was not on when I last moved - and I turned it on and the red light is blinking...

Also no hot water - the water is flowing nicely and Truma is turned on and propane tanks are filled and turned on.  I've actually hardly used the water system at all - yesterday was the first time I tried to take a shower. 

Hopefully all these problems have one source. I was getting hot water and good drainage just last week. 

[topgun2]

Try "flicking" that valve drain switch a couple of times to see if that gets it going.  If that doesn't work then open up the dinette seat hatch that is nearest the bathroom.  When you look down into that hatch area you should see two black pipes running from the general direction of the bathroom towards the rear of the Oliver.  The smaller of those two pipes is your grey tank.  Next in looking at that smaller pipe find the valve.  It should look something like the pic below except that there will not be a "handle" on the top.  But, it will have a cable on top.  Reach down and pull up on the piece where the cable is attached.  That should move the "blade" that opens and closes the valve.

Sorry but I can't help you on the Truma since I do not have one.

Bill

[Cort]

Woo-woo- what an easy fix that was - a couple flicks of the switch - and the water went down in both the shower and the sink - AND the hot water came back - thanks so much:)

One question  - the fresh water tank was filled up about five weeks ago and hardly used. When I turned on the shower - the water smelled to high heaven = and when I flicked the switch - a bunch of black gunky stuff came out of the shower (and then drained away). 

Did I do something to contribute to the stinky water (and black gunk) (did I let the water sit too long?) and how can I freshen the whole thing up? 

[topgun2]

38 minutes ago, Cort said:

Did I do something to contribute to the stinky water (and black gunk) (did I let the water sit too long?) and how can I freshen the whole thing up? 

Drain it and sanitize it.

Bill

p.s.  glad the "switch thing" worked for you!  Unfortunately, I don't have an explanation as to why "flicking" that valve switch has anything to do with the Truma.  One could argue that if it now works then all is good, but, I'd like to know why it now works.  Sometimes those "simple" switches will have an "issue" with contacts or the little motor that they activate will get confused and just needs to be "reset" and/or the contacts get "cleaned" by the flicking.  But, as far as I know, that switch has absolutely nothing to do with anything concerning the Truma.

[SeaDawg]

Two different systems, and never the twain shall meet.

However, the same black gunk you talked about may very well have caused your Truma problem, as well.

If I remember correctly,  you bought a 2019 trailer. Did you drain, refill, and sanitize the plumbing system? 

No matter how meticulous previous owner tried to be, gunk can grow. You don't know how long ago it was sanitized. 

When you get home, I'd do the sanitizing routine at least twice. And rinse all the crap out of the water heater. 

After sanitizing twice, fill tank with fresh, and run all faucets (not at once) to drain. Get that gunk out. 

[Cort]

Thanks! Will sanitize.  Looking forward to getting the gunk out 🙂

[dewdev]

The procedure for Sanitizing is on the Oliver University section of the forum. I suggest that you watch that prior to doing the sanitizing (and take notes as I did).

I agree with SeaDawg that you might want to sanitize twice. Make sure to drain the fresh water tank completely before starting the second sanitizing effort.

[Rivernerd]

On 10/16/2023 at 2:25 PM, dewdev said:

The procedure for Sanitizing is on the Oliver University section of the forum. I suggest that you watch that prior to doing the sanitizing (and take notes as I did).

And, don't make the same mistake I did when sanitizing:  don't drain the bleach water onto concrete, if you can avoid it!

I did this earlier this year, thinking that it would do no harm to the concrete pad in front our our garage.  The error in that thinking became apparent the next time it rained.  Six months later, whenever it rains, you can still see a light-colored pattern where the bleach water drained onto the concrete and then flowed off of it.  Fortunately, once the concrete pad dries up the splotches disappear. 

But, the next time I sanitize my tank, I will take the extra effort to move the Oliver and drain the bleach water onto our gravel parking area beyond the concrete pad!

[Cort]

On 10/18/2023 at 10:03 AM, Rivernerd said:

And, don't make the same mistake I did when sanitizing:  don't drain the bleach water onto concrete, if you can avoid it!

I did this earlier this year, thinking that it would do no harm to the concrete pad in front our our garage.  The error in that thinking became apparent the next time it rained.  Six months later, whenever it rains, you can still see a light-colored pattern where the bleach water drained onto the concrete and then flowed off of it.  Fortunately, once the concrete pad dries up the splotches disappear. 

But, the next time I sanitize my tank, I will take the extra effort to move the Oliver and drain the bleach water onto our gravel parking area beyond the concrete pad!

Thanks very much for that. Who knew?