Sink Options

Submitted: Sunday, May 09, 2004 at 01:30
ThreadID: 120566 Views:29700 Replies:6 FollowUps:0
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Greetings again wise people! As we get closer to the magic commitment, Lyn would like to have a two-bowled sink so she can thoroughly rinse the dishes. (she will settle for a 1 1/2 or 1 3/4 bowl variety). She did meet with a fair degree of resistanceat BTi. Does anyone have any experience installing one? Apparently a potential problem is the possibility of debris accumulating in the drain, and being difficult to un-clog. Also the fact that most suitable sinks have the standard domestic 50mm drain and not the 25mm caravan size drain. Lyn has found a guy in Perth who is designing a 45deg sided reduction attachment. Would it not be possible to have two separate drain hoses to the outside, or would it be necessary to join the two? I would appreciate any comments/experiences etc. C'mon Anthony! (Or are you busy contemplating those vaporized pizzas?) Thanks all Bob & Lyn
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Reply By: Luvntravln - Sunday, May 09, 2004 at 01:32

Sunday, May 09, 2004 at 01:32
Anthony is feeding the doberman! tgintl/jay
AnswerID: 562156

Reply By: Deleted User - Sunday, May 09, 2004 at 01:33

Sunday, May 09, 2004 at 01:33
In the present van we have a normal domestic sink fitted, and have already bought the sink unit myself to go in the new van. Never had any issues with clogging and would not see why you would. The sink we have is a round bowl (just the right size) sink because of the big saving of water over a square or rectangular bowls. It has the main round bowl then a small shoebox one next to the main with a flick mixer tap. Setup works perfectly. The two bowls are joined together with normal domestic screw on fittings. That connects to standard poly 40mm poly pipe with a right angle screw poly fitting below floor level and then out to the outlet on the side of the van, where it connect to a 1" Nylex click fitting. The reason why I insisted on the right angle screw together poly fitting, was that if for some reason it did clog up, it would be a two minute job to un-block. Every now and again I will boil up the pressure cooker full of water and pour it down the drain to rid it of any fat that inevitably will accumulate. We cook low fat so there never would be much. Probably more of a hygiene housekeeping thing.
AnswerID: 562157

Reply By: Deleted User - Sunday, May 09, 2004 at 01:34

Sunday, May 09, 2004 at 01:34
I can see BTi's point regarding clogging especially as some people have had to fish a chux from the drain hose ...not easy ... but it would not be a problem to have two hoses and a rinse sink surely ? Heaps of people rinse in the single sink now, dont they ? A strainer, to some degree, would allow rinsing and stop food from going down drain I would like a rinse bowl because if we have a messy meal I rinse in a bucket of hot water first then wash in single sink. Lately for our weekend trips we have been taking disposable plates for this very reason. Still have to rinse pots, pans outside in bucket. I would definitely go with separate hoses to where the sullage hose attaches. This will at least allow you to still use the normal sink if the rinse sink ever became clogged. This would involve joining three hoses into one at the sullage connection. You are in luck as I recently did a trip to Tony Powell Hose Supplies because my two into one sullage connector cracked from age/stress. I taped it up to get us through labour day weekend. After seeing what is available I'm making a manifold for the two pipes (sink,ensuite) and using plastic caps and connectors that are the same type used in the oil industry and use cam locks to attach sullage hose. Still reasonably priced in plastic. It would be easy to make the manifold for three pipes and have a camlock connector on the sullage hose ... voila !!! At worst you only have to clear from rinse sink to sullage connection. I'll see if I can find a pic of connectors. I think I saw a 3 into 1 25mm tri-Y connector. Try here for oz lock hose connectors for a look .... the make a range below this we dont need stainless camlocks or food grade but they look the same as these.http://www.tonypowell.com.au/ozlock.htm Anthony Explore this Great Land ...Do it Easy ...Tow a Bushtracker
AnswerID: 562158

Reply By: Deleted User - Sunday, May 09, 2004 at 01:35

Sunday, May 09, 2004 at 01:35
Thankyou David and Anthony for your prompt replies. The second bowl is for rinsing after washing (not before). BTi 's objection was food debris accumulating at the reduction point (40mm to 25mm) as they were not aware of any caravan sink (drainhole 25mm) of more than one bowl, and therefore a domestic sink (50mm drain and 40mm pipe) would need to be used. I have rung everyone I can find who supplies caravan sinks and the two bowl varieties only come without a drainer area. The preferred option is 1 3/4 bowls with a drainer on one side. David, what type of sink have you purchased for your new van? Does it have 25mm drainage holes? How will you plumb it? Thanks again Lyn
AnswerID: 562159

Reply By: Deleted User - Sunday, May 09, 2004 at 01:36

Sunday, May 09, 2004 at 01:36
Lyn correct, for rinsing in clean water after washing, as I don't like to leave soap residue on things. Well we would never put food debris down the sink large enough to clog the system. Our plates are always clean after dinner and bones or anything else scraped off into the rubbish. When peeling vegetables I have a stainless steel thingie that fits in the plug hole to catch anything. When you consider that the average plug hole only accepts 8mm size waste maximum through the grid, what is the problem. Our system goes down to a 1" Nylex click-on fitting and to date have never had a problem. I have used the 1" Nylex fittings for must be 20 years. I doubt BT have ever had any personal experience fitting a standard domestic sink and using it.
AnswerID: 562160

Reply By: Noosa Fox - Sunday, May 09, 2004 at 01:37

Sunday, May 09, 2004 at 01:37
We used to have the standard caravan plug in our sink (about 1/2" diameter) and found it hard to get the detergent suds out. We took it to a stainless steel fabricator with a hand basin sized plug and he cut a bigger hole and pressed it so that the new bigger plug would fit. We then just plumbed it to the flexible drain hose and it worked much better. In a caravan there is no U section to retain water as in a household kitchen sink, so I can see no reason why a double sink with flexible hoses from each that join under the sink and flow to the outlet point would not work the same as the single sink does. The only down side is that when not in a caravan park, you would use a lot more of your valuable water to wash the dishes. If you are connected to mains water supply then it would be a hugh benefit. I have noticed a number of vans lately that are having the sink at the rear of the van between a shower and cupboard and this leave very little room for dirty or clean dishes beside the sink. We have ours on the side and have bench space each side and find this very practical to use. Also if you are used to washing from left to right, or the other way, in your home make sure that you stipulate which side the bowl and drain board is. Just something to consider when finalising your layout. Brian
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