8/14/99 Update

The homemade vacuum breaker helps to keep the sink draining, but I was still not completely satisfied with the way things were working. Sometimes, water enters the funnel too fast for the drain hose to handle it and the funnel would overflow. Other times, even with the vacuum breaker I'd still have slow or no performance when trying to drain the sink. I relocated the sink drain hose and connector to the floor underneath the trailer. Now, the sink drains very quickly, every time.

5/5/98 Update - It Works Great! SWOOSH!

I noticed that the galley sink drains freely when no drain hose is connected to the drain port outside of the camper. When a drain hose is connected and routed to a gray water tank, it is very difficult to get the sink to drain.

My approach to cure this problem is simple - if the sink drains easily when not connected to a drain hose, why connect it to a drain hose? Instead, let the gray water splash freely into an open vessel that feeds the drain hose.

Here is a description of how I fabricated the "prototype" you see depicted above.

First, locate all of the parts you need to fabricate the device. I used an assortment of PVC fittings that all connect together to create sort of a funnel. The hose gooseneck adapter at the top of the PVC parts is needed to make the transition from the horizontal drain outlet on the camper to a somewhat vertical orientation. As an alternative, you could use a more simple design with a hunk of 4" PVC pipe and a cap or reducer at the hose end. I didn't feel like buying 10' of 4" PVC, so I selected the assortment of parts you see above. The bottom of the assembly is threaded to accept a standard garden hose female connection.

Next, drill holes straight through your top piece of PVC and your hose gooseneck adapter

Glue all of your PVC pieces together using PVC cement.

Use a stainless steel cotter pin or nut and bolt to attach the goosneck adapter to the top of the PVC assembly using the holes you drilled earlier.

The whole thing should look like this when you are finished.

A close-up view of the vacuum breaker installed on the camper. It isn't very pretty. One day I might make a more attractive one with some 3" PVC pipe and a reducer or end cap that feeds the hose fitting at the bottom of the vessel, instead of the combination of PVC fittings shown here.