And why do these campers have a p-trap at all?  They do not connect to a sewer, they drain right out to the outside only.  there isn't even any provision for connecting to a sewer.  When I'm out in the boonies, I usually just let the sink drain onto the ground.  The water is gray water, but not very dirty.  At a developed campground, I put a bucket under the drain, and empty that in an appropriate place (usually into a bush or onto grass, if there is no reason not to -- which is what I would do with dish washing or hand washing water if I were doing outside what I do in in the camper sink).

A trap just seems like unnecessary complication when something eventually goes wrong (and maybe promotes something going wrong, as mentioned with bio-growth in the post below).

DMc

---- Loren Busch <starwagen@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> Just replaced the P trap under the sink in my '90 Westy.  I had the whole
> kit from Van Cafe.  First, there was some discussion a week or so ago about
> the length of the replacement hose shipped from Bus Depot.  It was said to
> be 24 inches long, to short.  I measured the one I had, almost exactly three
> feet (36 inches) and actually to long!  I reinstalled the original big bulky
> hose because first there was nothing wrong with it and second I didn't like
> the replacement.  Even though it would take up less room and might be routed
> more out of the way it would have had at least one kink in the flexible
> sections and I don't want that to trap 'stuff' that might get washed down
> the drain.
> And thanks for the tip some time back from someone on getting the old trap
> off.  Use the Dremel!  Don't leave home without it.  There was no way the
> old trap was going to unscrew, the whole fitting was turning in  the bottom
> of the sink.  Couple of cuts with the Dremel and some prying with a big
> screwdriver/pry bar/wrecking tool and it was apart.  BTW, had to replace for
> two reasons.  First, the bracket inside that the screw that holds the bottom
> half of the trap attaches to was broken and the screw itself had rusted
> away.  In addition the stuff growing in the trap had plugged the drain to
> the point that it didn't (drain that is).  So it might be a good idea to
> unscrew that little screw on the bottom of your P trap and do some
> cleaning.  Water stands in the bottom there and nasty stuff grows.

--
David McNeely