Does your shower drain look like this?

[goingon19]

We picked up our new 2023 Interstate 19 yesterday, our first RV/motor home. This morning, the shower didn’t drain…or only so slowly that it was imperceptible over even half an hour. There is something white under the drain cover. Does your Interstate have that?

[StogieMan]

Welcome to AirForums! Search is a bit wonky here but I would start here:

https://www.airforums.com/forums/f24...in-237925.html

[goingon19]

Thanks, StogieMan!

[Ndcctrucks]

Take the grille off and see what’s under it. Probably an installer left something in that was supposed to be removed

[goingon19]

Thanks, that’s what I was wondering. We’re very close to the dealer, so their service person is going to look at it in the morning.

[DaveG]

Originally Posted by goingon19

Thanks, that’s what I was wondering. We’re very close to the dealer, so their service person is going to look at it in the morning.

Please report back on what you learn at the dealer.
A little bit of information- The drain does not go down, it goes out the side of the enclosure. The white thing you see is part of the drain exit.

[Ndcctrucks]

That being the case, possibly the trailer was not level, with the drain higher than it should have been?

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by Ndcctrucks

Take the grille off and see what’s under it. Probably an installer left something in that was supposed to be removed

This^^^^^

Like the Bic lighter and candy wrapper I found under the rug in the storage L/R storage compartment. (rug in a storage compartment, who duz that?)

Bob
🇺🇸

The only reason I found it....

[albret]

I had a trailer with a leaver you had to pull to open a valve under the drain. Mine was in a closet. See if you can find a "T" handle in the trailer that you just don't know what it is for.

[albret]

I had a trailer with a leaver you had to pull to open a valve under the drain. Mine was in a closet. See if you can find a "T" handle in the trailer that you just don't know what it is for.

[DaveG]

OP has a van. No levers. His van has a known problem that Airstream appears to refuse to own. They placed the shower enclosure on the van floor, ran the drain out the side of the enclosure through an elbow into a back flow valve, and then into a short pipe with an elbow where it goes through the van floor into the gray tank. The amount of water pushing on the back flow valve is not sufficient to push the silicone valve pucker open so water builds up in the shower. In many units when the shower gets about an inch or more of water the valve will open and allow the shower to drain, but not very quickly. In mid year 2021 AI-19 models the drain pipe configuration was changed to quote, "improve assembly". Working as designed or designed in a way that does not work? Utopia back flow valve needs a greater angle but there is no room to increase slope. All of this is visible behind the drivers seat. Goinggon can popup the cover of the box between the seat and shower wall and see the configuration. I am interested in what the dealer tells him. He is not alone with this problem.

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by Ndcctrucks

Take the grille off and see what’s under it. Probably an installer left something in that was supposed to be removed

Yep, take it off and look at it.

Go from there.

Maggie

[DaveG]

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

Yep, take it off and look at it.

Go from there.

Maggie

All you need to do is look through the grill, maybe use a flashlight.
Betcha $10 bucks it's what I describe.

[goingon19]

The dealer sent a service technician to our campsite, which was great and helped us a lot. The technician filled a bucket with water (about 3 1/2 gallons) and poured it onto the shower floor. The force of that water was enough to pop open the valve, and the water drained well. Then we ran the shower for a couple of minutes, and that water drained too.

When running the shower, the rate of the water flow from the shower exceeds the rate at which it drains. Thanks for the good information.

[lorne_k2]

I was aware of this issue before we ordered our 2023 I19 and asked the dealer to confer with AS as to any fix/remedy for the slow drain issue.

When I picked-up the unit I was given a service receipt that stated "Per AS. Inspected shower drain for proper slope. Adjusted drainpipe and spun drain valve 180 degrees. Tested. Draining as designed."

We haven't used our shower much, just tested it out when we first got it and indeed the shower does drain slowly. That's after a decent amount of water has collected in the shower pan to open the one-way valve. We have the teak floor installed which adds some excitement to the draining process as the water level goes pretty close to the top of the shower pan.

We've resigned ourselves to the fact that we won't really use the shower, which is actually ok. All the campgrounds we stay at have showers and we don't envision a lot of boon docking so... I think we're pretty much using the Interstate 19 "as designed".

[DaveG]

Originally Posted by lorne_k2

I was aware of this issue before we ordered our 2023 I19 and asked the dealer to confer with AS as to any fix/remedy for the slow drain issue.

When I picked-up the unit I was given a service receipt that stated "Per AS. Inspected shower drain for proper slope. Adjusted drainpipe and spun drain valve 180 degrees. Tested. Draining as designed."

We haven't used our shower much, just tested it out when we first got it and indeed the shower does drain slowly. That's after a decent amount of water has collected in the shower pan to open the one-way valve. We have the teak floor installed which adds some excitement to the draining process as the water level goes pretty close to the top of the shower pan.

We've resigned ourselves to the fact that we won't really use the shower, which is actually ok. All the campgrounds we stay at have showers and we don't envision a lot of boon docking so... I think we're pretty much using the Interstate 19 "as designed".

------

We did exhaustive research on the drain issue. It is a faulty design. We came up with a number of remedies and eventually settled in with the same conclusion you did. We don't use the shower and instead walk to the campground facility. We too are using the AI-19 as designed