Septic Line Clean-outs

[Treetops]

Recently I had a plugged drain pipe to my septic tank: plug was within 5 ft of the tank. When I went to use the clean-out plugs to snake the lines, I found that 3 out of the 4 clean-out plugs had leaked big time. Noticed that the caps on the clean-outs were only on finger tight. House was built 8 years ago and have been that way since. (This may explain the slight sewer smell sometimes present in the basement.) End result is ruined carpet. Moral of story; inspect your clean-out caps!

My question is: how to seal these 3 inch caps? Only one of them has an O-ring. The others are just a plastic-on-plastic seal (black PVC or ABS?) with no way to put on an O-ring. Would Teflon tape on the threads do the job? Or if the caps are screwed on very tight, will they still leak? Is there another solution?

Thank you!

[Eric Tonks]

I always use Teflon tape

[willshak]

My plastic pipe clean outs are 20 years old. They have never leaked and I have one for the kitchen sink/dishwasher/water softener drain at eye level about 5 feet from where I am sitting right now. They are not hand tight, though. The few times I have had to use them, I had to use a pair of pump pliers, pipe wrench, or a large crescent wrench to remove them. I used the same tool to retighten them. They don't have to be torqued, just a quarter or half turn more than finger tight. There are no o-rings or teflon tape on the plugs.

[John Hines]

Yes, a tight cap will make the fitting gas tight. The tape will help the seal, as well as make it easier to remove in the future if needed.

[Treetops]

Recently I had a plugged drain pipe to my septic tank: plug was within 5 ft of the tank. When I went to use the clean-out plugs to snake the lines, I found that 3 out of the 4 clean-out plugs had leaked big time. Noticed that the caps on the clean-outs were only on finger tight. House was built 8 years ago and have been that way since. (This may explain the slight sewer smell sometimes present in the basement.) End result is ruined carpet. Moral of story; inspect your clean-out caps!

My question is: how to seal these 3 inch caps? Only one of them has an O-ring. The others are just a plastic-on-plastic seal (black PVC or ABS?) with no way to put on an O-ring. Would Teflon tape on the threads do the job? Or if the caps are screwed on very tight, will they still leak? Is there another solution?

Thank you!