Sink drain giving trouble - water not draining.

I have an issue with the kitchen sink. The water won't drain away. I have had a look at the plumbing under the sink and it is a U bend as follows.

\ \ \\\\\\\\\\\\---->

\ \ \ \ \\\\\

There is a step as shown above after the u-bend but no trap. there is an elbow attached to the u-bend which means the water has to rise further before falling. Is this causing problems or is this OK.

What actually happens with a full sink is that water only drains away very slowly indeed.

The washing machine is also connected under the sink to share this same drain.

Anyone have any comments as to my next steps to try and solve this problem or anythink i should be doing?

Many thanks for any assistance.

Reply to
lavenders19
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I have an issue with the kitchen sink. The water won't drain away. I have had a look at the plumbing under the sink and it is a U bend as follows.

\ \ \\\\\\\\\\\\---->

\ \ \ \ \\\\\

There is a step as shown above after the u-bend but no trap. there is an elbow attached to the u-bend which means the water has to rise further before falling. Is this causing problems or is this OK.

What actually happens with a full sink is that water only drains away very slowly indeed.

The washing machine is also connected under the sink to share this same drain.

Anyone have any comments as to my next steps to try and solve this problem or anythink i should be doing?

Many thanks for any assistance.

Reply to
lavenders19

Has it ever run away properly? If it has, it's probably now bunged up with something. Try pouring some boiling water down it, using a plunger, or dismantling the pipe, if possible.

Reply to
Chris Bacon

Also - check outside if it goes into a drain. It could be full of grease. Hot water there would also help.

Reply to
john

Hi,

This is my usual method for unblocking a sink:

Once unblocked I slowly pour a kettle of boiling hot water down the sink to soften any remaining blockage, then half fill the sink again and repeat the above to help ensure it gets totally unblocked.

cheers, Pete.

Reply to
Pete C

Hi, thanks for the comments so far. Not sure if it has ever been ok, i know it's been a problem for a while. it is in a rented house. the problem is that they treat it like a bin and put all sorts down there. I have dismantled the ubend etc and it seems clear all the way way till the pipe goes outside.

Once outside, the problem is the pipe goes straight to the floor, i think it is concreted in, therefore difficult to isolate what is causing the problems.

I will go this weekend and try the milk carton and boiling water suggestions.

Many thanks.

Reply to
lavenders19

| lavenders19 wrote: | > I have an issue with the kitchen sink. The water won't drain away. |=20 | Has it ever run away properly? If it has, it's probably | now bunged up with something. Try pouring some boiling | water down it, using a plunger, or dismantling the pipe, | if possible.

There are also lots of drain cleaners which will probably work. After you have cleared it put boiling water down it every month or three, and then let the hot tap run for a few minutes.

--=20 Dave Fawthrop Sick of Premium SMS scams, SMS marketing, Direct marketing phone calls, Silent phone calls?=20 Register with

formatting link
they work :-)

Reply to
Dave Fawthrop

I simply fill the plughole up with neat dry caustic soda, and dribble a kettle of hot water on it.

Usual nanny state precautions taken of course according to your paranoaia level, but do at least wear glasses.

This usually fixes it. Then copious flushing with more hot water, followed by gallons of cold, and maybe a bit of vinegar to neutralise the alkali,..

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

BTW if you have a washing machine standpipe or similar, which is between the sink plug hole and the blockage, it'd be a good idea to block it off with strong tape or similar before squirting half a gallon of water down the plug hole!

cheers, Pete.

Reply to
Pete C

Sorry, not having a pop at you, but it always makes me laugh when this idea is given as a 'trick of the trade' on DIY makeover shows, usually in connection with stripped pine doors.

Apart from the presenters invariably not knowing their acid from their alkali and getting it the wrong way round.

You can have no idea of how alkaline the residue is, therefore you can have no idea how much acidity is required to neutralise it. Caustic soda having a pH of around 13 and vinegar about 2 probably means you would have to soak the door in vinegar for a fortnight - which could leave an alkali residue you would have to neutralise with........

Show me a TV presenter with some Litmus paper or some indicator solution and it might make sense.

Dave

Reply to
david lang

Washing machines can bung up the waste pipe good and proper with their detergent waste. I've dismantled many waste pipes that were just solidly packed with it.

Reply to
daddyfreddy

Wonder what door stripping places use?

cheers, Pete.

Reply to
Pete C

Take advice on this, from the Internet at large if need be.

Hint: you might have complete success, or block up your plughole, or cause yourself permenant physical disability by blindly (cf) following this advice.

Reply to
Chris Bacon

Hi all.

When i poured boiling water down the plughole, it simply drained away without a problem. Thought this was strange so filled with hot water from the tap which again got stuck.

This led me to boil up 3 large pans of water and bring to the boil. i put in the plughole and filled the sink with boiling water, removed the plug and it drained away easily. I then filled it with hot tap water and it drained away fine a couple of times, then got stuck on the 3rd time again.

Any ideas as to this strange behaviour??? I will try the caustic soda this weekend.

Reply to
lavenders19

I guess something with a melting point somewhere between 60 & 100 Celsius is lodged in the trap. IME cooking fats, which are a common cause of blocked drains, melt at lower temperatures, but it might be something like candle wax.

Reply to
Rob Morley

Try adding some detergent to the water - this should emulsify whatever it is and stop it setting again as it cools down.

Dave

Reply to
david lang

Try pouring a load of boiling water and some detergent _slowly_ down the plughole then fill sink half full of hot with more detergent and use full 4pt milk container to flush a load of water down followed by the half sink full of water.

cheers, Pete.

Reply to
Pete C

Wouldn't it be simpler to remove the trap and investigate? Douglas de Lacey

Reply to
Douglas de Lacey

But smellier :-)

Reply to
Rob Morley

And then pour the drainings down the sink?

Reply to
<me9

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