Are there too many fittings?

[miamicuse]

I have a double sink. Left side has a garbage disposal and the right side does not. The left side has a trap then drains to the right side which then has a trap too.

Once in a while when I run the garbage disposal it vibrates and shakes and some fitting will come loose and water splashes everywhere. I had this happened twice in the last three months.

So, I think this is because the whole contraption (done by last owner) has too many fittings. I counted nine.

Is the picture below the way it should be hooked up? I kind of think may be the trap between the garbage disposal and right drain is not needed. Any advise?

See picture here:

Thanks,

MC

[Tim Fischer]

I'm not a plumber but that install looks ok to me. You want the trap on the disposal (see

for an example).

The fittings don't look excessive to me, but then I"m not a plumber. Mostly standard plumbing parts -- I was expecting something really cobbled together from your descripition Just crank the nuts down a bit more with a wrench (but not so tight as to break something!)

-Tim

[Pat]

Here is a page with directions and pictures on how to do it.

[miamicuse]

Your link showed no trap between the disposal and second line. I think if I did that it will eliminate two fittings.

[BobK207]

Your installation (IMO) isn't worth changing.

The trap after the disposal (IMO) is not needed but at this point why bother changing it?

If it ain't broke why fix it?

cheers Bob

[George E. Cawthon]

Yep, there should be no trap between the garbage disposal and the other drain. The disposal should dump into a single pipe that can slant slightly down to the main drain. Probably the former owner just used what he had. But it looks like the pipe between disposal and the main is cocked a bit and one end or the other needs to be adjust up or down to seal well.

The disposal should not vibrate, either you are (1) grinding stuff that should not be ground, (2) the disposal is bad, or (3) the unit is not tight to the sink or the sink isn't tight to the cabinet.

[George E. Cawthon]

You only need one trap in a drain connected the way the OP shows. The Sears picture shows the garbage disposal dumping into the main drain, not into the drain from the other sink.

[buffalobill]

replace the disposal and delete the left trap.

[Stretch]

All the non plumbers posting should not post, as they are guessing. The installation is wrong. The disposal should have an extension tailpiece on it and the disposal trap should go directly into the drain. Put a wye at the wall so both traps can connect there. Right now the disposal goes through two traps.

If you wish, you could use one trap for both. Come out of the disposal with a twinning kit made for double bowl sinks. Use an ell under the sink and a flanged tailpiece on the disposal. Then connect at a tee that drops into a trap.

My first suggestion would work best though.

Stretch SC plumbing/Mechanical license # M-107191

[Toller]

No, the gd trap is not useful. If I were you (and about two years ago I was. My trap fell apart because the plumber who installed it was an idiot; much like yours) I would pull the whole mess out and replace it without the trap. You can probably reuse a few of the components; but that stuff is so cheap it is not worth having ground up refuse all over because you wanted to save $3.