dishwasher detergent clogging drain

[harryagain]

+1 Insufficient/zero fall in the drain.

[Rusty]

I need to put rods through my drain about every year or so due to dishwasher detergent congealing and clogging the drain. Using "Finish" (top brand ?) tablet detergent. We rarely use the sink which drains to the same path, so it doesn't get much "flush though". I'm assuming when the dishwasher drains, it re-congeals when the expelled "liquid" gets cold.

Any suggestions ? Maybe a liquid dishwasher detergent ?

Thanks.

[Nick]

More likely either (a) fatty solids from the items being washed or (b) a problem with the drainage.

[Tim+]

I would have thought that dishwasher detergent would be most unlikely to congeal. As Nick says, most likely to be greasy plates. Lamb fat in particular is great at setting in drains.

Get a dog to prewash all your greasy plates and pans.

Tim

[The Natural Philosopher]

+10

[meow2222]

Yup. If you lack one, hot caustic soda down a drain clears it of fat. Its nasty stuff though.

NT

[ss]

+1 i do that once a year as a matter of course.

[David]

Just checking - there is no chance that this is from a washing machine?

Reason I ask is that powder in washing machines can clog up drains if you put too much in.

One of my least pleasant memories is cleaning out a grid where the washing machine (previous owner) had filled the U bend with congealed white stuff.

Cheers

Dave R

[Dave Liquorice]

So would I. I'm under the impression that dishwasher "detergent" is pretty caustic stuff . You certainly don't want to hand wash your dishes using dishwasher detergent...

We need a description of the stuff that is blocking the drain. Washing machine powder has been mentioned that clogs the pipes with a hard but crumbly residue. Fat is fat thick softish stuff with not much texture.

Any drain that regularly needs to be rodded has a fault or is having stuff down it that shouldn't go down it, like animal fats. "Fault" would normally be not enough fall so solids don't get carried by the water flow or too much fall so the water flows away too quickly leaving the soilds behind.

[Chris French]

Yeah, I've ever noticed dishwasher detergent ever doing that.

Fat does sound more likely, though I'd be a bit surprised if fat in the dishwasher water did it? I thought it was from people pouring fat down sink, or from the hand wash water?

Fat can certainly be a problem though. A while after moving into this house the drain outside the kitchen blocked a bit downstream of the U bend. (the drain turned 90 degrees as well right after it.)

Eventually cleared it with a drain cleaning attachment on a pressure washer. Great big lumps of fat floated down from it - the drain must have been at least 50% blocked with it I reckon

[Rusty]

Thanks for responses. It is not lamb or other meat fats. It is a congealed, greasy, thin, near white cement type consistency, but greasy and sticky on the hands and arms. At its worst, the rods with claw end break free solid, then semi-solid crap. I keep the dishwasher topped up with salt which should soften the water. Nasty, very hard Cambridge water. There is no feed from a washing machine into this drain. It has a reasonable fall, but does turn a corner, maybe 45 deg as soon

6 inch after it hits the drain pipe. I'm not the only one. A colleague across town had similar, and so did his neighbour. The neighbour apparantly paid DynoRod ~£250 to fix ! But mine seems worse than theirs.

I think I'll try the hot caustic soda every 6 months.

Thanks.

[Rusty]

That's ie: Washing machine powder has been mentioned that clogs the pipes with a

though it's definately from the dishwasher.

[harryagain]

The problem with modern dishwashers is that they are designed to use a very minimum of water. Maybe not enough to flush away residues in this case. If a wash hand basin was also connected to the same drain it might help.

Most dishwasher detergents contain a softener.

Could be there is an obstruction in the drain. More likely if the drain is earthenware.

Or could be missized. Oversized is as bad as undersized.

Maybe you should get a proper chemical ion exchange water softener. But don't drink the water.

[Chris French]

In message , harryagain writes

I wonder if a liquid dishwasher detergent would help?

I'm intrigued as to what the deposit is as I've never noticed such a thing. But maybe that's because the drain here has the sink feeding it as well. Maybe it's something about he local water supply?

Dishwashers include a built in water softner

[charles]

One thing that I've found clogging drains is shaving soap.

[Zapp_Brannigan]

I run the dishwasher empty every few months, on max temp, with an eggcup of caustic soda instead of detergent. I figure it flushes out any gunk in the dishwasher pumps etc, and then flushes the drain.

Not *recommending* this - it's worked for us for a long time, but maybe the caustic soda is doing something horrible to the dishwasher and it will blow up tomorrow.

[newshound]

+1

[Diane]

replying to Tim+, Diane wrote: I rinse everything before putting in the dishwasher but had to have drain lines replaced due to build-up.. I'm with Rusty on this one, I am no longer using Cascade Complete. I don't think the packs totally dissolve before going down the drain hoses.

[Mr Pounder Esquire]

This was over two years ago. Have you sorted it yet?

[Fredxxx]

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