Waste pipes backing up / Saniflo

[Dave Jennings]

Yes, I know how esteemed the Saniflo is generally, but it was the best solution for our needs!

It's run trouble free for 5 years, but now we have a bit of a problem:

En-suite wc, saniflo pumping horizontally extracting waste from WC and shower. Has always run perfectly in this environment.

Recently has started making buzzing noise but no sound of the pump/ macerator running. Result is ( understandably ) that the waste water backs up in the shower and the wc. Mmm, lovely. I did disassemble it all, making sure there was nothing jamming the macerator element but it's all fine.

Now, I guess it's something that's gone on the saniflo but might it be something else like an airlock somewhere in the pipes? I expect not, as my tiny tiny brain says that if it isn't being pumped away then it has to back up on itself, but I'd appreciate any advice before having to call an engineer out, thanks.

-- Dave Jennings

[Heliotrope Smith]

If the motor is buzzing it sounds like it is stalled. Did you spin the macerator blades by hand when you had it opened up?

[Pete C ukdiy]

If the motor isn't jammed it might be the capacitor:

cheers, Pete.

[Dave Jennings]

Hi, yes I did - whilst I had it all opened I figured I should clean it up a little. Blades rotated fine.

One other thing - as I say, some of the waste has backed up into the shower tray, so I got a plunger to see if that made any difference.

When I use the plunger on the shower tray, the corrugated exit pipe on the saniflo "knocks" and contracts in relation to the plunging. Would it do that anyway?

-- Dave Jennings

[Chewbacca]

If the motor seems fine are you sure that the exit pipe is not blocked? That would allow the motor to spin but obviously not pump.

[Dave Liquorice]

I shouldn't think so. To me it indicates that outlet pipe is blocked some where downstream of that point. Even if it had to go up hill it should still be open and not allow any larger pressure build up to occur causing the pipe to collapse and knocking noises to be heard.

[Dave Jennings]

Now, I'm not sure the motor's actually spinning - instead of the usual whirring noise, it's more like a buzzing noise with no actual movement of the macerator bit obvious.

The actual exit pipe from the saniflo is clear, I assume you mean the remainder of the waste pipe going towards the drain. I've tried running some unblocking rods up as far as I can get them, but only have a wholly amateur cheapo set. I wonder if I'm just as well getting a plumber / DynoRod type sort in then.

-- Dave Jennings

[Dave Jennings]

So, again suggesting that there's a blockage further down the waste pipe? In that case, I will need to call in a professional.

Dagnab it - there goes the mad money I'd squirreled away!!

-- Dave Jennings

[Dave Liquorice]

I'd save your money on a "professional" for such a small pipe. They char= ge not far short of =A3100 call out and won't do much more than you already= have. Better spending your money on the tool they'll probably use:

=A3100 but at least you will have it for next time...

You mention rods in your other post, do you mean rod as in fairly stiff = or a long length of small dia spring? The latter is what you want(*) probab= ly less than a fiver from a DIY shed. Failing that Aldi/Lidl had a drain cleaning thing that you attached to a (mains pressure) cold water tap an= d fed a head with little holes in down your blocked pipe to blast the gunk= away. This really needs to be done in the reverse direction of the norma= l flow, so the dislodged bits flow out of the pipe rather than down and in= to constricted pipe.

(*) The SF item above is just a semi-automatic, less messy and longer version of the long thin spring.

vernic

[Andy Dingley]

Try TLC (electrics) too. They're pushing the Batman-utility-belt of bendy plastic rod sets at the moment and I suspect they'd be good for small drains as well as fishing wiring.

4 from Aldi. Top bit of kit.

Aldi, and it seems to be threaded for funny furrin threads that none of my taps had heard of. I had to do terrible bodges with self-amalg tape to get it to work, until I got to the lathe and made a decent adapter. The idea however is great - especially for fat-layer removal on kitchen sinks before they're blocked completely.

[Dave Jennings]

Yup, it's the long spring thing I have - from B&Q or similar, used before on main bathroom with great success!

Hmm. Wonder if I should just have another go with this then, rather than fork out unnecessarily.

-- Dave Jennings

[Dave Liquorice]

I would from the bottom up if possible, with a small flow of water down it to wash the bits out. Is it long enough to do the pipe run end to end? Can you work out were it gets stuck or stopped? Maybe you can open the pipe at that point.