My washer is too fast draining for my drains

OK. Just got a new washer because I got tired of fixing the old one (and I could no longer troubleshoot the issue.. )

Get a new washer, FAST draining.. too fast actually. My 1960's plumbing wont keep up.

I'll let the pics do the talking


Horizontal pipe is less than 5 ft long and goes to the washer trap, verticle pipe is going nowhere, like its supposed to be a vent? Diagonal pipe is coming from bathroom upstairs.


Slightly better view.. Removing that cap on the vent (the white piece) makes it drain faster, but still cant keep up. I have water coming out of my standpipe in about 10-15 seconds from the start of the drain cycle.


The drain above the washer..

Any suggestions to make this thing a little quicker? I am having a plummer come out tomorrow to check the cleanout (I can check the drain from the washer, pretty clear). Maybe a larger diameter standpipe (6" or 8") down almost to the floor with a massive trap? The hydrolic pressure from the 6-8" pipe would keep it pretty low since its only pushing against 2" pipe.. and would give me a LOT of volume to play catchup with.. opinions on that or suggestions on other possible fixes?

oh, and for continuity sake.. the hose clamp in the last pic, is the hose clamp on the left in the middle pic.

Yes, the main drain for the house is as high as the top of the washer almost.

It looks as though you might have a bit of an offset where the two sections of pipe are joined by that rubber coupling (Fernco). That offset could be enough to slow the flow down enough to cause your problem. That is the wrong fitting for that application.

Plus, you need a vent just for the washer trap arm.

But I suspect that your real problem is buildup in the 2" section of the cast iron branch. It is an eye opener to see how much rust, scale, and general buildup can restrict flow through cast iron piping.

so snake it out, replace the abs 2 section pipe completely with a full length pipe?

I'm assuming that to replace the cast iron line would be very expensive?

I hesitate to say that it just needs snaking out. Using 1/4" cable with a bulb head through that is useless. It needs a full size head on cable that can turn that head under severe torque, with an electric motor behind it that can provide the power to spin it, coupled with a person who has the knowledge and desire necessary to do so. A single pass through with an undersized cable and head powered by a drill type drain gun won't do it.

No need to replace the full section of pipe, just use either an ABS coupling, or even a banded coupling, in place of that all rubber coupling. In fact, use a banded coupling to provide an easy access point in case the drain line doesn't get snaked properly the first time.

would going in through the clean out be a worthwhile venture?

By snaking I mean rotorooter type thing, not the snakes you buy at home depot.. I have a plummer coming out tomorrow hopefully.. we'll see what he says.

Also 6 or 8 inches for a standpipe is not enough.. Must have min 36 inches for proper flow...

That said, sometimes it's just old piping. Or you could wrap duct tape around the hose the size of a tennis ball and push it down the standpipe. By all means NOT RECOMMEND it , but works

Its closer to 18", but i get your point.

phishfood

But I suspect that your real problem is buildup in the 2" section of the cast iron branch. It is an eye opener to see how much rust, scale, and general buildup can restrict flow through cast iron piping.
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Click to expand...

You were very right man. He couldnt even get a 1" spade bit into the 2" junction. Pulled out a chunk that was about about as thick as my thumb.. 1" give or take... He went to work with a couple bits, including a 2". Flows like .. uhh.. water now. I've still got the wall opened up and running a test load in the washer now. We ran a few gallons through it (the lowest water setting in the washer.. about 3-4 gallons) and it didnt even start to back up. I could hear it before.. that noise of a water glass filling up, not there now