Charlie G.
New Member
Full disclosure; I am not a plumber. I am a retired compute engineer, and you know that those guys have not common sense.
Problem: Triple sink in kitchen. Middle is for disposal. Both sinks have been slow to drain for a while, but yesterday very nearly stopped draining entirely. Drain rate is about 10 minutes per gallon from either sink. Sink starts to fill within 5 seconds of turning on the faucet fully.
Environment: Kitchen is near North end of house about 50 feet from exit house to septic field at South end of house. There is a bathroom further North. There has been no problem at that location (or any other). I have a full basement and so I checked to see where the kitchen drain was located relative to other drains. It appears that the North bathroom is further upstream from the kitchen, joining with the kitchen sink drain at a tee directly below the kitchen sink. Thus I surmised that the problem must be in the approx. four feet from the sinks to the tee in the basement. Since neither sink drains properly then it seems likely that the problem is in the straight downpipe to the basement tee.
What I've done thus far:
a) Ran a bottle of drain cleaner through it following directions, followed with hot water. No change.
b) Looked for a way to get a snake in the downpipe. Found that I could remove the vent from the top of the pipe. Ran a snake down to the tee in the basement. Didn't find anything on the snake, and it didn't impact the problem.
c) Just on a hunch I removed the vent, held my hand over it to keep great quantities of water from coming out and ran water into the sink. Had my wife turn on the water and the sink drained. Replaced the vent and the sink stopped draining. A couple more times to prove that it wasn't coincidience and I surmised that the vent is bad.
d) Today purchased new PVC air admittance valve Oatey Sure-Vent model 1664 which exactly matches the old vent. Installed the new vent and again the sink does not drain.
e) Removed the new vent and the sink will again drain, and no the sink is not draining to the cabinet beneath the sink through the vent hole.
f) The draining behaviour with and without the vent installed of both sinks is the same.
At this point I feel that I must have gone senile. I took fluid dynamics in college and this should be obvious to me. It isn't.
I have attached photos that I hope are adequate to illustrate the plumbing architecture under the sink.
Please help this old man. The wife is now mocking me.
Problem: Triple sink in kitchen. Middle is for disposal. Both sinks have been slow to drain for a while, but yesterday very nearly stopped draining entirely. Drain rate is about 10 minutes per gallon from either sink. Sink starts to fill within 5 seconds of turning on the faucet fully.
Environment: Kitchen is near North end of house about 50 feet from exit house to septic field at South end of house. There is a bathroom further North. There has been no problem at that location (or any other). I have a full basement and so I checked to see where the kitchen drain was located relative to other drains. It appears that the North bathroom is further upstream from the kitchen, joining with the kitchen sink drain at a tee directly below the kitchen sink. Thus I surmised that the problem must be in the approx. four feet from the sinks to the tee in the basement. Since neither sink drains properly then it seems likely that the problem is in the straight downpipe to the basement tee.
What I've done thus far:
a) Ran a bottle of drain cleaner through it following directions, followed with hot water. No change.
b) Looked for a way to get a snake in the downpipe. Found that I could remove the vent from the top of the pipe. Ran a snake down to the tee in the basement. Didn't find anything on the snake, and it didn't impact the problem.
c) Just on a hunch I removed the vent, held my hand over it to keep great quantities of water from coming out and ran water into the sink. Had my wife turn on the water and the sink drained. Replaced the vent and the sink stopped draining. A couple more times to prove that it wasn't coincidience and I surmised that the vent is bad.
d) Today purchased new PVC air admittance valve Oatey Sure-Vent model 1664 which exactly matches the old vent. Installed the new vent and again the sink does not drain.
e) Removed the new vent and the sink will again drain, and no the sink is not draining to the cabinet beneath the sink through the vent hole.
f) The draining behaviour with and without the vent installed of both sinks is the same.
At this point I feel that I must have gone senile. I took fluid dynamics in college and this should be obvious to me. It isn't.
I have attached photos that I hope are adequate to illustrate the plumbing architecture under the sink.
Please help this old man. The wife is now mocking me.
