Replacing Waste Disposal - Related Questions

[itbedave]

So I found out early this morning that it's NOT my 2 year old dishwasher that's leaking (I thought some food crud had built up along the seal on the bottom right, allowing water to escape.) No - it's my 15 y.o. ISE Badger 1 disposal that is leaking through the bottom and out the motor housing.

I'm not concerned about replacing that itself (ordered a new Waste King Legend 9930 unit FWIW). But I do have some concerns about how everything is currently plumbed under the sink - and thought if I'm going to get in there, I might as well fix anything that needs fixing.

I'm attaching a few photos of how it currently is setup.

My main concern is that the drain line between the wall and the trap runs slightly uphill, and that's likely causing the issues we've experienced with the right sink bowl backing up and leaving food crud in the bowl from time to time.

I've seen similar plumbing setups to ours before - but wondered if it's just that drain line that's really causing the problem? If there's a clogged trap issue as well? Or if I needed to run a separate trap and line to the drain line from each sink to alleviate the backup?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[djmayhill]

The reason you have disposal water come in the other side of sink is because the tee that connect the disposer is supposed the have a baffle in it to direct the waste down. Your current one does not. As far as drain going uphill in wall you cannot fix that really. Other than the disposer you will need 2- flanged tail pieces, an end outlet waist and a p-trap all tubular I would use plastic that should do it

 

[itbedave]

So basically, replace everything between the disposal, the short run from the right basin, and the drain pipe going into the wall?

The reason you have disposal water come in the other side of sink is because the tee that connect the disposer is supposed the have a baffle in it to direct the waste down. Your current one does not. As far as drain going uphill in wall you cannot fix that really. Other than the disposer you will need 2- flanged tail pieces, an end outlet waist and a p-trap all tubular I would use plastic that should do it

 

[djmayhill]

Yea i would it's all done with washers and nuts so it's real easy

 

[itbedave]

The drain pipe into the wall - it looks as though it could be that the pipe was just glued into that T a little crooked. I'll get a level on it today when I'm getting in there to do all of this work. But how significant does that slope need to be in order to fix it vs. leaving it as-is?

 

[KULTULZ]

So I found out early this morning that it's NOT my 2 year old dishwasher that's leaking (I thought some food crud had built up along the seal on the bottom right, allowing water to escape.) No - it's my 15 y.o. ISE Badger 1 disposal that is leaking through the bottom and out the motor housing.

I'm not concerned about replacing that itself (ordered a new Waste King Legend 9930 unit FWIW). But I do have some concerns about how everything is currently plumbed under the sink - and thought if I'm going to get in there, I might as well fix anything that needs fixing.

I'm attaching a few photos of how it currently is setup.

My main concern is that the drain line between the wall and the trap runs slightly uphill, and that's likely causing the issues we've experienced with the right sink bowl backing up and leaving food crud in the bowl from time to time.

I've seen similar plumbing setups to ours before - but wondered if it's just that drain line that's really causing the problem? If there's a clogged trap issue as well? Or if I needed to run a separate trap and line to the drain line from each sink to alleviate the backup?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

SECOND ENTRY OF-

- PLUMBER'S GUIDE TO SUCCESS -

1) Hot on left - Cold On Right
2) Shiat flows downhill
3) Do not bite nails
4) Leave no DNA on job site
5) Boss is PIA
6) Just say no to plumber's crack
7) Payday on FRI

ADDENDUM (Fr.) 14 APR 2016
8) There is no LH monkey wrench

The trap arm has to be @ level at the least for proper drainagage, especially with a GD install.

The Tee w/ baffle may induce clogging.

 

[itbedave]

Since I just bought the T w/baffle, I can easily see how that could happen. You're essentially reducing the diameter of the pipe that the most crud flows through by half, right as it makes a right angle down.

Can I just cut that baffle out? I don't recall even seeing one without it.

 

[djmayhill]

The tee with a baffle is the only way to prevent waist from coming out of the basket strainer on the other side. it can clog, but that is if you are using your disposer improper by putting peals and stringy vegetables down it which should never happen. You can put the other tee in but that won't fix the main problem you were worried about. Cutting the baffle out is a bad idea in my opinion. As far as the uphill drain it will require some skill to fix. if you want to buy the bit that bores out a fitting you can attempt it and then glue in a new pipe to slope the right way, but if you mess up the fitting you will need to go into the wall to fix it. As a service tech I come across this all the time obviously it is not done the right way and if you want to spend the effort to fix it which could make a bigger problem by all means do so. If you don't want to the sink will function fine but water will always sit in that spot. Keep in mind your sink has been draining for years like that with no problems and the only problem you have notice I've told you how to fix

 

[itbedave]

Thanks much for the tips.

I removed all of the existing plumbing I'd planned to remove tonight, and the T in my existing setup DOES have the baffle after all. It was surprisingly not clogged after 15 years of use. So I'm going to replace it with the baffle'd T I bought.

The drain pipe running into the wall is definitely flowing slightly uphill. There was about a 10" sleeve pipe inside it that I pulled out, and the space between the two pipes was caked with solid debris. As you suggested, the pipe coming out of the wall is glued into the fitting, and would require opening up the back of the cabinet and drywall behind it to attempt a fix. Given it's not been a huge problem for 15 years, and given I've already had to tear out and replace the base of my cabinet due to this leak, I'm not going to create another project for myself and leave it as-is.

Thanks again for all the feedback everyone!

 

[KULTULZ]

The tee with a baffle is the only way to prevent waist from coming out of the basket strainer on the other side. it can clog,

There are several ways to control the GD discharge flow without a tee'd baffle.

 

[djmayhill]

There are several ways to control the GD discharge flow without a tee'd baffle.

Would be interested in knowing what those are I've never been showed or told that

 

[KULTULZ]

Originally Posted by KULTULZ-
There are several ways to control the GD discharge flow without a tee'd baffle.

Would be interested in knowing what those are I've never been showed or told that

Ain't no problem, but be advised that I am not a licensed plumber...

1) You can route the GD discharge straight to the trap and have the other bowl drain tie in with a PP tee...

2) You can go with PVC/ABS and use a sanitary tee...

3) Double Trap the sink...

 

[itbedave]

Ain't no problem, but be advised that I am not a licensed plumber...

1) You can route the GD discharge straight to the trap and have the other bowl drain tie in with a PP tee...

2) You can go with PVC/ABS and use a sanitary tee...

3) Double Trap the sink...

That last picture with the double trap was something I was considering, but not sure if I have enough room/clearance or if I can put a Y connection in the line going into the wall. Hmmm...

 

[djmayhill]

I highly discourage from those other ways in my 10years Doing service plumbing I've found more issues with those solutions then the way I have explained. Also then last one takes up a lot of space under the sink for no reason

 

[itbedave]

No worries. I'm putting it back as it was - except now that I've found my other basin drain is now leaking, requiring another trip to the hardware store in the morning - I'm thinking about fixing or at least improving my slope issue to the drain pipe.

I'm attaching a photo of what it currently looks like - which is how it was before, just with new parts. The tail pipe running from the trap is sleeved completely inside the pvc that is connected into the wall. I'm wondering if I could/should cut back that pvc behind the threaded fitting on the end, then glue a new threaded fitting on, allowing a longer run of the tail pipe which would at least slope downward more than it is currently?

 

[djmayhill]

You could do that for sure if you want the threaded piece you are talking about is called a trap adaptor. Is it leaking where it is glued, or where it is threaded?

 

[itbedave]

Where it threaded - but I believe that's because the slip washer was not on the straight part of the tube...the elbow of the tube was being forced in too far. So cutting that pvc back would alleviate that problem as well.

I found the trap adapter this morning.

 

[itbedave]

Cut off about 4" of the pvc coming out of the wall - which allowed for a better view of the huge clog in the back of it. In my efforts to clear the clog, I discovered that the pipe didn't run straight into the waste pipe in the wall...It actually make a right turn as well - which I'm sure didn't help anything.

Anyway, I've got the new trap adapter glued on. Started to replace the basket/drain, and realized I don't have a basket wrench. Back to the store I go!

 

[itbedave]

Have everything back together, but running into a couple of very slow leaks in these fittings. One i I believe was the result of an alignment problem - and that seems to be fixed. But the other is a leak right at the connection to the bottom of the new basket drain o had to put in. It came with a new top hat nut, and I'm wondering if maybe I just turned it too much and need a new one now? Or if I should be putting thread sealer on since that's a metal ring and threads?

 

[djmayhill]

Is it cross threaded did you try tightening it with a wrench metal nuts on the basket usually require a wrench