washer machine drain problems

Well I moved my washer up from the basement to a closet converted to hold it. Everything works fine but when we hooked up the washer to test it, it backed up, so I went down stairs thinking the grade was not steep enough and put it to 3/4 drop for every foot, it helped but still backs up on a large load.

heres the specs on the job i did. 2inch "abs" down threw the floor then elbows horizontally for 18 inches and elbows down again, then elbows again horizonaltlly to start 19 foot run where I taped into a 2 inch galvinized drain from the kitchen which goes straight down into the basement slap floor (that is all that drains on that line besides now a washer)

yes I have it vented behind washer 45 inches off the floor , it tees and thats where I put the washer dishrge hose pipe also 45 inches off floor parrelling each other.

One thing I just tried today after reading on your site last night was a AAV valve under kitchen sink which I heard gorgling when washer would drain. And as far as I under stand it from this web site is it could use one...it seems to help but can still hear water comeing up the line so tomorrow I am going to try and snake the 2inch galvenized pipe thinking it might be cloged paritally

then if that dont work I might increase the 19 foot run in basement to 3 inch, would not cost much to do and line itself would hold allot more water. Well thanks for any advice you got for me a first time home owner of a house around 50 years old.

Ouch! Fifty year old galvanized that has been draining a kitchen sink all those years............it is probably only about 1/2 inch by now. It drains the sink okay but now with pumping your washer into it it can't take it all away. Can you replace the galvanized piece?

As far as going from 2" to 3" on that 19 foot horizontal run...right now it will hold just over 3 gallons of water going to 3" will double it to almost 7 gallons. How much water is in that washer?

About those elbows..........are they regular 90's or double 45's or long sweep 90's or what?

washer

You should have cleaned the old drain you connected to all the way to the 3" line. If you cleaned it well, you wouldn't be asking the question now.

In the first place, you never go from a large size (3") to a small size (2"). In the second place, pipe size is not your problem, at least with the new stuff. The problem lies in the antiquated galvanized pipe. You did say, maybe you don't know, how far into the slab the 2" galvanized goes, but it should all be replaced even if you have to break some concrete. As was previously mentioned, that old galvanized has corroded to the point where it isn't 2" anymore, so there's your bottleneck.

Replace as much of the Galv. pipe as you can. When you get to the stack be sure to take a wide screwdriver or similar and make sure the hub area is not caked with crud so all will flow well.

King3244 said:

Ouch! Fifty year old galvanized that has been draining a kitchen sink all those years............it is probably only about 1/2 inch by now. It drains the sink okay but now with pumping your washer into it it can't take it all away. Can you replace the galvanized piece?

As far as going from 2" to 3" on that 19 foot horizontal run...right now it will hold just over 3 gallons of water going to 3" will double it to almost 7 gallons. How much water is in that washer?

About those elbows..........are they regular 90's or double 45's or long sweep 90's or what?

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The 90s are regular 90s....thanks for the reply. As for replacing the galvanized not sure but will check it out

plumber1 said:

You should have cleaned the old drain you connected to all the way to the 3" line. If you cleaned it well, you wouldn't be asking the question now.

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thanks for the tip....but if i would have invested in Microsoft in the 1990s I could have but a newer house or paid a plumber thanks again

drain

I would like to see a picture of your installation. Nowhere in your description is there a mention of a trap.

hj said:

I would like to see a picture of your installation. Nowhere in your description is there a mention of a trap.

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I was told since I am using a dedicated grey water line I would not need one...only the sink and a waher dumps into it

A sink is not a grey water fixture.

If the washer is connected to the sink line, then it should have a trap, that is vented.
Any length of pipe that is over five feet in length, should be considered waste lines and run that way.

Fittings on the waste line should be long turn or 45 on the horizontal, and if they are horizontal turning vertical, they can be med 90's,

A two inch line will drain the kitchen sink and the washer fine, if the line is clear.

Wow,
Sounds like you have quite a few problems. One is the galv. kitchen drain, two is the AAV, and three is the regular 90's. You need a standpipe that is between 18-30 inches long before it goes into a trap. After the trap arm you should have a vent pulled off. The CW drain can be tied into your kitchen sink drain but with the AAV, the amount of water from the CW going to that drain is pretty substantial and that creates a positive air pressure that the AAV cannot alleviate and that's why you have a burping gurgling trap (gasp). Not too mention that the galv. pipe is probably not providing the full cross sectional area of a 2" line. I suggest re-routing your laundry drain to tie into the main waste line instead of your kitchen drain. And as always all fixtures need a trap and a vent and should be ran with the appropriate fittings, horizontal to horizontal and vertical to horizontal should always be ran with long sweeps or two 45's. Good luck!