Dehumidifier Drain Line

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amchap

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I'm trying to connect a drain hose from my dehumidifier to the drain pipe under the sink. Here's a photo and a drawing (with measurements) of what it looks like currently under the sink.

I'm a total beginner at plumbing, so appreciate any help. I've searched this forum, and others, looking for someone doing something similar. The closest I can find is installing a dishwasher, where people add a tailpiece with a branch in it to connect the dishwasher drain hose. So that's what I'm trying to do, but I have a couple of questions.

Q1. Can I add an extra tailpiece with a branch in it, between A & B? Obviously I would need to add a corresponding length between B & C, making the P Trap lower. I have the clearance, but does this cause a problem with drainage?

Q2. If I can't do that, can I replace the existing tailpiece with one that has both a branch to connect the dehumidifier hose and a pop-up linkage? Will that involve replacing the existing sink drain?

Any and all advice appreciated. Thanks.

Alex
 
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hj

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branch

You need a 1 1/4" threaded branch tailpiece. But unless the dehumidifier has a pump or is higher than the sink it will not drain, AND the sink water WILL drain into the humidifier.

branch-tailpiece-for-dw.jpg
 
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amchap

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Thanks. I plan to put the dehumidifer on a counter at the same height as the sink counter.

So should I replace the existing tailpiece with a 1 1/4" threaded branch tailpiece, or can I just add that between A & B?

If I have to replace the existing one can I get one with a pop-up sink drain as well as the branch?

Alex
 

Kingsotall

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It's gonna be tight, real tight but you just might be able to sandwich a branch tailpiece in there but yeah that is the way to go about it. It would be between A and B. Man thats going to be tight.
 

amchap

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Perhaps I'm using the wrong terms. The existing copper tailpiece (A) shown in the photo is a single unit with a lever going in the side which raises and lowers the drain plug. If I replace that with a branch tailpiece then I wouldn't have a plug. There's no separate drain assembly into which I could screw something.

I visited Lowes today. The advice I got there was that this wasn't possible and I'd need to get a plumber to run another drain line. The gentleman also corrected me that this is not a sink, but a lavatory, because it's a sink in a bathroom.

I visited ACE and he suggested I could cut down the copper tailpiece (A) and insert a cut down 1 1/2" PVC tailpiece between A and B. But he said it would be real tight and I ought to measure carefully. So I'm about to make some more measurements of that and see whether it looks possible.
 

amchap

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It looks like even cutting the copper tailpiece and the branch tailpiece down as much as possible, I still don't have enough room.

TailpieceWithBranch.jpg


Is there a different kind of sink drain assembly I can get which would work in a bathroom and give me space underneath to fit a branch tailpiece?
 

hj

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drain

YOU ARE MISTAKEN. Part A unscrews from the popup unit and then the new branch tailpiece screws in. Quit arguing with us and do what we told you to do.
 

TedL

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YOU ARE MISTAKEN. Part A unscrews from the popup unit and then the new branch tailpiece screws in. Quit arguing with us and do what we told you to do.

I don't think you two guys are speaking the same language.:(

Amchap, what you're calling part A is a couple of pieces -- the part with the popup (and the nuts, etc. above it), plus a thinwall brass (with very fine threads) screwed into the bottom of it. It's the latter piece that HJ wants you to get rid of and find a new brass piece (plastic can't handle the fine threads) with a DW inlet to replace it.

From the photo with the new piece held up next to the existing, it doesn't look like you have quite enough room to do otherwise, like the patch job that the plastic would require.
 

amchap

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what you're calling part A is a couple of pieces

Thank you, TedL. That was what I didn't understand. Sorry if it was obvious to everyone else.

Neither the local Lowes nor ACE Hardware have a 1 1/4" threaded branched tailpiece. Is this online product the sort of thing that I need? Should I buy an 8" and cut it down, or will I be able to find a ~4" one if I shop around?

Is that the sort of thing I'll likely need to order online? I'm in Beech Mountain, NC and I've no idea where else I could go for something like this.
 

SewerRatz

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Thank you, TedL. That was what I didn't understand. Sorry if it was obvious to everyone else.

Neither the local Lowes nor ACE Hardware have a 1 1/4" threaded branched tailpiece. Is this online product the sort of thing that I need? Should I buy an 8" and cut it down, or will I be able to find a ~4" one if I shop around?

Is that the sort of thing I'll likely need to order online? I'm in Beech Mountain, NC and I've no idea where else I could go for something like this.

You buy the 8" one and cut it to size.
 

hj

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piece

WE were talking the same language, but he was fixated on the drain being a one piece component and was not acepting that it could be unscrewed. They will only come in one length, so you cut it to fit.
 

amchap

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WE were talking the same language, but he was fixated on the drain being a one piece component and was not acepting that it could be unscrewed.

I wasn't "fixated" I simply didn't understand from anything that had been said prior to TedL that the unit was not a single piece. Without that knowledge the suggestions to "unscrew" it could only be read to mean unscrewing the whole unit from the sink. And FYI, neither the guy at Lowes nor the guy at ACE - looking at the same photo as everyone here - realized that either.

hj said:
Quit arguing with us and do what we told you to do.

I appreciate the help, but not the tone. Since you're a forum moderator, I assume that this is tolerated here, and so in future I'll look for a different forum for plumbing advice.
 

Shacko

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I wasn't "fixated" I simply didn't understand from anything that had been said prior to TedL that the unit was not a single piece. Without that knowledge the suggestions to "unscrew" it could only be read to mean unscrewing the whole unit from the sink. And FYI, neither the guy at Lowes nor the guy at ACE - looking at the same photo as everyone here - realized that either.



I appreciate the help, but not the tone. Since you're a forum moderator, I assume that this is tolerated here, and so in future I'll look for a different forum for plumbing advice.

I think you should re-think jumping forums, this is one of the best. As far as the tone is concerned, a lot of people get yelled at here, it usually is said tongue in cheek, hope you stick around. :)
 

Ian Gills

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That was positively polite to what I have been called on this forum. I would even go as far to say that it was "welcoming", relatively speaking of course.

There are friends, enemies, people out to mug you and posters on this forum.

The pain I feel is in that order. But we keep coming back for more.
 

hj

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My comment was to shake you up and get you on track to do what had to be done. Asking Lowe's, HD, or Ace hardware for advice is like the blind leading the blind. ANd if you look to previous answers, I told you to unscrew piece "A" which your drawing indicated was a tailpiece, and the branch tailpiece you found was also a threaded tailpiece, which would NOT have worked if it meant removing the entire popup unit.
 

TedL

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My comment was to shake you up and get you on track to do what had to be done. Asking Lowe's, HD, or Ace hardware for advice is like the blind leading the blind. ANd if you look to previous answers, I told you to unscrew piece "A" which your drawing indicated was a tailpiece, and the branch tailpiece you found was also a threaded tailpiece, which would NOT have worked if it meant removing the entire popup unit.

HJ, perhaps you need to take a break from helping those totally new to plumbing, or at least wait until you have the time to patiently read what they write.

The drawing with the initial posting showed "A" as the first thing below the bowl. The only thing between the bowl and the trap. That's the kind of newbie error that pros like you normally recognize and point out explicitly and in a friendly tone. Similarly, in his more recent post, the guy says he went to Ace et. al. looking not for advice but for the part he was told to get by people here.

There are certainly a number of posters who, unhappy with the work or cost involved in doing things right, argue with you and other experts. This poor fellow was merely trying to understand what you were telling him to do. On your good days, you would have recognized his misunderstanding, and simply explained his error, without yelling at him.

We all have bad days.
 

Scuba_Dave

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My dehumidifier is on the counter next to the sink in the basement
I punched out the pre-made hole in the drain pan & inserted tubing
The tubing goes to the sink
Problem solved,
no plumbing involved
 

hj

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drain

If you think that was hollering at him, you have a very thin skin. My comments were on the order of your mother saying, "Because I said so". If he had LOOKED at his drawing, and then at his picture, he should have realized that the reason there is a white ring between the tailpiece and the popup was because there was a joint there. HOW MANY times did I say "unscrew the tailpiece", NEVER remove the popup assembly? And when he saw the branch tailpiece, with its thread on the end, a light bulb should have gone off that maybe IT fastens to the popup some way.
 
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