majorwoo
New Member
Ok, history
The previous homeowner had done a wonderful job of discharging the washer into a 2" pvc pipe about 7" overhead. It was literally 3 washer discharge lines connected end to end going to a 2" pipe with a single upturned 90" elbow and the discharge line stuck in that. There was a rag stuck in it to "seal" the smell. For some reason I can not quite explain this didn't leak all over(I guess the washer was just discharging straight into the line that led out and there was nothing slowing it). It did manage to smell though when you washed anything.
The Plan
I knew this wasn't right, so I set about doing some research to make it right by putting a sink in the basement(the wife wanted one), and a pump (http://www.waterace.com/sump_6.html from Lowes) to pump the water from the sink/washer up and out. I had never worked with a dry vent before but I thought I understood the concept, so I ended up with the following:
Pictures
Quick Picture Explanation
Picture 1: Obviously the washer stack, washer p trap (and hot/cold supply lines). I used a P trap with a clean out because I thought I was being smart.
Picture 2: The horizontal line on the left is the input to the pump from the sink/washer. The Front left vertical line is the discharge (notice the checkvalve) that runs up inside the drop ceiling and 90's over to the 2" drain line out to the septic tank(I know know why there is 2 lines into my septic tank). The rear right vertical line is the vent line that runs up inside the drop ceiling where it is capped with a studor AAV (As i don't have existing dry vent's anywhere in the house to tie into). All 3 lines have a flexible coupling in case I need to pull the pump back out. You can see the horizontal line running from the washer stack behind the 2 vertical lines over to the tie into the pump input.
Picture 3: You can just see part of the wye behind the sink leg there. The wye simply goes up into a 90 elbow and you can see it in picture 2 running behind the pump lines over to the washer stack.
Things I've figured out I did wrong
#1) I've put my wye in backwards, so it's directing the water being discharged from the washer towards the sink and not towards the pump (I'm not sure how big of a problem this is, but easily fixed if needed)
#2) I've not vented my washer P trap. I guess I thought that the vent from the pump was going to cover me but that does not seem to be the case.
#3) I used the existing washer discharge line - this flimsy thing kinked on me and the washer blew 1/2 it's load onto the floor. This is easily fixed with a new hose.
#4) It would have been smarter to put the flexible coupling I intended for easy removal of the pump before the check valve. As it stands now if I open the coupling any water above is going to come back down :/
Real Problem
Problem is the sink fills up rapidly, and the pump kicked briefly and then stopped. The sink was filled to the brim with water. After waiting a bit for the pump to kick in I shop vac'd the sink. After getting most of the water down and sucking a little up the drain the pump kicked in and did it's thing. (I had previously testing the pump by letting water run and did so again after the washer problem, it is happily pumping water again) I'm guessing that I somehow stopped the pump with a water seal (air lock?) or something? I'm not certain, but I believe the problem to be my lack of a vent on the washer's p trap. When the water is draining in the sink I can hear it gurgling in the pipe stack, so I know that's not right.
What I think I need to do
#1) I need to vent the washer P trap. I should be able to simple T off the line after the P trap and pipe it up and over to the vent. I am hopeful this fixes all my problem!
What I don't know I need to do, but probably should do
This is why I'm here. I thought I knew what I was doing, but obviously having missed venting the P trap I might do better to check in with some other people. Any thoughts, comments, tips? Please don't be afraid to show me something I've done wrong/offer your advice.
The previous homeowner had done a wonderful job of discharging the washer into a 2" pvc pipe about 7" overhead. It was literally 3 washer discharge lines connected end to end going to a 2" pipe with a single upturned 90" elbow and the discharge line stuck in that. There was a rag stuck in it to "seal" the smell. For some reason I can not quite explain this didn't leak all over(I guess the washer was just discharging straight into the line that led out and there was nothing slowing it). It did manage to smell though when you washed anything.
The Plan
I knew this wasn't right, so I set about doing some research to make it right by putting a sink in the basement(the wife wanted one), and a pump (http://www.waterace.com/sump_6.html from Lowes) to pump the water from the sink/washer up and out. I had never worked with a dry vent before but I thought I understood the concept, so I ended up with the following:
Pictures
Quick Picture Explanation
Picture 1: Obviously the washer stack, washer p trap (and hot/cold supply lines). I used a P trap with a clean out because I thought I was being smart.
Picture 2: The horizontal line on the left is the input to the pump from the sink/washer. The Front left vertical line is the discharge (notice the checkvalve) that runs up inside the drop ceiling and 90's over to the 2" drain line out to the septic tank(I know know why there is 2 lines into my septic tank). The rear right vertical line is the vent line that runs up inside the drop ceiling where it is capped with a studor AAV (As i don't have existing dry vent's anywhere in the house to tie into). All 3 lines have a flexible coupling in case I need to pull the pump back out. You can see the horizontal line running from the washer stack behind the 2 vertical lines over to the tie into the pump input.
Picture 3: You can just see part of the wye behind the sink leg there. The wye simply goes up into a 90 elbow and you can see it in picture 2 running behind the pump lines over to the washer stack.
Things I've figured out I did wrong
#1) I've put my wye in backwards, so it's directing the water being discharged from the washer towards the sink and not towards the pump (I'm not sure how big of a problem this is, but easily fixed if needed)
#2) I've not vented my washer P trap. I guess I thought that the vent from the pump was going to cover me but that does not seem to be the case.
#3) I used the existing washer discharge line - this flimsy thing kinked on me and the washer blew 1/2 it's load onto the floor. This is easily fixed with a new hose.
#4) It would have been smarter to put the flexible coupling I intended for easy removal of the pump before the check valve. As it stands now if I open the coupling any water above is going to come back down :/
Real Problem
Problem is the sink fills up rapidly, and the pump kicked briefly and then stopped. The sink was filled to the brim with water. After waiting a bit for the pump to kick in I shop vac'd the sink. After getting most of the water down and sucking a little up the drain the pump kicked in and did it's thing. (I had previously testing the pump by letting water run and did so again after the washer problem, it is happily pumping water again) I'm guessing that I somehow stopped the pump with a water seal (air lock?) or something? I'm not certain, but I believe the problem to be my lack of a vent on the washer's p trap. When the water is draining in the sink I can hear it gurgling in the pipe stack, so I know that's not right.
What I think I need to do
#1) I need to vent the washer P trap. I should be able to simple T off the line after the P trap and pipe it up and over to the vent. I am hopeful this fixes all my problem!
What I don't know I need to do, but probably should do
This is why I'm here. I thought I knew what I was doing, but obviously having missed venting the P trap I might do better to check in with some other people. Any thoughts, comments, tips? Please don't be afraid to show me something I've done wrong/offer your advice.