Washing machine installation question!

i have a question about installing our washing machine - we don't seem to have a drainage pipe for it. there is a box with pipes to stream water in, which we have hooked up, but nothing for drainage which seems ridiculous but is nonetheless true and we can't use it.
the landlords are our neighbours and we asked them about it but they don't seem to have a clue either, despite having lived here for 4 years.
naturally i'm somewhat reluctant to get a plumber out and pay him to tell me there's nothing that can be done... besides, i won't take no for an answer!!!
PLEASE, does anyone have any suggestions or solutions perchance...?

If this installation were in the United States, I would look for a round circle on the bottom of the plastic box. Here, we install a plastic box with valves, and the drain opening gets knocked out after the plumbing has been tested and inspected.

Is it possible that they have a box that just has not been used so the test plug has not been removed yet?
Is there room next to the valves that you hooked the water up to?
Can you post a picture of the box?

Ron

Modern washer drains whether in the USA or Israel require 2" standpipes that are trapped and vented. The may never be reduced in size, only increased. The box makes a nice and neat way to deal with the supply valves and drain, but are not functionally necessary. The reason for the 2" size is that modern washers dump their water much faster than old models and will tend to overflow with 1-1/2" size. You probably will be dealing with metric sizes, so just use pipe that is close to 2" and you'll be fine. It is a basic rule in plumbing drains that you never decrease the size of the pipe as this will cause a bottle neck. In the US, the 2" drain might empty into a 3" which later might connect to 4". All drains need traps to prevent sewer gas from entering the home, and venting is necessary as well. I'm sure Israel being a modern country, has plumbing codes, so it would be wise to check with the government agency that deals with build codes to make sure you are following local codes. This is essentially the same advice we would give anyone in the US, because local codes vary and local codes rule. Getting technical advice from neighbors usually won't assure you of being in code compliance. You can find excellent photos of washer plumbing and connections using the box on this forum. Just look below at the "Similar Threads" and you can find them.

thanks for the prompt replies! have posted a pic here of the box so that you guys can see there simply is no drainage stand for the pipe to go into and i cannot understand how that's possible!!!

and gary, my reason for mentioning the neighbours was purely because they are our landlords and lived in our apartment for 4 years before us!!

could we perhaps hook the drainage pipe over the sink or into the toilet bowl as a temporary solution until we get the syphon to attach it under the sink (which i think is what we'll end up doing)? the machine is in the bathroom and there's no way/where to move it..

What you show is what we would call a manifold box. It doesn't look like it was intended specifically for a washer hookup. I see cold only...is there a hookup for hot to the washer? Is it just a portable washing machine, not intended for a permanent drain?

the machine is currently hooked up to the cold water - the higher pipe, to the right, is the hot water pipe.

we seem to have a new problem now though, in that having decided temporarily to drain the machine into the toilet(!), filled the machine and turned it on, no water is flowing into the machine... i could cry! and i'm scared it's more serious and the repair-man will be rubbing his hands with glee if we get him over here!!

really appreciating any advice here - thank you all

Obviously, this is a problem we cannot solve over the Internet, and since you are paranoid about asking ANY local tradesman for advice, I am not sure how you will resolve the problem. AND you do NOT have to "take no for an answer", you just need to have the "dollars" to do the job.

Polly said:

we seem to have a new problem now though, in that having decided temporarily to drain the machine into the toilet(!), filled the machine and turned it on, no water is flowing into the machine... i could cry! and i'm scared it's more serious and the repair-man will be rubbing his hands with glee if we get him over here!!

Click to expand...

If there is no water flowing in are you sure there is water coming out of the manifold where you connected the washer? Also since you just have the cold connected make sure that the connection on the washer is on the cold side. To see if it might be hooked up backwards try moving the temp selector to mixed or hot and see if you get water in the washer.

Ron

it's not that i'm paranoid per se, it's just that if it's simply a question of twisting a washer round a pipe or something, i'm reluctant to pay someone for the privilege of coming to tell me that - i openly admit i know nothing about washing machines, which is why i'm here, asking people whose titles read 'master plumber' and the like - this isn't like saying i have a rapidly-increasing growth on my face and scouring forums rather than going to the doctor!!!

in any event, by the looks of it there's a problem with the water supply rather than the machine, since it's only drip-dripping - we removed the hose to test it.. can you imagine how pissed i'd have been to call someone out to tell me that??!!

thank you to all those who posted advice

Although I can't recall it ever being discussed on this forum, I would advise against draining into the toilet. A couple of reasons. Hot water should never be run into a toilet. There is a risk of breaking it. Second, a washer drain stand pipe has to be about as high as the washer. You obviously have a water supply problem, and there is really not much we can do to locate that problem. The water connections in that box are a real mystery as well. Where do all of the extra hoses go? It looks like 3 extra hoses on the hot water side and 4 extra on the cold. Best advise I can offer at this point is to locate a professional plumber to resolve both the supply and drain questions.

I've been in a good number of old houses that had the washing machine drain water dumping into a floor drain. Perhaps just as many that had the washer pumping out the side of the house into the yard. Not everyone does things per today's codes.

cacher.....is your avatar logo " test don't guess" related to diabetes? type 2 since 2006 ,

IT is a good motto for repairing electric water heaters, also.

Gary Swart said:

Hot water should never be run into a toilet. There is a risk of breaking it..

Click to expand...

It can also melt the wax ring. Since it is only hooked up to cold however, it isn't an immediate problem. As for more cold than hot lines, my guess is toilets don't normally get plumbed with hot water.