Advice on height limits of Washing Machine disposal pipe

[barryhepburn]

Hi - i'm having washer disposal pipe blues and i know someone can help. Can anyone tell me the if there's a height limit for successfully running the washer outlet pipe from the back of the washer to tie in to the main drain? Is 6 feet pushing what a washer can handle (an excellent old GE washer otherwise).

I currently have my basement drain pipe at 7 feet high off the basement floor (to clear a doorway opening) that i tie in with my washer waste line (which is a foot off the floor = 6 feet for water to travel vertically) which used to work without ever backing up. Now my basement drain pipe has been shifted up a mere 6 inches and now after a spin the clothes stay damp and the washer backs up sporadically.

Can the pipe go vertically up or does it need an S bend coming out of the washer?

thanks for any advice

[plumber1]

Your washer wasn't designed to efficiently pump that high. But to answer your question, start at the inlet of the trap and increase the stand pipe to a 3" stand pipe. That may cut you some slack.

[Mikey]

Check the installation manual for your washer. My Sears He4t, for example, is pretty complete, and says for a standpipe drain system the standpipe must be at least 2" in diameter, and have a minimum carry-away capacity of 17 gal/minute. The top of the standpipe must be at least 30" high and no higher than 96" from the bottom of the washer.

The only drainage systems allowed by Sears are standpipe, laundry tub, or floor drain. Draining directly into a waste lateral, which sounds like what you're doing, sounds dicey to me. There's no mention of a trap, a possibility of waste draining into the washing machine (so much for whiter whites and brighter brights) and probably violates some code or other. You may have to drain to a laundry tub or sump and pump up to the drain.

You can probably contact GE customer support, or find the manual online with some creative Googling.

[Cass]

I think plumber1 meant 3' (3 foot) stand pipe not 3 inch.

[hj]

No, he meant a 3" diameter standpipe, which sould accept a little bit more volume, but which would help very little if at all.