another stinky kitchen drain and dishwasher problem

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Jm66208

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Another idea. My brother lived on a farm with well water which would dissolve the anode rod in his hot water heater in less than a year. Then the weird water smells would begin...
 

Reach4

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I have been unable to solidly identify the odor, and neither has the plumber.

What do you recommend next? Tearing out kitchen cabinets to further investigate vent pipes? Snaking the kitchen drain?
Anything? Ask people over to try to pin down the odor? Move and take the loss on the house?
Asking people over to try to identify the odor sounds good. Ask what it smells like without leading them. Do they independently say old mop, dead animal, or what? Include young noses... more sensitive, but probably without the experience of many smells and describing them.

Unorthodox, but how about rigging up a fan as a test to power suck from the vent that seems associated with the problem. If the smells go away, it would seem that the problem is associated with that vent system.
 

Lynn V

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I'll leave it to others to advise about "AAV". No unusual cleaning products, and odor is also in kitchen and bathroom drain. Lastly, I think it would be cheaper if I were just plain crazy!
 

Lynn V

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I will check with others on odor. I don't quite understand your suggestion of rigging up a fan. Are you talking about going up on the roof and rigging up a fan?
 

Reach4

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Are you talking about going up on the roof and rigging up a fan?

I was. I would run it for a few days in dry weather as an experiment. You would need to have a friend who was into experiments. I am not sure what fan I would use. If I had a big fast muffin fan in my junk box, I might use that attached by duct tape! A radon fan would work, but that would be expensive for a test.

I am presuming a not too pitched roof to have an amateur go up there. What I brought up as an idea here is something a professional is not going to recommend. Ok... I am not going to recommend it. It is something I might have done for myself in a similar circumstance.
 

Reach4

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Sucking on the vent is kluge. It causes a vacuum in the vent lines, precluding the vent line from injecting odors into your kitchen sink or dishwasher, even if there is an unknown hole in the vent or some other flaw. Depending on how much suction there is, it may suck your traps dry, but the air flow through a dry trap would still keep odors from entering the house by that route.

I don't really expect you to try this. I thought you might try item #3 on reply #8 on this thread, but that was also out of the mainstream. The point there was to see if the vent air pressure ever got significantly positive to where it could push its way throug a trap. Sucking on the roof vents is even more novel/kludgy. However if conventional means fail, it might be worth considering unconventional means. These were both presented as possible troubleshooting steps rather than cures.
 

Lynn V

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Sorry. I kind of overlooked Item #3 because I didn't understand it and I was busy trying other things. I do think that whatever is down there HAS to exert enough pressure to overcome the pressure of the water in the trap. We explored the idea that the odor could come from "above" the trap - e.g., something from underneath the sink - but we could neither smell nor find anything under the sink. (I have had mold in the caulking in the countertop behind the faucets, which I removed the caulk and replaced, but the particle board was still black under that. But, again, if this were the source of the odor, how would it get in the drains and why would we not smell or see it under the counter?)

In addition, now that it is cold and the house is closed up, the odor is less. Still acrid now and then from the drains, but more likely to be stronger from the dishwasher after I use it (I'm assuming because that trap is drained dry during the process of using the dishwasher.) To me, that would assume less volatility and therefore less pressure?

Anyway, I will look for a hose that is less than 1/4" in diameter if you still think this is worth trying after hearing all that?
 

Lynn V

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Here I am again! I tried number 3 above. When I couldn't get the tubing up thru the trap to the other side, I decided to remove the trap. Then I got the idea to cap off both sides of the trap and see if the odor would still come up thru the dishwasher and drain. It did for several days. So it appeared to me that the odor was indeed coming from above the trap and not thru the trap. So you definitely helped me in making that diagnosis.

My question now is: how and where would a dishwasher suck in a smell, not in the dishwasher, that would come thru badly when washing? The plumbers pulled the sink and looked at everything there. Absolutely NO smell. Sears came out and pulled the dishwasher, and, although there was some past water damage, again absolutely NO odor in the opening and certainly not in the dishwasher itself. Again, as it gets colder and the house is shut up, this odor gets less and less, but it is still there and I don't use the dishwasher at all because of it.
 
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