When I turn on my Air Conditioner my laundry room drain smells.

[BamBoozzled]

Sounds like a good idea. Your trap is probably missing or deficient.

If you had a working regular trap, you could stick a cotton cord or rope in there to the bottom, and find about 1.5 inches of wet due to water standing in the trap.

Some traps have a cleanout plug on one side of the bowl. Could yours be missing the plug?

I picked up this drain! https://www.amazon.ca/Liquid-Breaker-GD102-Green-Drain/dp/B00W2FPBJG/ref=sr_1_2?crid=26S85PY9BXJPA&keywords=drain+trap+seal&qid=1590503581&sprefix=drain+trap+sea,aps,145&sr=8-2 hopefully it all works out. I got the 4 inch one after measuring the drain. Thanks so much for your help.

 

[wwhitney]

the fan in the laundry room blows strong outside the hole while the a/c drain doesn't.

Do you have an exhaust fan in your laundry? Do you use it more in the summer than the winter? Does the smell stop spreading when the exhaust fan is off?

Cheers, Wayne

 

[Sponsor]

 

[BamBoozzled]

Do you have an exhaust fan in your laundry? Do you use it more in the summer than the winter? Does the smell stop spreading when the exhaust fan is off?

Cheers, Wayne

No exhaust fan in the laundry. No we do not we do our laundry at a laundromat but yes when the a/c fan stops to keep the set temperature the same the smell dissipates. Its only when the fan comes on. Just when that happens 3/4 times a day the smell lingers and begins to "grow" and move throughout the house.

 

[Sylvan]

Your pictures can be a real health hazard as the cover seems it was never removed for proper maintenance

You can do an oil of peppermint test * though a roof vent and this will show if air is being sucked out of the floor drain

NYC we found several "sick building syndromes" and most of the causes were from the plumbing or HVAC systems


Legionella grows easily in the water, especially if algae and scale are present. Legionella can be dispersed with aerosolized drift or with the evaporate, but it may enter the air-conditioning system if there is a break between its ducts and those of the cooling tower or evaporative condenser.

Legionella has also been found in hot water tanks, hot water from showers and faucets, whirlpool spas, hot tubs, public spas, and humidifiers. It is not known whether Legionella enters a building's water from municipal feeder systems or adjacent contaminated cooling towers.


*Try a peppermint test as it is easy

https://www.hunker.com/13417159/how-to-test-plumbing-with-peppermint-oil

 

[Bannerman]

I removed the floor drain and got a toilet brush to scrub as far down as I can.

Since you were able to remove the floor drain cover, you should have been able to see water sitting in the trap, or was it dry at the bottom? This will include after you added water and canola oil.

You indicated attempting to clean the drain with various products but you did not mention using bleach or another disinfectant to kill bacteria and mold. I suspect the temporary success realized with the toilet brush and cleaning was only temporary due to bacteria rapidly colonizing again because no sanitizer apparently had been used.

Three feet of sewer backup would have resulted in extensive bacteria and mold growth potential. Were all drains thoroughly flushed and sanitized during the cleanup? My concern is the potential for some sewage solids to continue to remain within the floor drains that are infrequently utilized, especially if the drains were not power flushed but were only permitted to drain by gravity.

 

[Jadnashua]

Air blowing out of the drain implies two things:
- the trap is not functioning, if it's there at all...could be dried out, but it should hold water a fairly long time in between 'recharges'
- the line is being pressurized. That normally shouldn't be happening. If it were from the air handler, it would seem to not care whether the thing was in cooling or heat mode.

Do you have a trap on your condensate line from the a/c? If so, running the a/c should keep it full although it would likely dry out in the wintertime.

Some air handlers adjust the fan speed between heating and cooling, running faster during cooling season. That might account for the differences. I don't know whether testing the duct pressures would show you much about how well the supply and return lines are sized and configured.

Do you tend to close off some ducts in the summer that are normally opened during the heating season? If so, that would change the HVAC duct pressures, and could upset things a bit.

 

[Michael Young]

look around for floor drains or other unused fixtures. sounds you're losing your trap seal somewhere

 

[BamBoozzled]

Since you were able to remove the floor drain cover, you should have been able to see water sitting in the trap, or was it dry at the bottom? This will include after you added water and canola oil.

You indicated attempting to clean the drain with various products but you did not mention using bleach or another disinfectant to kill bacteria and mold. I suspect the temporary success realized with the toilet brush and cleaning was only temporary due to bacteria rapidly colonizing again because no sanitizer apparently had been used.

Three feet of sewer backup would have resulted in extensive bacteria and mold growth potential. Were all drains thoroughly flushed and sanitized during the cleanup? My concern is the potential for some sewage solids to continue to remain within the floor drains that are infrequently utilized, especially if the drains were not power flushed but were only permitted to drain by gravity.

The water was dry at the bottom. The backup was 7 years ago and when the insurance company sent the group to clean up the backup i dont know that was the issue. I have noticed a little bit of sludge in the bottom of the pipe but not that much. It is important to note that the other 3 drains I only rinsed one of them with water, the other two are also not in use but no smell is coming from them. I looked at my temporary drain cap and noticed that little sediment was building up but not much. For the laundry drain (the one that smells) I poured 4 19L paint buckets filled with water down the drain and it never filled up to the riser, it just drained all the way to the end. I also did other remedies as well, If I did not specify I apologize. After the water I used vinegar and baking soda, followed by a half a cup of bleach, then I removed the drain and scrubbed down there with more baking soda and vinegar. The temporary success was with any water treatment, not just the brushing, basically anything I did temporarily resolved it. It was weird though after a day a little sediment remained in the pipes and hasnt risen since. We have never had a problem in the winter but I think what we did this summer really helped the smell. Last year it was unbearable and we never knew what it was. When going downstairs placing a trap leads to absolutely 0 smell. Even without a drain the smell is merely a nuisance but I prefer to block it for company and quality of life.

I was thinking that once I install the one way valve to remove it every 2 weeks and drain it with water just to keep the drain in tact as well as rinse every other drain with water as well as cleaning it with a brush and disinfectant at the same time mainly for the summer months with the winter months just throwing down water. You have to understand I am also 22 and doing things like roof tests may not be ideal for me so I will look into calling a plumber down the line. I just have read online that this issue is so common. This thread has me worried but relieved at the same time as I am getting mixed responses from other forums and websites. Other websites have insisted that I am doing the correct thing with one way valve and water. To be honest I think the pipe may just be slightly damaged or the seal is gone. We havent had a backup in 7 years, no water coming up the drain, and the drain empties with ease.

 

[BamBoozzled]

look around for floor drains or other unused fixtures. sounds you're losing your trap seal somewhere

The basement drains are never in use. The one in the cold room never has water in it, the laundry room doesnt have appliances so we dont use it, the bathroom is unused as well since it isnt completed, and the a/c one gets some water because the drain tubes connect to the floor drain. Do you think if I fill other pipes it may fix the issue or atleast help it?

 

[BamBoozzled]

Air blowing out of the drain implies two things:
- the trap is not functioning, if it's there at all...could be dried out, but it should hold water a fairly long time in between 'recharges'
- the line is being pressurized. That normally shouldn't be happening. If it were from the air handler, it would seem to not care whether the thing was in cooling or heat mode.

Do you have a trap on your condensate line from the a/c? If so, running the a/c should keep it full although it would likely dry out in the wintertime.

Some air handlers adjust the fan speed between heating and cooling, running faster during cooling season. That might account for the differences. I don't know whether testing the duct pressures would show you much about how well the supply and return lines are sized and configured.

Do you tend to close off some ducts in the summer that are normally opened during the heating season? If so, that would change the HVAC duct pressures, and could upset things a bit.

I dont know specific about the pressure but compared to the winter months our new air conditioner blows much more powerful. Like I can visible hear it in any room and is tremendously loud. I have no idea about any traps in the drain but since putting in water in the a/c drain I have noticed no smell if any coming from that room. It is literally just the laundry room. I have checked every drain, every sink drain, every toilet, and every outside pipe that isnt on the roof. The smell only yields in the basement laundry drain.

 

[Jadnashua]

The higher fan speed in the summer may result in lowering the inside air pressure, pulling air in through the drainage system. While the a/c is running and you can feel the air being sucked in, try having someone open an outside door or window and see if that stops it. If so, you need to find where in the ducts that things are leaking. To me, this is implying that the fan is trying to pull in outside air probably because the return duct is undersized. The building may not have been engineered for those higher fan speeds and higher CFPM air flow, and it's creating a negative pressure in the house. I'll bet that the problem gets worse if you turn on a bathroom exhaust fan, or if you have a range hood that actually exhausts outside rather than back into the room, that makes it worse yet.

A heat recovery ventilation system might be able to allow makeup air that would keep the house at a the same pressure as outside.

 

[BamBoozzled]

The higher fan speed in the summer may result in lowering the inside air pressure, pulling air in through the drainage system. While the a/c is running and you can feel the air being sucked in, try having someone open an outside door or window and see if that stops it. If so, you need to find where in the ducts that things are leaking. To me, this is implying that the fan is trying to pull in outside air probably because the return duct is undersized. The building may not have been engineered for those higher fan speeds and higher CFPM air flow, and it's creating a negative pressure in the house. I'll bet that the problem gets worse if you turn on a bathroom exhaust fan, or if you have a range hood that actually exhausts outside rather than back into the room, that makes it worse yet.

A heat recovery ventilation system might be able to allow makeup air that would keep the house at a the same pressure as outside.

That makes a lot of sense to be completely honest. The a/c literally blasts air out of all fans that sometimes the house is cold. I think my idea of taking out the one way valve every couple of weeks and rinsing water will maintain the drain.