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Kitchen sink drains very slowing every now and then.

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

Hi,

We have some problem with our kitchen sink drain coming to a crawling halt. Please see the attached video. This has been happening quite often. After giving a few strokes with the all mighty plunger, sink is moving again like this. Right after plunging the sink was making a thumping sound as air bubbles came up. But I was not able to recreate that thumping sound when I took the video.

Anyways, a few other details... we have a dishwasher connected to this plumbing system. All the other sinks/tubs in the house drain properly all the time. The kitchen was redone about an year ago when the deeper sink was installed and we had to remove the garbage disposal since the discharge was at same level as the p-trap.

I've tried using a snake with a drill, lots of boiling water, Pequa Heavy Duty Drain Openner from Home Depot and also cleared out the p-trap. What could the issue be with the chronic drain problem - ventilation or lack of disposal or something else?

Please see attached picture of plumbing set up. The copper cap on the dishwasher intake was there only during plunging. That's now removed and dishwasher line is connected back up again.

Many thanks!

Featured Answer

Vith

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

Drain line seems normal from the pic (apart from the disconnected DW line as you mentioned), you are either plugged at the vent or plugged in the drain line. More likely plugged in the drain line, if the vent was plugged it would act odd or siphon your trap causing sewer gas instead of coming to a complete halt. Kitchen drains have the tendency to cause a soft plug aka a clog from grease/food/etc which a snake will open temporarily but will close back up soon. The ideal item to use is a blow bag for kitchen drain lines. If this item is above your skill set, employ a plumber. Mention the blow bag to them if they try to snake instead. Dont use any more chemicals, they could damage your drain line or melt the adhesive holding the pipes together.

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Comments (6)

charleemo
8 years ago
I am having similar problem. Thanks for posting a reply, Vith. I will try that on mine.
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nilanjan_p
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks for the response Vith. Sink is still good for the past 6 days. I was wondering what would be the best way to reinstall the garbage disposal. I think the best way would be to roll up my sleeves and lower the p-trap discharge gone into the wall? Or would a double p-trap be ok?

Thanks!
Vith
8 years ago
Disposals come in various sizes and have different discharge locations, possibly find one with a dishwasher inlet and a higher discharge. Your disposal was attached directly to the sink previously? If not it should have been.
nilanjan_p
Original Author
8 years ago
Yes - it was connected to the sink. This was before kitchen was redone with a deeper sink. Attached is a picture of the old one. I've searched around for disposal and Home Depot and Lowes but they seems to be all the same size. Could you please suggest a disposal if possible?

Thanks!
Vith
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
From the pic it looks like you could hook that up directly to the trap, the discharge is at the same height / slightly higher as the horizontal after the trap.

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