washing maching drain getting clogged

[stockrex]

my washing machine is downstairs,
every few years it starts to drain slowly.
last few times I called a plumber, they snaked it and it worked for a few years without issues.
it used to drain slowly and overflow at the drain hose a bit once in a while.
this time it went monkey crazy and I had to mop up quite a bit of water.

So what the sud is going on? lint?
a buddy suggested putting a panty hose at the end of the drain hose and catch lint and clean that often.

 

[HerrStig]

You can buy little filters for that. Are you on a sewer?

 

[CT8]

The lint builds up .

 

[sleddriver]

Sounds like lint building up over time. If you have an air compressor, you can blow the drain line out or use one of those rubber hose-inflateable drain cleaners to give it a good flush.

The filter sounds like a good idea!

 

[goodtimes]

If you put panty hose over the drain pipe it may overflow your machine when you was certain things like rugs. That's too fine a filter anyway. They sell small drain snakes for less than $10, the kind that reel up. That should save some money. Now the code requires a 2 in drain which should be pretty plug resistant. Another way is to use a laundry tub so the water gathers in it. Also if the old drain pipe is steel it may be near it's end of life.

 

[stockrex]

plumber costs $250 to $300 to snake plus have to wait for him.

it is a newer plastic 2inch piping per code but I think it was tied to the existing drain with a T.

I heard it gurgling couple of times, could it a lack of air?
I am going to cut the dry wall open,

I am going to vac out the water out of the p-trap and take a peek.

 

[stockrex]

ok

either the problem is a clog at the p-trap
or, down stream,
or, lack of air

or bit of all of them, arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh.

 

[stockrex]

Originally Posted By: HerrStig
You can buy little filters for that. Are you on a sewer?


city sewer,
filter attaches to the drain hose?

 

[Nate1979]

We used to have a filter that would go over the drain hose our our washer. The drain hose went into a sink and the sink would always clog up because of lint. The filter is more like a plastic mesh material with holes that are small but not as fine as pantyhose.

 

[stockrex]

update:
I took out the dry wall below the washer drain as it was water damaged.
Being the perfectionist I wanted to know the root cause of the backup.

The washer problem was 2 fold:
1. no air close to the washer drain
2. main drain pipe (copper) was clogged at the bend with grease/scum/gawd knows what as this the pipe the kitchen sink drains to.

I snaked the main pipe but my 1/4 inch snake does do a good job.
I added an AAV at the clean out,

I am thinking that a chemical grease/hair remover will do a better job of cleaning out the bend of the main pipe.

which drain grease remover do you guys suggest?

 

[Doog]

FIREBALL

http://www.truekleen.com/%28FBII%29%20fireball%20II%20%28spec%29.pdf

 

[Doog]

Theochem 32-oz Sulfuric Acid Drain Opener if you can't find Fireball. (Lowes)

 

[sleddriver]

* Is the main drain pipe copper? What dia.? Sodium hydroxide (lye) is very alkaline and will disassemble proteins, fats, etc very effectively. Not sure how well it plays with Cu though.

You can also boil 2 ga. of water, add 1/4-1/2cup of TSP, stir and slowly pour it down the drain as an alternative. Then repeat 15min. later to flush away crud loosened by the first pour.

 

[Delta]

Acid drain cleaners are last resort at best. Not sure how well it would act with the copper. I know I made an even bigger clog using one of those in a tub drain one time. It loosened the crud up on the 4" line and blocked it almost solid! Tub filled up with the gunk when I flushed the toilet. Luckily I have a 50' sewer snake for those occasions. Since you said it connects to the sink line that gets grease in there I would recommend reducing what grease leftovers goes down the sink. We take paper towels and wipe as much of the pans out as much as possible. Have not had any problems in a long time and we had old iron pipes at the old house.

 

[stockrex]

we hardly pour any grease down the kitchen drain, I even take the time to wipe frying pans clean with paper towels before washing.
I am guessing these liquid anti bacterial hand soaps are causing the curd/jelly like build up.

 

[Delta]

Another thought, do you use powdered or liquid detergent? I know the old local appliance place recommended not using powdered detergent as it would turn back into a gooey paste. Not sure how true that is. Always used liquid myself.

 

[stockrex]

nope, I have one of those high efficiency front loading washer and we use liquids in everything except the dishwasher, we use those tablets in it.