Greetings.


I am having drainage problems in my kitchen sink. We just purchased this home, it is just around 100 years old. The kitchen sink does not drain, or technically, it drains extremely slowly (20 hours or so). The main stack is ancient iron pipe: see this image: http://www.freewebs.com/simplypottery/iron%20stack.jpg.

In an attempt to solve the problem, the previous owner installed this inline vent: http://www.freewebs.com/simplypottery/kitchen%20sink.jpg.

It has not solved the problem and there is currently a leak from the right side sink drain where it couples sink to drain line. (white couples with the black pipe line).

The other fixtures drain with no problem. But the kitchen sink connects way below them on the main iron stack, and is significantly farther away from the main stack.

Please give me advice on how to get this kitchen sink to drain. Thanks kindly.


Micah Smith

The mechanical vent installed below your sink is the right idea, but those do wear out (they're spring-loaded). I'm not sure what kind of mileage you can get out of them, but try replacing it. They're about $20 at home despot, and simply screw in (no glue).

The leak is a different problem... either not tightened correctly or not installed correctly.

Of course, SpeedBall is the full expert here so listen to what he says!

Good luck,

James

Hey Micah,

Let's see if you have a vent problem or a drainage problem.
Unscrew the AAV( Air Admittance Valve) and see of the sink drains better.
If it does replace the AAV. If it does not then run a snake down the open vent pipe and snake out that horizontal drain line. The leak comes from a compression joint and tightening the compression nut should take care of it. Let me know. Tom

Unscrewing the AAV resulted in the water going nowhere. Plugged it must be. Snaked the line, and had great success.

I tried tightening the compression nut, but it didn't seem to help, pulled it off and found that the piece that gets compressed was cracked. A trip to the local hardware store and I was able to get a replacement and solve that problem also.


Thanks kindly for your help!

Micah

Similar problem here, I snaked down 15 feet, nothing. I snaked up the vent 15 feet and got ice out but still no drainage... Any thoughts?

Hi Eagle,

You've hopped into a thread from 2005 and it has its own unique set of issues.

Please start your own thread at the main plumbing page. Give us as much information as possible and we'll see what we can come up with for your problem, OK?

I'm off for now, but I'll check back in later today.

Mark