I have a whirlpool duet front loader washing machine. 2 weeks ago it started to overflow the drain. I have had this washer for almost 1 year now. It never overflowed before. I poured drain opener down the drain with no results. The drain is located in the wall, but there is a trap or capped drain on the outside of the house. I have ran a snake down the vent tube on the roof until I see it in the drain. I have ran a snake down the inside drain line until I see the snake in the drain outside. I ran a 1/2 snake down the outside drain at least 25ft. I can put the washing machine fill line in the drain and run it with no overflow. Why is it backing up when the washer drains?

Hi Heavyd40...

Simply put, the volume of water that discharges from a washing machine hose doesn't match the volume of water that discharges from a washing machine drain hose... not even close!

Here, for example, whenever I question if a main drain is clogged I will try all kinds of stuff, like flushing multiple toilets or draining tubs, but if the drain is an issue it is always the washing machine draining that shows my customer that the main drain is indeed the issue.

With that being said, I don't mean to imply that this is a main drain issue as I don't know how your pipes connect, but the fact that the washer drain continues to be an issue after snaking the drain tells me that you pushed through the clog or the clog is farther out.

Either way, you need to snake the drain again. If possible keep water in the drain piping while you snake the drain. When the water shows you that the drain begins to unclog you will want to work the snake back and forth in that general area multiple times to assure that the problem area is cleared well... ;)

Care to discuss more? Let me know...

Mark

Hey Mark,
This is all helpful ideas, but there was nothing else in the house that is backing up. So the main line is fine. So after I was convinced that it was not a clogged drain(because it did not back up through the un-capped pipe outside)