Hi Guys

I have a slight problem with the waste from my washing machine.

All piping is 2" pvc inside house hooking up to 2" cast iron going to septic.

Starting at cast iron and working back to stand pipe as follows

Tee with clean out=going left to right from tee 8" to trap. from trap to elbows 11".
pitch 1/4" toward cast.

Elbows are vertical making 180 degree turn. Elbows are set with no pipe showing between them.

From elbow to vent 14"=from vent to stand pipe 16". Total from elbow to stand pipe 30"
Pitch is 3/8" from stand pipe toward elbows.

Stand pipe 8" high.

The problem is that water backs up out of stand pipe after about half of water is discharged from washer.

Do not have room to change length of waste unless I go around corner of room.

Could increase 2" pvc to 3". Don't know if this will help.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Chuck

Quote:

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The problem is that water backs up out of stand pipe after about half of water is discharged from washer

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This tells me that the clog's on down the line.
Open up the clean out tee and run a snake down to the septic tank and see if that helps. Also increase the height of the stand pipe to 36" . Let me know, Tom

Thanks Tom
Will give it a try and let u know how it comes out.

Thanks again

Chuck

You said your standpipe was only eight inches high? I would use a coupling and extend the standpipe so that it is at least 18" high, but no longer than 30". Try this first and let me know if it solves the problem.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mygirlsdad77

You said your standpipe was only eight inches high? I would use a coupling and extend the standpipe so that it is at least 18" high, but no longer than 30". Try this first and let me know if it solves the problem.

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Hi mgd

Unable to make stand pipe longer. The cast iron pipe to septic is 39" from floor. There is an 8" space between the top of cast pipe and bottom of standpipe. If I raise stand pipe to 18", it will be 6 feet 2 inches from floor and hose from washer will not reach.

I snaked out line to septic and had a minor blockage at end of run. I was thinking of putting some "Clobber" in drain as a back up to the snaking.

Would it be advisable to increase size of PVC to 3". I don't want to do this, but if it solves problem I will.

Thanks
Chuck

Increasing to three inch is a very good idea at this point.. A standpipe should be a min of 18 inches, but in you case, this is not possible. One other option would be to build a platform under the washing machine(about a foot high) so that you could extend the standpipe. This is a tricky one, three inch may sovlve the problem. But a 2 inch standpipe that is only eight inches high may not be able to take the water from a high output washer.

Its up to you, but the more I think about it, the more I believe increasing to three inch will help.

Im assuming there is not a separate vent for the washer, it just ties right into the main drain. Most likely the last fixture on drain before it exits the house? If it is, then you don't have a main drain problem. I you had a main drain blockage, every time you flushed a toilet, it would overflow out of the washer standpipe. So you either need to increase washer drainpipe and p trap, or raise washer and extend standpipe. Hope this helps.

Thanks MGD

I have done washing machine set ups before, but never with the waste going out the wall at 3 1/2 feet above the floor. Will be changing the waste to 3" and hope this will solve the problem. At the same time will increase the amount of pipe by about 9 feet by going around corner. This will hopefully increase the amount of water in pipe enough to stop back up.

I don't have ceiling height to raise washer on a platform.

Thanks for your time and info.

Will let u know how I make out.

Thanks

Chuck

Let me give you a easy solution to that short stand pipe. If, after snaking,you still get backups then install a compression fitting,(see image) on the standpipe and prevent the discharge from backing up. That's what I had to do to my washer and it's been working for years with no backups or problems

Speedball1 and mygirlsdad77

Thank u for your patience with me.

I increased the size of PVC to 3" and the length of waste line from stand pipe by going around corner of wall.This gave me an additional 10 feet for water before it gets to caste iron going to septic.

I also put on the compression cap on stand pipe.

Ran 2 heavy loads and everything is OK.

If the compression cap doesn't hold and water backs up will have Old Faithful. LOL

Thanks again guys

Chuck

Glad its working, good job. And thank you for the rating.