Hey All,
I did a quick search through the forum and couldn’t come across a relevant answer. I’m renovating a 1950’s single story ranch in Las Vegas. I’m relocating the laundry room into a former bathroom. My plumber ran new supplies and tied into an 1.5″ galvanized drain for the washer. The standpipe and trap are 2″ ABS. I’m getting the dreaded standpipe over flow problem, and I’m running out of troubleshooting options. I’ve augered the drain (as a matter of fact, EVERY drain on this side of the home, with two different augers and a bladder) several times, I reopened the drywall to inspect the layout and ensure it was vented and sloped correctly, and everything checks out.
I did a quick test on the washer, a newer model samsung front loader, and it discharges around 16 GPM for around 25 seconds at its longest and heaviest push of water. I hooked the garden hose up to the washer valve and even that, at a lower GPM, is forcing the standpipe full at about 23 seconds. I even tried throwing a 3″ standpipe on as a last ditch “maybe this will buy me another half gallon/couple of seconds” effort…no dice.
If anyone has any thoughts on a fix, a part I’ve never heard of, or even a troubleshooting step, it’d be greatly appreciated…I’m banging my head against the wall over here. Is my only route to run a new 2″ drain?
Replies
I'm guessing you didn't auger far enough.
I suppose that’s a possibility, I got 25’ through. The main is about 10’ from this drain stub, however I believe it went about 4’ through the slab to pick up the old shower before it went outside to tie into the main.
One other note, I drained about 3,000 gallons of pool water through the main (someone had enough foresight to stub a 3” drain for the backwash 30 years ago) yesterday, and there wasn’t an ounce of water that escaped.
I'll note that if you really have a 1.5" drain, that's generally not sufficient for a washing machine drain.
Thanks Dan, yeah that’s essentially what I’m settling on, just hoping there’s something out there that’ll avoid me having to dig into my freshly laid tile and cabinetry.
PT,
Any chance you have room for a wall hung laundry tub? Not saying it will solve the problem.
Hey Calvin,
Yeah there will be a sink basin. It's a 33" farm sink in cabinetry, so I'd rather not spew the discharge into it, but I suppose that's an option that hadn't crossed my mind. Out of complete naivety, could I run it like an air-gap where it's counter mounted?
try extending the hose to the bottom of the standpipe and seal where it enters. There's a good chance there will be enough pressure to force the water through. It may not work but it's a free try.
Interestingly enough, I came across this product last night, which sounds like it kind of uses that theory. Not a lot of information out there about it, but I picked one up, for $25 it's worth a look.
http://www.gviivalve.com/
Thought I'd put a conclusion up here now that I've finally got an answer. 100% it was the discharge rate of the washer going into an 1.5" drain, it's just overwhelmed. I roughed in my sink drain off the same 1.5" drain, and added the GVII valve I mentioned above. Between the bit of extra volume on the sink drain lines and the valve, I managed to run two full loads without issue last night.
The GVII valve is a really interesting solution. It has a little BB sized stainless steel bearing in a shaft. It looks like what happens is as the washer discharges, the air pressure pushes the bearing up and air seals the valve, both creating pressure to force the water down and preventing it from leaking out (there was one point out of the two loads where a good 12oz of water was pushed back into the washer, which didn't appear to be an issue, the pump just started back up and drained it). As soon as the water begins to drain, the ball bearing drops re-opening an air passage and draining the remaining water.