How come when my washing machine starts to spin rinse, the toilet bowl starts to bubble?
I’m supposed to know this stuff, at least that’s what DW says.
Rod
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vent
..it's good to vent ,now ,what's the answer to the Q?If it is to be.... 'twil be done by me.
Hiya Rod, Welcome to Breaktime.
I would wager to think your existing vent system has a clog in in someplace causing air to backup in the pipes when the fast spin cycle in the washer whirls air around in there.
That would be my first guess unless it's an older system predating air vents.
But that's coming strictly from a homeowner DIY. Perhaps an experienced plumber might be able to jump in here and add a bit more detail.
Edited 3/15/2003 1:16:24 PM ET by rez
Ok, up on the roof I go, flashlight in hand.
A bit more info:
Both washing machine and toilet are in the same room, a basement utility room of a raised ranch. The toilet has been slow to flush and not doing it's job completely if ya know what I mean.
The toilet (I believe) is the last thing that's plumbed in to the system before it exits the house. It sits very close to the pipe that goes to the septic tank which is about 20 feet away.
The other 2 bathrooms, kitchen and showers all have no problems.
Is it possible that the close proximity of the tank has anything to do with it?
Thanks for the help, up on the roof I go.
Rod
The line between house and tank is partly clogged. As the washer empties it is filling the line and forcing air out. The toilet is the closest vent to the line, and it has standing water in it so you see/hear the bubbles.
Joe H
Thanks Joe,
Couldn't see anything stuck in the vent pipe.
What you are suggesting sounds like a plausible explanation.
In fact it sounds downright obvious once ya think about it.
I'm giving myself a slap upside the back of the head!
Tomorrow I open the septic tank and try and clear the line.
Oh God.
Rod
Roar! Now's the time when you wish they'd have put some cleanouts in the line.
If there is in fact a vent, the vent cant be more than the 2nd to last in line with any other fixture on the same vent system. If there isnt a vent you need to add one..you can cheat and put one in the wall but dont tell anyone I said that
One other thing...The trap bottom should be between 6-18" max off the finished floor.
Be vented next to last
Namaste
andy
"As long as you have certain desires about how it ought to be you can't see how it is."
http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Edited 3/16/2003 7:04:42 AM ET by Andy Clifford(Andybuildz)
Rod -
There should be a cleanout in your basement floor just before the sewer line exits the building. If there is, run your sewer rod in from there to see if you can dislodge any clogs.
Avoid putting your head down into the septic tank. The best case scenario is that there is a lack of oxygen in the tank, the worst case is that the atmosphere in the tank contains methane. Suck some of that into your lungs and you may become part of the sludge in the tank.
How long since the tank has been pumped and inspected? Every three years is a good rule of thumb for pumping. If the system has been in use for a while, be sure to have the inlet and outlet baffles checked to make sure they're in place. They have a tendancy to deteriorate and fall off, especially the older concrete baffles.
And don't be bobbin' for apples in there either.
View Image
Latrine deaths over Kenyan cell phone
Three men have died trying to retrieve a mobile phone from a pit latrine in the Kenyan town of Mombasa.
University student Dora Mwabela dropped the phone into the latrine while she was answering a call of nature, the Daily Nation newspaper reports.
She offered a reward of 1,000 shillings ($13) for anyone who could recover the phone, worth 6,000 shillings.
Most Kenyans survive on less than $1 a day.
First, recently married radio technician Patrick Luhakha, 30, tried to get the phone back.
Not found
He ripped up the toilet floor before going down a ladder into the latrine.
The fumes inside must be extremely poisonous considering the short time it was taking to disable the retrievers Acting Mombasa Police chief Peter Njenga
After a while, nothing more was heard from him and a neighbour, Kevin Wambua, went to check on his friend.
He then slipped and fell into the putrid mess and was also unable to get out.
A third man, John Solo, then tried to rescue the two, while policemen stood and watched, the paper reports.
He collapsed while halfway down the ladder and neighbours managed to haul him to the surface but he died on his way to hospital.
A fourth man had to be held back from trying to rescue his two friends by acting Mombasa Police chief Peter Njenga.
"We would have been talking of four dead," Mr Njenga said.
"The fumes inside must be extremely poisonous considering the short time it was taking to disable the retrievers," he said.
The cell phone was not found.
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/africa/2850045.stm
I had no idea that septic tanks were so dangerous!
In that case I am going to do the manly thing and ignore it hoping that it will go away.
Besides, there's a new Tommy Lee Jones movie opening up this weekend. Priorities, right!
To all:
There is a vent so I don't have to put one in.
There is no clean out before it exits the house. If you are sitting on the stool, your right arm is about 8" away from the inside wall. Eight more inches and you're outside.
The plumbing under the toilet is buried in the concrete slab. This is a raised ranch with a finished basement. Carpet over concrete slab, linoleum over concrete in the bathroom.
We've been here 8 1/2 years and had it pumped 3 times. Did have a guy out here last fall to do a quick check on it. Discovered that one corner of the concrete tank is corroded badly, cracked, and if not for the dirt holding it in place it'd be gone. So, a new tank is certainly warranted.
He also said he'd like to move it a bit further and a bit lower than what it is now. Now there is only about 4" topsoil on top. It's the first place in the yard that the snow melts from.
And now for the last couple days it's been smelling a little funky outside.
Is it possible that melting snow is entering the septic tank pushing sludge up the inlet? The ground is pretty saturated around here.
Oh God, why did I have to say that.
Quick! To the movies!!!!!!!!!! Rod
>one corner of the concrete tank is corroded badly, cracked, and if not for the dirt holding it in place it'd be gone.
>he'd like to move it a bit further and a bit lower than what it is now
>Now there is only about 4" topsoil on top
>for the last couple days it's been smelling a little funky outside
>The ground is pretty saturated around here
There's all the clues you need, right there.
There is no clog in the drain to the tank, there simply isn't anywhere for what's going down the drain, to go. The tank is full of water. The tank is too close to the house as well.
You flush the toilet, or do the dishes, and there is probably enough pipe between the house and the tank, to hold the water. (Except for that one toilet, which is closest to the tank. It works, but not as well as it would, if the pipes were clear from there to the tank.)
Take a deep bath, and yer getting close. Do the laundry, and you have filled up those pipes, and are starting with filling up the pipes in the house.
It will eventualy settle back down to the level of the tank, but it would be better if the tank were farther from the house, deeper, and not falling apart.
...
Have a new tank put in. The guy you quoted here sounds pretty good at it.
While yer at it, have the pipe dug up just outside the wall, and put a cleanout there. Better than nothing at all.
Quittin' Time
Oh sh!ttttttttttt
At a dollar a day to live what were the cell phone rates?
Personally I'd have used two coconut halves and a roll of jute
Be out of Africa (OFF instead of AT&T)
Namaste
Andy"As long as you have certain desires about how it ought to be you can't see how it is." http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Maybe it is trying very hard to be a bidet?