Appliance Repair Wisdom for the Ages

Saturday, March 26, 2005

Well, well, well...
I got me an old washer
It's makin' me blue
It spits up out the drain pipe
I don't know what to do.

Can someone help me,
with my scummy water blues?
I got water in my basement,
Oh, Samurai, tell me what to do!

I say I got me a washer...

Ok, that's enough of that. A little bit of the Blues goes a long way with me, bruthah.

This problem is common in older houses with jack-leg plumbing jobs; with drain pipes that are too small in diameter; or from drain pipes that have become constricted from years of built-up gookus and scum inside of them. Many times, the problem is exacerbated by using too much detergent in your laundry; recommended reading: Your Detergents Suck.

Someone posted this problem in the repair forum and another user posted the photograph below of his very clever solution:

Vertical Surge Pipe Solution for Washing Machine Drain Pipes that Backup During Pumpout

Read the forum thread where we discussed this problem.

3 Comments:

Today tried your vertical surge pipe solution for my washing machine drain pipe that backed up. It worked beautifully!!!

Thank you, thank you!! Our home has sold and resolving the drain problem was one of the stipulations that needed to be completed prior to closing.

You've saved the day (and the sale)!

By  herself55, at June 24, 2006 8:37 PM  

Wouldn't it be just a good to install say a ball valve in the hose between the washer and the jbent drain hose? It would be used to simply slow the pump flow of the newer washer machine to a level that the Old drain system can take without overflowing.

steve

By  balesmachine, at April 30, 2007 11:37 PM  

Steve: that depends on the washer type. Most nowadays drain based on a timer, not the water level in the washer. The washer will drain, say 30 seconds then go into the next cycle whether the water is gone or not. You can test out this theory by running the drain hose back into your washer. Sure enough, it'll start the next cycle (most washers). So, reducing the flow of the water isn't going to help.

By  Ub3rn00b, at December 26, 2007 6:09 PM  

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