I hope there's a plumber or two on FHC to help with a peculiar problem that has cropped up. A few days ago, the kitchen sink quit draining all at once. It worked fine in the evening, and the next morning it just backed up...no water will go down. It's in a mobile home, so the flow path is easy to describe. In the kitchen, under the sink, it goes straight down into a P trap. From there, its a slightly less than horizontal run of a couple feet, and then a 45 degree drop into the same pipe the vent stack belongs to. From there, it goes 2 feet straight down (basically even with the floor. From this point, it's a straight shot all the way, near the other end (about a 22-24 foot run. It then runs into a 90 degree fitting, and drops under the floor. It does another 90 degree and runs horizontal to the T y? I call it the teapot under the toilet where the drain lines join the sewer pipe. So I've been having a head scratching go of it. I know it's a process of elimination and no voodoo involved, but this non plumber is stumped. Water doesn't drain. Go up on roof, pour hot water down vent stack. Stack was not plugged with frost or ice, could hear water run down.Water level rises in sink. Put 15 foot snake down, no obvious obstructions. Pull P-trap below sink, and auger with 15 foot quarter inch snake. Not too vigorous, as I figured I'd know when I hit an obstruction. Do that for a bit, put pipes back together, and no go. Same thing with a 25 foot snake. Feels like resistance a few times, but nothing major (binding?). Can hear snake all the way down the pipe run hitting the 90 degree drop. No joy. Snake again for about 30 minutes all the way again, even with no resistance just to make sure. No luck. Figure I'll hit it from the other way (yes, pulled the toilet and went in from the where the pipe ends up. Snake runs in about 3-5 feet, and binds at the 90 degree drop. No luck, still won't drain. Fill tub 1/2 full of water, block kitchen sink/bathtub water drain hole in T y? thing. Use plunger in tub to hopefully back feed somewhat towards the kitchen to push/pull obstruction. No luck. Plunged the kitchen sink to see if water would go down. Nothing. So that's where I'm at. The trailer has a slight lean, but it's to the back, so this should favor easy drainage. It also shifted this fall slightly on one side, but I'll probably get it back to normal with about 1/4" shims on one side. I'll also add, that the 90 degree elbow that drops below the floor, does not obstruct the bath tub drainage (both the kitchen sink and tub drain into and down this elbow. Bath tub, toilet, and bathroom sink all drain fine. Sorry for writing a book guys, but I'm at a dead end here. Any thoughts appreciated.
That's what I hoped (as a lesser evil) in the first place, but the bathtub also drains into this 90. It joins the kitchen drain flow path about a foot before the 90. So if the 90 was frozen, I would think both would be stopped up.
Are you sure the kitchen sink vent is open? Does the kitchen sink possibly have a vent under the counter instead of a vent stack? Does the vent stack possibly go up an exterior wall? and is frozen before it ties into the main stack??
Very sure it's making it to the 90. I got the better half to spin the snake, and could feel and hear it from within the pipe with my hand on it.
Positive the vent is clear. When the water went down it, you could hear it, and the water rose in the sink. It's an old trailer, and quite easy to trace lines as you can see everything when you open the cupboard doors. The stack does disappear into the exterior wall, but it's the only pipe going in at that spot, and it runs straight up to the vent stack.
There's still water sitting in the sink, so if it moves I'll know immediately. The weather is warming up in a matter of days, so I can futz with it a bit more. I'm thinking wet vac to put some suction on the line and pour down some warm vinegar afterwards?
Yes, the tub drains very quick. No garbage disposal, just food crud that may slip past the sink grate.
