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nehome

Sink Water draining into DW

nehome
11 years ago

I am having a couple of issues with my sink drainage. I had a new Waste King disposal installed. At the time of installation the sink was draining slowly but it appeared that it was because the splash guard (black rubber flaps at opening to disposal) were preventing the water from flowing quickly. When I put a spoon or something to push the flaps down to make a wider opening, there are a few air bubbles and then the water flows at a decent speed. The plumber who installed the disposal said this would improve as the flaps became more flexible but that has not been the case. Over the past couple of months we have noticed water at the bottom of the DW. We thought it was not draining properly but now we are realizing it is the sink water that is filling into the dishwasher. It is possible this has been happening since the disposal was installed but it is getting worse. We often run the disposal to help draw the water out of the sink.

I have attached a picture of the "high loop" set up of the dishwasher drain hose. I know nothing about plumbing but this seemed to be the cause given in for water in a dishwasher in my internet search. Is this problem occuring becasue of a plumbing issue or a clogged drain problem? Again, if I push the splash guard flaps open the sink drains at a pretty decent rate. I will post another picture of the plumbing to the disposal if that helps diagnose. I need to know whether to call a plumber or a drain cleaner specialist. Thanks

Comments (7)

  • nehome
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Sorry pics are turned, not sure how to rotate

  • brickeyee
    11 years ago

    The loop does not appear high enough.

    It need to go all the way to the bottom of the counter (and higher would be even better).

  • nehome
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thank you for your reply. This has been the setup for the past 17 years and only began having this DW problem after my garbage disposal was replaced. I don't recall and don't have any pics of the plumbing prior to the GD replacement but there are no additional holes where the DW drain is attached to indicate that it was moved during the GD replacement.

  • dadoes
    11 years ago

    Picture rotated with the current drain hose path outlined.

    The hose is long. Tack-up the extra length to the wall on the left side of the disposer so it goes down to the disposer connection point, not sagging and going up as it does now.

    Keep in mind that water swirling in the disposer when it runs, or when the sink drains, can be forced into the drain hose and that loop may not be high enough to prevent backflow into the dishwasher. I'd loop it up higher than it is now ... as high as possible behind the sink.

    Doesn't matter if it worked previously, it's not working so well now.

  • weedmeister
    11 years ago

    Yes, push that hose higher. It should be up to the bottom of the countertop, or at the top of the sink.

  • nehome
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    OK I'll try that. Do I need to maintain a certain degree of slope from the "high Loop" to the where I tack it on the left to prevent DW water backflowing? Tacking up the left to create a downward slope to the GD creates a very minimal slope from the high loop. I'll try to find a temporary method of tacking the hose on the left to experiment but will definitely raise the height on the right. Thanks for your advice!

    To resolve my other issue of water draining slowly due to the GD splash guard - does this make sense? As I said, when I push the splash guard open with a spoon the water seems to drain fine but there are a couple of big "glugs" (technical term for air) and then the water flows. I thought perhaps the drain issue might have something to do with the installation or design of the Waste King GD. I had a Badger GD before. (Again I know nothing about the science of plumbing and water flow and effect of air.) I can't imagine that it is expected that the splash guard be "broken in" to become more flexible to allow proper water draining. If the water was draining fine we would not be using our disposal so much to draw the water out of the sink.

  • weedmeister
    11 years ago

    I don't think slope matters that much, just make smooth transitions. Whatever that means...;-)

    Right now, the hose is no higher than the bottom of the sink. This is not good.

    as to the GD, I usually have to run mine most of the time to get it to start draining. Never really thought about it much.