Hello There!
So my primary drain line on has finally clogged and my secondary drain line has been basically almost flooding the garage without manually emptying the water from the pain I have under it twice a day. So naturally I started to get to work on the clog.
I am also not afraid to admit that I had no idea that the drain line needed to be properly maintained. This was advice I was never given nor had any idea about as this is my very first home i have bought and it was built in 2009. Now I know that i need to and researched how to, so I will be doing that going forward. But need to fix it first now.
First I went and attempted to auger the line, from both sides (end attaching to HVAC and end that runs outside the home by the actual AC unit. No luck. I then also attempted to shop vac from both ends as well which also did not clear the clog. So then it actually require me to look at the plumbing of the line. I noticed that first and for most, there wasn’t even a proper P Trap installed, when they built the home, the just used two 90 degree elbows to make their own p trap. Also I took at my level and all the lines were actually level, there was no minimum of a 5 degree downward slope. Now I’m not sure if this is compliant or not, but since the nonintrusive methods did not work, and I felt that the line first of all was not even up to code with the half assed P Trap and no slope, I have now cut the line and am going to re-pipe it.
Picture of the current drain line:
(Actually never mind - I just created the account and don’t have enough posts to post Imgur links - sorry)
Basically now with the back story out of the way, what I’m specifically asking here is a couple things:
1. Are there any absolute do or do nots when re-plumbing my primary drain line that runs under the house and out to the outside right behind the AC unit? I know to get a proper P Trap and also try to maintain a 5 degree slope.
2. What do the pros recommend as the distance after the p trap to put my vent/maintenance port in?
3. For my secondary drain line that literally just has 90 degree elbow with about a foot long tube that goes to the garage floor. Do I need to add a p trap to that one as well to equalize the air pressure at all? Or will it be pointless as the water in the p trap will eventually evaporate and then cause air issues anyways?
Thanks for any and all advice given! And sorry if these are ignorant questions. When it came to maintenance; I honestly just had no idea. Nobody ever told me. It’s one of those things unfortunately that most people I feel find out after an issued already happens. I really wish there were home owner maintenance run downs for all first time home buyers as part of the buying process haha.
So my primary drain line on has finally clogged and my secondary drain line has been basically almost flooding the garage without manually emptying the water from the pain I have under it twice a day. So naturally I started to get to work on the clog.
I am also not afraid to admit that I had no idea that the drain line needed to be properly maintained. This was advice I was never given nor had any idea about as this is my very first home i have bought and it was built in 2009. Now I know that i need to and researched how to, so I will be doing that going forward. But need to fix it first now.
First I went and attempted to auger the line, from both sides (end attaching to HVAC and end that runs outside the home by the actual AC unit. No luck. I then also attempted to shop vac from both ends as well which also did not clear the clog. So then it actually require me to look at the plumbing of the line. I noticed that first and for most, there wasn’t even a proper P Trap installed, when they built the home, the just used two 90 degree elbows to make their own p trap. Also I took at my level and all the lines were actually level, there was no minimum of a 5 degree downward slope. Now I’m not sure if this is compliant or not, but since the nonintrusive methods did not work, and I felt that the line first of all was not even up to code with the half assed P Trap and no slope, I have now cut the line and am going to re-pipe it.
Picture of the current drain line:
(Actually never mind - I just created the account and don’t have enough posts to post Imgur links - sorry)
Basically now with the back story out of the way, what I’m specifically asking here is a couple things:
1. Are there any absolute do or do nots when re-plumbing my primary drain line that runs under the house and out to the outside right behind the AC unit? I know to get a proper P Trap and also try to maintain a 5 degree slope.
2. What do the pros recommend as the distance after the p trap to put my vent/maintenance port in?
3. For my secondary drain line that literally just has 90 degree elbow with about a foot long tube that goes to the garage floor. Do I need to add a p trap to that one as well to equalize the air pressure at all? Or will it be pointless as the water in the p trap will eventually evaporate and then cause air issues anyways?
Thanks for any and all advice given! And sorry if these are ignorant questions. When it came to maintenance; I honestly just had no idea. Nobody ever told me. It’s one of those things unfortunately that most people I feel find out after an issued already happens. I really wish there were home owner maintenance run downs for all first time home buyers as part of the buying process haha.
