If it's galvanized, it's a good bet that it's heavily rusted on the
inside.... probably to the point where the inside diameter is down to around
1 inch or so. I had this same problem with a 2" glavanized line that was 80
years old and it was down to 1/2' diameter! I used the sink "accumulator"
method but after a while i just had to replace the line. Best if you can
repipe to the main drain.......snaking it will only push a lot of corroded,
rusty junk into the main drain and who knows what problems that might
bring....

Art


"Horatio Hornblower" wrote in message
...
I finally got my washing machine installed and turned it on with a load
of laundry.

Machine:

110.91511100 - Whirlpool built direct drive style Sears washer, top
loader, large, built in 1995.

The water came out of the top of the standpipe when the machine was
pumping water out the drain hose. The standpipe is 2 inch. I'd run a
hose down it for a couple of minutes (flow rate about 5 gallons/minute)
to make sure it could handle that. This pipe hadn't seen any flow for
over 20 years at least. Satisfied that it could handle 5 gallons/minute,
I figured I was OK.

Today I finished setting up what I thought would be an adequate drain
for the machine. I attached 2 inch black PVC including a trap and
extension, properly gluing it all together. The trap accommodates a
hand-tightened nut in the middle. The top of the extension tube is 37.5
inches above the floor, well above the 34 minimum recommended by Sears.

I'd duct-taped the drain hose so it couldn't come out of the extension
tube from the force of the water. When it came to the point in the
machine's cycle where it did the first basket drain, I was surprised to
see the water spurting out the top. At least 5 gallons must have come
out on my wood laundry room floor and I felt like an idiot for duct
taping the hose into the tube because I had to remove that fast so I
could start collecting the water in 5 gallon buckets, which I did have
right by.

I turned the machine off and repositioned the trap so it didn't twist 20
degrees or so (the way I had it). I reasoned that maybe this diversion
was causing the water to back up. But the first expulsion of rinse water
(after repositioning the trap) still backed up out the top of the
extension tube.

I didn't know the washing machine would pump out the water that fast. It
must have been coming out at a rate something like 20 gallons/minute.

I'm wondering if there's any chance this will work if I remove the trap
and just put a tube straight up from the stand pipe. Or is the problem
that the stand pipe just can't take that kind of flow? I never smelled
anything from that stand pipe (like I say, it wasn't used for over 20
years), and I don't know what it connects to or if it's vented. The
stand pipe goes under the floor, has a 90 degree elbow (to go
horizontal), then a 10 inch straight and another 90 degree elbow to send
it down through the concrete foundation of this laundry room extension
to the house. This extension looks like an afterthough, and maybe they
skimped on the plumbing, etc. I have no idea when it was done, but the
house was built in 1910.

Do I have to have this replumbed before I can install a washing machine?
Thanks for any help with this.