The plans of my house say there's a 500gal drywell somewhere
(ambiguous) in the backyard where the dedicated washing machine drain
goes to from within my below-grade basement. I live on a hill, and
have never seen water coming out anywhere in the backyard or (during a
dry summer) anything greener than other spots. Yet, on cold days I
can feel cold air coming up from this drain pipe (there's no trap on
the line), and in summer I sometimes smell the mildew smell from out
of the pipe. Where can I get a plumber's smoke bomb (?) to do a smoke
test and see if there's an outlet to open air for it? I figure I'll
tie it to a wire, light up the bomb, hold it down the pipe, and force
the smoke "down" into the drain with my leaf blower.

It's not just for curiosity; I plan on doing some backyard regrading
and want to know if there's a hidden discharge pipe (sitting under a
rock) that I should avoid damaging.

Recommendations appreciated.
Thanks
Theodore

I'd check with either farm and garden places. They might have "woodchuck
bombs".

Or a bee supply place. Bee keepers often use smoke devices to move the bees
away from a hive, so they can harvest the honey.

Some heating and AC supply places have smoke bombs for testing ducts.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
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"millinghill" wrote in message
...
The plans of my house say there's a 500gal drywell somewhere
(ambiguous) in the backyard where the dedicated washing machine drain
goes to from within my below-grade basement. I live on a hill, and
have never seen water coming out anywhere in the backyard or (during a
dry summer) anything greener than other spots. Yet, on cold days I
can feel cold air coming up from this drain pipe (there's no trap on
the line), and in summer I sometimes smell the mildew smell from out
of the pipe. Where can I get a plumber's smoke bomb (?) to do a smoke
test and see if there's an outlet to open air for it? I figure I'll
tie it to a wire, light up the bomb, hold it down the pipe, and force
the smoke "down" into the drain with my leaf blower.

It's not just for curiosity; I plan on doing some backyard regrading
and want to know if there's a hidden discharge pipe (sitting under a
rock) that I should avoid damaging.

Recommendations appreciated.
Thanks
Theodore

On Apr 28, 3:03*am, millinghill wrote:
The plans of my house say there's a 500gal drywell somewhere
(ambiguous) in the backyard where the dedicated washing machine drain
goes to from within my below-grade basement. *I live on a hill, and
have never seen water coming out anywhere in the backyard or (during a
dry summer) anything greener than other spots. *Yet, on cold days I
can feel cold air coming up from this drain pipe (there's no trap on
the line),

It should have a trap and vent.



and in summer I sometimes smell the mildew smell from out
of the pipe. *Where can I get a plumber's smoke bomb (?) to do a smoke
test and see if there's an outlet to open air for it?

Why would you expect an outlet if it's a drywell? The
drywell's I've seen have not had any opening.






*I figure I'll
tie it to a wire, light up the bomb, hold it down the pipe, and force
the smoke "down" into the drain with my leaf blower.

Then evacuae the house..... I doubt you're
going to force enough smoke down the pipe to
accomplish anything.




It's not just for curiosity; I plan on doing some backyard regrading
and want to know if there's a hidden discharge pipe (sitting under a
rock) that I should avoid damaging.

Recommendations appreciated.
Thanks
Theodore

I'd be more worried about hitting the drywell itself or
having a pickup truck fall into one. Even if you hit the
pipe, what's the big deal? It can be easily fixed. I
would just treat the suspect area more carefully.

On Sat, 28 Apr 2012 00:03:30 -0700 (PDT), millinghill
wrote:

The plans of my house say there's a 500gal drywell somewhere
(ambiguous) in the backyard where the dedicated washing machine drain
goes to from within my below-grade basement. I live on a hill, and
have never seen water coming out anywhere in the backyard or (during a
dry summer) anything greener than other spots. Yet, on cold days I
can feel cold air coming up from this drain pipe (there's no trap on
the line), and in summer I sometimes smell the mildew smell from out
of the pipe. Where can I get a plumber's smoke bomb (?) to do a smoke
test and see if there's an outlet to open air for it? I figure I'll
tie it to a wire, light up the bomb, hold it down the pipe, and force
the smoke "down" into the drain with my leaf blower.

It's not just for curiosity; I plan on doing some backyard regrading
and want to know if there's a hidden discharge pipe (sitting under a
rock) that I should avoid damaging.

Recommendations appreciated.
Thanks
Theodore

If it's a straight pipe, you could take some thin pipe and screw
sections together and keep pushing them in until they stop. That will
tell you how far out in the yard it is, and you'll have to judge whether
it's straight out or on an angle. If it's made of metal, a metal
detector may help too. Once you have a basic idea of it's location,
just bang on the ground, and use a piece of hose. Place one end of the
hose to your ear, the other end to the ground. Have a friend bang on
the ground and listen for a hollow spot.

As far as the odor and cold air, I'd place a fernco coupling from your
inlet (wash machine) pipe or hose to the drain pipe. They do make
ferncos that reduce size. However, I wonder if a vent is needed to make
it work. Since there is no visible outlet there might need to be a
vent. In that case, add a trap.

millinghill wrote:
The plans of my house say there's a 500gal drywell somewhere
(ambiguous) in the backyard where the dedicated washing machine drain
goes to from within my below-grade basement. I live on a hill, and
have never seen water coming out anywhere in the backyard or (during a
dry summer) anything greener than other spots. Yet, on cold days I
can feel cold air coming up from this drain pipe (there's no trap on
the line), and in summer I sometimes smell the mildew smell from out
of the pipe. Where can I get a plumber's smoke bomb (?) to do a smoke
test and see if there's an outlet to open air for it? I figure I'll
tie it to a wire, light up the bomb, hold it down the pipe, and force
the smoke "down" into the drain with my leaf blower.

It's not just for curiosity; I plan on doing some backyard regrading
and want to know if there's a hidden discharge pipe (sitting under a
rock) that I should avoid damaging.

Recommendations appreciated.
Thanks
Theodore

You could try placing a speaker directly on the opening, play music, listen
outside. I once checked roof drains like this.

Greg

On Apr 28, 8:58*am, "
wrote:
On Apr 28, 3:03*am, millinghill wrote:

The plans of my house say there's a 500gal drywell somewhere
(ambiguous) in the backyard where the dedicated washing machine drain
goes to from within my below-grade basement. *I live on a hill, and
have never seen water coming out anywhere in the backyard or (during a
dry summer) anything greener than other spots. *Yet, on cold days I
can feel cold air coming up from this drain pipe (there's no trap on
the line),

It should have a trap and vent.

*and in summer I sometimes smell the mildew smell from out

of the pipe. *Where can I get a plumber's smoke bomb (?) to do a smoke
test and see if there's an outlet to open air for it?

Why would you expect an outlet if it's a drywell? *The
drywell's I've seen have not had any opening.

My neighbor has a drywell under a bush. It has a manhole sized (and
weight!) slotted cover over it, so it has an "opening".

I installed a drywell outside my basement door since it is lower than
the backyard. Torrential rainstorms would fill the below-grade 4' x 4'
walkout area. If it filled with more than 3" of water, it would come
in under the door. I buried a 55 gallon plastic drum and built a
removable "deck platform" over it. It would now take at least 55
gallons plus 4 ' x 4 ' x 3" of water before it would come in the
house. In the 20 years since I installed the drywall we've never had a
problem.

The point of all that is that the drywell is open at the top (and
bottom) so it does indeed have an opening.





**I figure I'll

tie it to a wire, light up the bomb, hold it down the pipe, and force
the smoke "down" into the drain with my leaf blower.

Then evacuae the house..... *I doubt you're
going to force enough smoke down the pipe to
accomplish anything.



It's not just for curiosity; I plan on doing some backyard regrading
and want to know if there's a hidden discharge pipe (sitting under a
rock) that I should avoid damaging.

Recommendations appreciated.
Thanks
Theodore

I'd be more worried about hitting the drywell itself or
having a pickup truck fall into one. * Even if you hit the
pipe, what's the big deal? *It can be easily fixed. *I
would just treat the suspect area more carefully.