Can anyone tell me if this kitchen sink plumbing is right?

[steve0923]

Hi folks, I've recently moved into a property with a kitchen sink that is a bit slow to drain. I've had the fittings apart and given them all a good clean and there are definitely no blockages. The rinser side drains just fine. I'm wondering if you could cast your expert eyes over the photo of the configuration to see if that's where the problem lies. The fall of the horizontal pipe at the back is sloped DOWN towards the sink pipes (on right in pic) and joins the exit pipe that the rinser flows straight down into, via a u-bend . Should the horizontal pipe at the back of the pic be sloped the other way? Also I don't know if this is related but the washing machine smells pretty horrible. Could that be related to the set up of the plumbing on the right hand side of the picture? I know this is probably very basic stuff but I've never tackled anything like this before!

For some reason my photo link appears as a broken icon, so here's a direct link: https://flic.kr/p/pwR3Ab

 

[Mike Jackson]

The pipe should fall away from the trap but the smells from the WM are probably down to the outlet pipe from the WM not going high enough before it enters the trap.

 

[snowhead]

Lift the washer hose higher up and tie it to the copper pipes.
AND put a jubilee clip on the hose where it pushes onto the drain.

 

[Chalked]

Another tip for stopping smelly washing machines is to only use powder. The tablets and liquid cause a slime in the pipework that breeds bacteria.

 

[Best]

Tbh, I can't see a lot wrong with that waste arrangement at all!
And I am fussy.
The horizontal pipe should be level or ideally a slight fall towards outlet to prevent build up of gunge, - but the fact it is falling a little the wrong way will not probably cause smells because the pipes all join to 2 traps.
The WM outlet hose is supposed to be a minimum height (see WM MIs) but that should be reasonablely high anyhow. The outlet hose usually comes from the bottom of the machine & is required to go high enough to prevent syyphoning of further water later. (If it did start a syphon & the WM was in mid wash, then the water could escape from the machine when it shouldn't. The outlet hose always has water lying in it anyhow!
Do check your sink overflow (in photo not sure if you have one or not), as it it the place where you get crud gathering & smells seriously bad. Very common for people to blame the smell as coming from the traps instead of the sink overflow.
I would have that pipe sorted with slight fall & I would support the hose bend up a bit & always a jubilee clip on the hose, as has been already said.

 

[solutions]

For the sake of further thread replys here is the OPs pic

 

[solutions]

I cant quite make out what's happening with the left hand trap. But it really would be better off with a proper 1 1/2 bowl sink trap like these by mcalpine. The space saver one pushes the trap to the back of the cupboard and gets you some space back which is worth considdering if your kitchen is pushed for storage. http://www.mcalpineplumbing.com/traps/space-saver-kits/1-189-double-bowl-space-saver-kit.html

 

[Best]

Dont you ever go to bed, - Solutions? :grin:

 

[Best]

I agree Solutions & McAlpine traps are lovely quality.
Only snag I see is if the waste happens to be going straight out through the wall, then the space saver arrangement might mean the waste hole will need lowered.
If the waste pipe drops down behing sink unit, - then no problem I guess.

edit - I missed what seems to be the waste dropping down at rear on left! :smile:

 

[AWheating]

2 x traps is the better solution compared to most 11/2 bowl kits imo.

 

[solutions]

2 x traps is the better solution compared to most 11/2 bowl kits imo.

I am inclined to agree if the waste they are connected too is run right. Would still fit 2 macalpine traps though.

 

[steve0923]

Really appreciate you all taking the time to share your advice. I'd like to increase the washing machine waste pipe height but it's at full stretch now (comes in through a hole at the bottom left of the cupboard). Jubilee clip is a good idea in any case!

I'm not sure how to change the tilt to the opposite direction. Everything is a fixed length in this configuration so it seems to me that either one side needs shortening or the other lengthening.

Again, thank you all so much for help. 🙂