Egg smell from either Waste Pipe or Condense Pipe

[Chris101]

We had our kitchen extended and renewed a few months back, while we were getting our kitchen done, we also got a new boiler installed in the utilities area and replaced all the new storage heaters with central heating (so all new pipe work).

Since moving into the property, we had a few instances of smells coming from the utilities area.
This has now worsened with the cold weather.

I have identified that either the condensing pipe is triggering the smells or causing the smells to disperse or both.
We initally thought it was the washing machine as no trap was present but this has been rectified with a trap but although the smells no longer come behind the washing machine, it is coming up either from the hole in the floor as per picture or somewhere else which I am unable to pin point.

The issue in the last few weeks is that we have noticed a smell in the new bathroom that was also built next to the utilities areas which we believe uses exactly the same big orange waste pipe that leads to the man hole.

The smells are not the same but are dispersing at the same time....
We don't think the smell in the bathroom is coming up from the sink but rather up the drainage hole in the shower.

Could any of you please advise what we should do to identify the issue or what most likely will be causing it?

Thanks

 

[Chris101]

BTW - The pipe with the tape around was not securely fitted and rather the white pipe simply has just been loosely pushed into the copper pipe.
I have added tape to try to limit the chances of the smell coming from that point, although it has not helped.

 

[iiplumbing]

Why is there parcel tape round the joint (copper to plastic transition) on the top right of the picture? What is that connected to?

Whats happening to the right hand side of the 22mm condensate pipe? where is it coming from?

Is there a sink near by?

if this is a newish installation, am I not correct in thinking that the heating and hot water pipes where exposed, should be insulated?

More pictures please of the installation to the right and above of this picture and of how and where the pipes connect into the soil stack

Cheers

Russ

 

[Gray0689]

That is the prv going in to the overflow pipe I am thinking

 

[Chris101]

The tape was simply around areas where I identified the smell could escape from and wasn't secured at all.
The white pipe on the right has been placed for future use of the condensing tumble dryer, however wasn't sealed at all.
Sink is nearby (around 2 meters from the soil pipe).

More pictures on here - ImageShack Album - 16 images

 

[Gray0689]

View attachment 15413View attachment 15414View attachment 15415

The tape was simply around areas where I identified the smell could escape from and wasn't secured at all.
The white pipe on the right has been placed for future use of the condensing tumble dryer, however wasn't sealed at all.
Sink is nearby (around 2 meters from the soil pipe).

More pictures on here - ImageShack Album - 16 images

Condensing tumble dryers don't they have a tray to collect water
And all that crap shouldn't be going in a that pipe as open ends can let out poc if the trap is not filled
Needs done properly imho

 

[iiplumbing]

Condense/overflow pipe is going into "smelly" side of drain

Open path from drain to utility area no traps from what I can see

Thems where your smells coming from, no amount of tape will stop it IMO

Down to the builder to rectify

Russ

 

[Chris101]

Condense/overflow pipe is going into "smelly" side of drain

Open path from drain to utility area no traps from what I can see

Thems where your smells coming from, no amount of tape will stop it IMO

Down to the builder to rectify

Russ

Sorry Russ I don't quite understand.
The pictures on image shack are older, so the waste pipe that had the flexi hose has been replaced with the following -


Or are you refering to another trap?

 

[Chris101]

Condensing tumble dryers don't they have a tray to collect water
And all that crap shouldn't be going in a that pipe as open ends can let out poc if the trap is not filled
Needs done properly imho

Correct, it does have a tray to collect the water and they should of sealed it correctly...

 

[iiplumbing]

Sorry Russ I don't quite understand.
The pictures on image shack are older, so the waste pipe that had the flexi hose has been replaced with the following -
View attachment 15416

Or are you refering to another trap?

Overflow pipe is connecting into the foul part of the waste pipe, re-route it to connect with the vertical white pipe above the trap.

Also, if the pipe is taking the discharge from the PRV how do you know if its letting by if you cant see it discharging??????

The PRV discharge is supposed to be a warning as well as running to a safe location, if your not warned you cant see what's wrong, and the PRV may well be running at very high temps, can the OF pipe handle very hot water (most wont and can fail if they do)

It will then need a tun dish, which is open, and then it needs to discharge upstream of a trap to stop smells coming from the foul drain, or some other clever idea to provide visual indication and anti smell, (pm me for advice on this)

Your builders plumber has not thought this one through very well imo

Another question, the OF pipe seems to also come from the right in your first picture, what's it connected too, as a matter of interest?

Oh and have you got a sink in the vicinity, that can be another source of smells, and you wont have checked or even thought of where the smell can be coming from if you have.

Russ

 

[stevetheplumber]

without a doubt this was done by a builder get a gsr in to run it all properly

 

[Chris101]

Overflow pipe is connecting into the foul part of the waste pipe, re-route it to connect with the vertical white pipe above the trap.

Also, if the pipe is taking the discharge from the PRV how do you know if its letting by if you cant see it discharging??????

The PRV discharge is supposed to be a warning as well as running to a safe location, if your not warned you cant see what's wrong, and the PRV may well be running at very high temps, can the OF pipe handle very hot water (most wont and can fail if they do)

It will then need a tun dish, which is open, and then it needs to discharge upstream of a trap to stop smells coming from the foul drain, or some other clever idea to provide visual indication and anti smell, (pm me for advice on this)

Your builders plumber has not thought this one through very well imo

Another question, the OF pipe seems to also come from the right in your first picture, what's it connected too, as a matter of interest?

Oh and have you got a sink in the vicinity, that can be another source of smells, and you wont have checked or even thought of where the smell can be coming from if you have.

Russ

Hi Russ,

Thanks for your reply.

When you refer to the overflow pipe or any other other pipe apart from the waste pipe, I am kind of clueless to which one is which same goes with the other plumber related words you mentioned.

A sink and dishwasher is literally around 2meters away from the same waste pipe.

 

[Mike Jackson]

There are a few issues here.

1. The condense pipe is going direct to the foul drain, this is fine if there is a 75mm trap within the boiler but there are two open ends which should be sealed.

2. The pressure relief valve from the boiler should discharge externally, not into the condense line. The PRV could discharge boiling water and the overflow pipe used for the condense is not rated to this temperature.

3. The seal on the trap on the shower tray may be getting siphoned out allowing smells back into the property. If this is running into the soil pipe it should have a 75mm seal and the soil should be properly vented.

There may be other issues with the installation and, in my opinion, it would be worth getting a report from an independent engineer as to the rectification work required.

 

[Chris101]

Plumber visited yesterday and agreed traps were missing and will add 3-4 traps under the boiler this Saturday as he thinks the current setup is sucking the water down which is allowing the smells to enter.

In the bathroom he put water down the sink, shower and toiler and within a few minutes the smells had more or less gone.
So with regards to the bathroom he said he will replace the trap under the sink with a better one and if the issue is the shower, he will look to replace its trap as well.

Yesterday evening after he had left a new smell was lingering around - smelt far more eggy rather than the other smell.
It went away when we opened the kitchen sink tap....

The only thing different they did yesterday was take out the washing machine and push it back in (don't know if that impacted anything? )