Need Beeb Help. Plumbing issue...

I'm 59 y/o, it's NOT my plumbing.

It's my kitchen sink drain pipe!
In the last 10 years, about 3 times I've had to cut into a horizontal pipe and run a drain snake/coil down the pipes to clear the clog. I have a sanitary T in it now to run the snake w/o having to cut the pipe. Has a treaded plug in the end.
But last night, I had to cut the 1&1/2 inch pipe again and run the snake the other direction.
The next time IF I have to cut it again, I'm installing another sanitary T, so I can run the snake the other direction. It's flowing fine again, for now.

My set up:
Standard double sink, Disposal on one side- Insinkerator- top of the line- works well.
But from the sink, a 1&1/2" pipe goes into the wall. Makes a horizontal 90 bend, then a vertical 90 bend, then a horizontal 90 bend and comes out parallel to the floor joists in the top of the basement.

* From there, it runs horizontal to the other side of the house at that point 20 ft, another 90, goes to a 2" pipe, then 3", then 4" and down into the vertical drain/sewer pipe that also drains the upstairs full bath, and a downstairs 1/2 bath.

The only problem the homes' system has, is every 2-3 years, the clogging of decaying food particles when it is in this 20 ft horizontal run coming from the kitchen sink. I say horizontal run of 20 ft.- there is a slight drop 5" from one end to the other, but it's close to horizontal/level. It takes years, but the particles slowly precipitate to the bottom, and the less viscous flow over the top, until it eventually plugs it up again.

We put less overall food into our disposal, and I often run more water and HOT water down the drain- which I think helps some.

** Question is: What chemicals would you use occasionally, and any other advice, so in 1-3 years, my drain pipe in the basement doesn't get clogged again?

Help me out here Beeb

 

Trash goes in the trash can.

I wish more people knew disposal is for small fine particles.

That being said, once a week would plug both sinks and fill them to the brim with hot water and then drain them at same time to douche out the pipe.

Home depot sells this stuff called green goblin that works wonders but you have to follow the directions.

 

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Zep-10-Min...0f&gclid=CMLNvumqrugCFQTbDQodnxQNaA&gclsrc=ds

 

NaOH

 

This

 

We use our trash can. Like I said, not much goes down it, but after 1-4 years, it'll get get clogged again.
I do this, just not once a week. I'll step up the frequency.

See last reply, and thanks

 

Others?

 

Complete kitchen remodel.

 

I'm not a plumber but a 20ft run of pipe with that little of a drop sounds like it's going to create problems over time, especially given it's for a drain that see solid matter.

 

You don’t want too much pitch otherwise the water outruns the solids and they don’t get carried away.

Most of our plumbers say the disposal is ONLY for the tiny shit that gets trapped in the sink after washing. All items like pasta, bread, rice, fat, etc should get cleaned off into garbage can.

I’d follow the full sink “douche” recommendation from above and I’d do it a couple of times a year. This would be after a good cleaning.

 

Well for one, never put fat or grease down the sink.

Two, fill one side of the sink with hot water. Boil a big pot of water and dump it down the other side, all at once. Follow up with pulling the plug on that full sink of hot water.

Boiling water melts and loosens fat encrusted shit on the horizontal run, and the 3 gallons of hot water flush it through.

Three, when you use the disposal, get a good steam of water to push it out. Personally, I load up the disposal before I fill the sink to do dishes, wash the dishes, which puts some heat and a sheen of water inside the drain pipe, then pull the drain and run the grinder and let that full sink of soapy water push the shit out.

 

The slope on that 20' section is pretty much dead on. You want about a 1/4" of slope per foot. 20' = 5" drop. The problem can be that the slope is there between the starting and ending points, but if the pipe isn't supported properly, it will bow down, and create a low spot. Make sure the pipe is actually straight.

 

But, no way around that. I can't have the only home with a set up like this. Luckily, it's not daily, or weekly, etc.

Thank you and I feel this is spot on. I've heard that the pitch is correct for that set up. I Do two sinks full of the hottest water, and let them both go at once. Did it last night after I was done too. Drained down quick!

OK, I was going to tey some Clorox type leach do it also. That's some slippery stuff when wet.

I was looking at that this morning, abourt flat spots. I'll check that and make it right. Thanks.

Thanks to all for the good advice.

 

Oh yeah...and stay clear of farm equipment.

 

Got it! Wide berth on the farm equipment passings

 

Grease in a sewer line builds up over the years. As a landlord I have experienced this the hard way. I have a camera that goes down there, the first time I saw a grease clog, I thought it was a rock. it looks like a huge bar of soap.

90% chance that's what your problem is. All the hot water in the world will not fix this. It might move it down the line, but it's going to congeal somewhere between the sink and the street and back you up but good one day.

NO grease at all down the sink, F that disposal, use a strainer and put the tiny food particles in the trash. That will reduce it down to every 15 years between clogs.

One of the things I have had success with, with cast iron piping, is using a pressure cleaner with a special tip on the hose, blast it out good, that cleans alot of the scale on the inside of the cast iron pipes. Less stuff for the hair, grease, etc. to hang up on.

 

We definitely don’t really pour any grease down the pipe however I’m sure some gets there.
My pipes from the sink to the sewer line are all PVC.

Last night when I battled my homebrew beer the large amount of hops and yeast in the bottom of the fermenter or not poured into the disposal this time, I poured them down the toilet. It is all biodegradable and will not and did not clog that.
Thank you for all the help and suggestions, and I’m glad that for now our kitchen sink is flowing well again down the drain.

 

OK, so I did take advice from this thread- hence my asking the question.
Regarding the slope of that nearly horizontal pipe:
I put some wood screws under sections of the pipe into the floor joist it runs parallel to, and used some space stuff on some things that were already there- and I now have a slightly negative slope all the way across it. I think it did have some 'flat spots' that over time, contribute to the problem.

This is the T, and easily removable plug, that goes away from the intake side towards the long horizontal.
To the left is where it comes from, kitchen sink with at least 3 x 90 degree bendsto get there.
The coupler, is where I had to cut it this time to run the snake towards the sink this time to get it unclogged.


I was going to glue this T going toward the sink in where the coupler was when I was one, for another easy access point. But I figured, knowing my luck with this- the short pipe between the 2 going opposite directions, would end up getting clogged. So I saved this, to cut and glue this in to the right of the one shwon now, so there there be no un accesible area of the snake coil, IF i have to do it again in a few years!


We are also now using the strainer plug That was for the non disposal side, has a handle to screw it in that side to plug the drain? Well now we're using it for the other side over the disposal, and catching WAY more food too- to the trash can.

And, I did get some of that NaOH pipe cleaner and poured it down a few times too! Walmart brand also markets it.
I'll do that every few weeks now.

As long as I can keep from having to take the plugs off the T I put in there, and/or cut the pipe again and clean it out- it'll be worth it.
It's messy, but thank God at least I wasn't working on a pipe that actually had feces/urine going thru it! The decaying food was bad enough!

Stay away from the Coronas! Drink Modelo Negra, Dos XX, or Tecate instead! LOL

 

One out of three ain't bad...