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Recently the disposal water has started not going down unless running and most recently this has caused disgusting backups in the other sink.

Rather than try to de-clog the pipes, I’m just going to take the pipe loose and clean and redo, because I have a suspicion it’s not even installed correctly. I can take apart, clean, and put back exactly how it was obviously, but I’m wondering if folks would look at the picture and confirm my suspicions that it needs to be done differently.

Right now, both the sink trap and disposal trap are at the same height and both feed into one outlet. No idea why there is a third unused inlet there.

3-way wye traps

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    The third inlet is a clean out, so you do not need to remove the other connected pipes to clear a blockage, past that point, which is where the blockage might be.
    – crip659
    Commented Jun 5, 2022 at 18:48
  • Lesson learned, do not put anything in the disposal that will not disintegrate, like the skins of veggies *Avocados are worse)
    – DIY75
    Commented Jun 5, 2022 at 19:38
  • I have never seen a 3 port wye or whatever is that code? At least there is a clean out I would try that first.
    – Ed Beal
    Commented Jun 6, 2022 at 5:01
  • Does the other sink bowl back up or just the one with the disposal? If it's just the disposal side, then that's the only side you need to worry about. Somebody has done you a favor by installing the clean out on the left side, but they lost points by using standard, mostly glued fittings to make the traps instead of standard trap kits. If you end up taking things apart, you might consider replacing each individual home-made trap with a standard screw & swivel trap kit.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Jun 6, 2022 at 14:25
  • Aside: The metal nuts can be slipped off the tail pieces and replaced with new beveled washers and plastic nuts. The existing plastic nuts are captive, but the washers can be replaced. Cleaning everything up and applying a little silicone grease to the various fittings can do wonders for minor leaks and ease of maintenance.
    – HABO
    Commented Jun 6, 2022 at 15:44

1 Answer 1

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First try a home made de-clogger. Pour 3 cups of baking soda diluted in 1 cup of water, then slowly pour 0.5 cup vinegar and watch it foam. You might see dirt coming up, so it is working. If you have avocado skins in there then follow your plan and open the drains.

You are right, you do have an uncommon installation. In your case the right one was not screwed on properly and is leaking. Also the top left screw is crooked.

The third outlet might save you. Open it (unscrew) carefully (there might be some backup), and poke in it to unclog stuff. You could use a bottle cleaner with a long shaft.

drain

Weird assembly, red showing the parts you can remove.

removable

More bad news: Since it backs up in the sink, you problem is deeper. In the main line. Hope you can use the access port to clean it up.

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  • Other than the screws being crooked is the rest of the installation okay? If I were just to remove the red pieces, clean them out, open the access port, clean out what's in there, and just put it all back together I'm assuming that'd fix it? When I open the access port, if there's tons of junk in there do I need to try to PULL it back OUT? When you say use a bottle cleaner and "poke in" it sounds like that would just cause the junk to get pushed further in... but I'm assuming that's not what you are saying, or is it?
    – NathanLite
    Commented Jun 7, 2022 at 19:22
  • @NathanLite if you can pull it out it is better. If you have one of those dry/wet vacuums suck it out. Yes, you do. not need to replace current plumbing, just clean it, maybe get new seals put some silicon grease on the trads and screw it in properly.
    – DIY75
    Commented Jun 7, 2022 at 19:33
  • Be aware that who ever screwed the nuts crocked, might have damage the winding. Hope not, but if yes you will have a major job replacing them.
    – DIY75
    Commented Jun 7, 2022 at 22:23
  • "might have damage the winding" Does "winding" mean "threads"?
    – FreeMan
    Commented Jun 8, 2022 at 10:39
  • @FreeMan thanks for helping, I did not remember the word for "Gevinde" and thanks for up vote
    – DIY75
    Commented Jun 8, 2022 at 18:44

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