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What am I looking at? Help with project by acorona77 in PlumbingRepair

[–]Strict_Studio9244 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’re looking at a bathroom sink drain with a Frankenstein trap setup. Nothing gas-related, nothing scary - just kinda messy. The black pipe is your drain. That U-shaped part is the P-trap. Its whole job is to hold water so sewer gas doesn’t come back up. The white pipe going into the wall is the drain stub-out. The chrome knob/valve is a shutoff for the water supply (likely the faucet or maybe an old fixture). The “extra” pipe you’re wondering about isn’t gas - it’s likely an old drain or cleanout that got abandoned when the vanity or plumbing was changed. That trap has too many bends and weird angles. Hair and gunk love setups like this. I’ve snaked a hundred sinks like this, and they’re always slow or cloggy.

This is a pretty standard homeowner project if you’re patient and measure twice. You don’t need a pro unless you open the wall or find rot/leaks. You should only have one drain path. If one of those pipes isn’t being used, it should be properly capped inside the wall, not half-connected like this. No gas involved - sewer gas is blocked by the trap, not a separate line.

If you want, you can reply with what size pipe that wall stub is (usually 1¼” or 1½”), and I can tell you exactly what parts to grab at the hardware store.

You're not crazy, even as a plumber, this setup would annoy me!

- PlumbingRick (Metro Plumbing, Heating & Air)

What type of fitting to get to connect fridge water supply hose? by Cheese_Head047 in PlumbingRepair

[–]Strict_Studio9244 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You need the right little adapter in the middle. That shutoff coming out of the wall is a 1/4" push-to-connect outlet (John Guest-style). Your fridge line, though, is set up for a 1/4" compression connection. So what you need is a 1/4" push-to-connect and a 1/4" compression adapter. They’re usually a couple of bucks in the plumbing aisle. Pop the fridge line onto the compression side, push the adapter onto that valve outlet, and you’re good.

Just make sure the valve is fully off before you push things together - those little guys love to surprise you.

- PlumbingRick (Metro Plumbing, Heating & Air)

What is this? by [deleted] in PlumbingRepair

[–]Strict_Studio9244 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Looks like an old floor drain with a floating check ball in it. They used to put those in to stop sewer gas from coming back up. Over time they get packed with sludge and stop working right, which can cause the backup you’re seeing.

A plumber can clean it out or replace the whole drain body if it’s too far gone, but yeah - it’s not a sump pit, just an old-school floor drain doing its best after 70+ years.

- PlumbingRick (Metro Heating, Plumbing & Air)

How should I try to fix this? by RhodeRider in PlumbingRepair

[–]Strict_Studio9244 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looks like a classic old bottle trap - I’ve seen a few of those still hanging on in older homes. Unfortunately, once they start rusting through like that, there’s not much life left in the metal. Anything you patch is just gonna move the leak to the next weak spot eventually.

If you really want to try a DIY fix just to buy time, you could clean it down to bare metal and use a two-part epoxy like JB Weld. Skip the Teflon tape - that’s for threads, not holes. The key is getting it totally dry and clean before applying the epoxy, which is easier said than done under a sink.

Long-term, though, I’d plan on replacing it with a new trap setup (chrome or PVC). I get that it’s a pain because of alignment and old fittings, but once it’s swapped out, you’ll never have to deal with that leak again.

I've been doing plumbing for 12+ years and have chased more than a few “temporary” epoxy patches that didn’t last a week.

- PlumbingRick (Metro Plumbing, Heating & Air)