Utility sink drain for RODI system leaking

[subbedout]

Hi! I got a RODI system for Christmas and installed a utility sink in the garage to use as a water source and to drain the waste water. I made my first batch of 25 gallons today; however, I noticed a small drip/ leak in the upper part of the p-trap. There's plastic washer under the coupling nut and I used channel locks to tighten it all down (it was leaking before using the channel locks). Now the leaking water seems to "pool" right where the downpipe for the drain meets the coupling nut (I'm assuming I'm using proper terminology here). Basically right where the red arrows are pointing is where the water pools/ leaks.

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks in advance!

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[JohnnyHildo]

looks like it'll be a great set-up once you get the leaks figured out. your p-trap is going to hold water all the way up to where the horizontal pipe starts meaning both of those threaded collars are going to always have water above them.
personally i would delete that p-trap in favor of piecing one together from pluming supplies at your local hardware store. that way you can use adhesive instead of threaded fittings and the actual "P" will be shorter.
option #2 would be to just pull it apart and add teflon tape to all the threaded joints to tighten up the gaps.
take this all with a grain of reef salt as i am not by any means a plumber and this is just how i would have done it.

[subbedout]

Originally Posted by JohnnyHildo

looks like it'll be a great set-up once you get the leaks figured out. your p-trap is going to hold water all the way up to where the horizontal pipe starts meaning both of those threaded collars are going to always have water above them.
personally i would delete that p-trap in favor of piecing one together from pluming supplies at your local hardware store. that way you can use adhesive instead of threaded fittings and the actual "P" will be shorter.
option #2 would be to just pull it apart and add teflon tape to all the threaded joints to tighten up the gaps.
take this all with a grain of reef salt as i am not by any means a plumber and this is just how i would have done it.

Thanks. I'm thinking the downpipe is too long which is causing a backup of wastewater. I'll try redoing it tomorrow. Maybe I'll get lucky and it'll work lol.

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[taphil]

Open the nut that the arrows are pointing to and show us a pic of the pipes there. My guess is you're missing a gasket and/or you've got the wrong pieces put together.

[Benar]

1. Flexi-dinger wastes are a terrible design, should only be used for hairdresser sinks/sluices (fixtures that move.)
2. Channel-locks, multi grips etc are never necessary for DWV PVC nuts. If you can’t get it sound (holding water) hand tight, the problem lies elsewhere. It’s possible you could’ve offset the rubber seal or worst case sheared it.
3. Avoid glue joining a diy trap out of 88’ bends, to code traps must be removable/able to be dismantled for maintenance purposes.

I’d track down a telescopic s&p trap

Not sure how it’s looking going in to your wall, I’m assuming the end of that trap downstream just has a compression nut & gasket on to 40mm, 1&1/2” std pipe. Just make sure you can adapt on.


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[Vinny Kreyling]

Just an observation -- I hope the brackets for those tanks are bolted into the studs.
As far as the leak -- don't cut the downspout pipe too short, focus on the gasket area.
Perhaps even a rubber one if it's plastic now.

[cl800]

I had that happen to me once. In my case, it was the fitting at the sink and water was slowly running down along the outside of the downpipe and pooling where your arrows point to.

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[Rover88]

Originally Posted by Vinny Kreyling

Just an observation -- I hope the brackets for those tanks are bolted into the studs.
As far as the leak -- don't cut the downspout pipe too short, focus on the gasket area.
Perhaps even a rubber one if it's plastic now.

Brackets look like they are going into concrete to me?

[subbedout]

Originally Posted by Vinny Kreyling

Just an observation -- I hope the brackets for those tanks are bolted into the studs.
As far as the leak -- don't cut the downspout pipe too short, focus on the gasket area.
Perhaps even a rubber one if it's plastic now.

The shelf brackets are bolted to the cinderblock using concrete toggle bolts. Thanks though! They are heavy when full!

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[dublo8]

First things first, get rid of the flex line. That’s a lazy plumber install right there. They are very susceptible to clogging. 2nd, I would pull the trap apart, re tape it or even use rectorseal to seal it up. You might have a crack on the fitting or a scratched thread that is allowing water to leak up. Water will sit as high as the horizontal run. This is to stop sewer gases from returning the house through the drain. Good luck.


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[outy]

Just check gasket area, this is common and you should see a blemish you can correct.

Don't over tighten

[Arthur1]

+1^

[Daddi0]

Dont use tape or any sealant!! Get rid of that crappy flex pipe. Get a proper trap and cut the sink down pipe so that the trap fits to the pipe coming out of the wall.
Cheers! Mark
If you are local, I can come help you out.

[rffanat1c]

Your second pics shows the pipe isn’t perpendicular into the p-trap. It is a simple slip joint gasket. Unscrew, straighten and hand tighten the washer.


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[Lsufan]

Like mentioned above, unscrew the nutt & redo it. They are only supposed to be handtight, so no channelocks. I think where most people mess up is not sitting the washer correctly. Make sure it is in straight & evenly & not at a angle. So set the washer straight by hand before screwing on the nutt.

[subbedout]

Thanks everyone for the help! I bought a "real" P-trap to replace the flex pipe. I made sure to set the washer gasket in place before hand-tightening everything. Hopefully in the the morning the floor will be dry. :crossing fingers:

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[Lsufan]

When u install the p trap make sure the long side of the p-trap is connected to the sink & the short side the the arm. Pretty much the opposite of how u have it in the picture. U will have to cut some off of the extension coming from the sink & the trap will be higher then u have it now. If u install it backwards like your picture then it will hold more water & the extra wieght can cause issues with the washers.

Most of them now come with a polyethylene washer instead of the plastic they used to come with & I like them much better then the plastic

[subbedout]

Originally Posted by Lsufan

When u install the p trap make sure the long side of the p-trap is connected to the sink & the short side the the arm. Pretty much the opposite of how u have it in the picture. U will have to cut some off of the extension coming from the sink & the trap will be higher then u have it now. If u install it backwards like your picture then it will hold more water & the extra wieght can cause issues with the washers.

Most of them now come with a polyethylene washer instead of the plastic they used to come with & I like them much better then the plastic

I just replaced the p-trap with a new, non- flexible one. Also installed it with long side connected to the sink as suggested. After 24 hours of use, it looks like no leaks. Thanks to all for the help!

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[Daddi0]

Originally Posted by subbedout

I just replaced the p-trap with a new, non- flexible one. Also installed it with long side connected to the sink as suggested. After 24 hours of use, it looks like no leaks. Thanks to all for the help!

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Nice!

[subbedout]

Here's a photo of the final setup under the sink. I think I had the original p-trap installed backwards after all.

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[Daddi0]

That's beautiful!!
Cheers! Mark

[Fishy27]

The last photo looks good. Thats what i was going to recommend doing.