What should I do if my washing machine drain pipe is clogged?

Creating a cozy summer home that serves as a peaceful retreat requires careful selection of appliances that enhance comfort without compromising on style or efficiency. At Appliances 4 Less Little Rock, we cater to residents in Little Rock, Benton, Conway, and Pine Bluff with an array of open box, scratch, and dented appliances that are perfect for elevating your summer living. Here’s our guide to the essential appliances for a cozy summer home.

When you expect the washing machine to finish, it suddenly stops working, the drain becomes clogged and water seeps onto the floor, making you mad. Don’t panic, here is a super practical solution for you.

(1)、Emergency treatment

1. Emergency power cuts

Find poor drainage, the first time cut off the power. Find the back of the washing machine directly unplug the power plug, if connected to the socket with a switch, press the switch to turn off the power. When the drainage is blocked, the washing machine continues to run, the internal water level rises, the motor may overload and emit a buzzing sound, and the short circuit may also cause sparks, which is a great safety hazard. When the power to pay attention to their own safety, avoid touching the wet ground or washing machine metal parts, not familiar with the operation can seek help.

2. Initially determine the location of the blockage

Observe the condition of the washing machine: notice whether the washing machine makes abnormal noise. A humming sound may be caused by the drain pump getting stuck with a foreign object. A grunting sound may be caused by a larger foreign object blocking the drain.

Check the appearance of drainage pipes: check the drainage pipes have no obvious bending, deformation or damage. Excessive bending can affect water flow rate, and breakage can get into debris and cause clogging.

(2)、Foundation cleaning

1. Clean filters and floor drains

Filter screen cleaning

Find the filter location: different brands of washing machine filter location is different, generally located in the lower right corner or the edge of the inner cylinder, you can view the instructions.

Remove the screen: gently rotate or press the screen cover open, carefully remove the screen, pay attention to some buckle, force to be moderate.

Clean the filter screen: put it under the tap and rinse it with clean water, then brush the hair, paper scraps, coins and other sundries with a soft brush. Stubborn dirt can be washed after soaking with a small amount of neutral detergent.

Install filter screen: after cleaning, install it according to the original direction and position, ensure it is firm and prevent water leakage.

Floor drain cleaning

Remove floor drain cover: Pry Open the floor drain cover with your hand or screwdriver and set it aside.

Clean up debris: with wire, hooks or professional tools to hook out hair, dust and other debris. Serious blockage can be poured into the hot water after softening and cleaning.

Flush floor drain: clean up and rinse with plenty of water to ensure smooth drainage.

Install floor drain cover: Reinstall to ensure a good seal.

2. Simply flush the drain

Prepare water source: fill bucket with water, or connect washing machine inlet pipe to tap (if available) .

Flush operation: align the water source with the drain pipe mouth, flush in with a larger pressure, and flush several times to observe whether the water flow is smooth. The rapid outflow of water suggests that the blockage is light and may have been washed away.

(3）、Physical dredging

1. Iron wire dredging

Prepare the wire: find a 1-2 meter thin wire, one end bent into a small hook.

Insert Drain: insert slowly, rotating gently as you feel resistance, and try to snag on the blockage.

Pull out the plug: after the hook slowly and steadily pull out, a failure can try more.

2. Dredge

Choose Dredge: spring dredge is more commonly used, choose to pay attention to suitable drainage pipe material.

Using the spring dredge: insert the spring head into the drain and rotate as you insert it deep into the clogged area. When encountering resistance, continue to rotate and apply appropriate force to break up or hook out the blockage.

Repeated operation: serious blockage can be repeated several times, until the drain pipe unblocked.

3. Flush the drain (after physical dredging)

After dredging is completed, flush the drain pipe with plenty of water. The faucet can be connected to the drainage pipe mouth, so that the water flow with greater pressure to wash away the pipe wall, wash away the residual debris.

4、Chemical dissolution

1. Choose a solvent

For Grease, gum and other stubborn plug, choose a special pipe dredging agent. Choose to pay attention to suitable for washing machine drainage pipe material, avoid corrosion pipe, can consult merchants or view the instructions.

2. Method of use

Pour solvent: according to the instructions, pour 100-200 ml of solvent.

Wait for reaction: depending on the type and severity of the blockage, wait 30 minutes to 1 hour for the solvent to fully react with the blockage.

Flush drain: after the reaction, flush with plenty of water to remove the dissolved material.

(5)、Technological assistance

1. Preparation tools

If you have a vacuum cleaner, you can use its powerful suction to dredge the drain. Prepare suction nozzle suitable for drain pipe diameter, no plastic bottle available. Cut off the bottom of the plastic bottle, insert the vacuum cleaner hose into the mouth of the bottle, and seal with tape.

2.Step

Connecting suction nozzle: align the self-made suction nozzle to the drain nozzle to ensure a tight connection and prevent air leakage.

Open the vacuum cleaner: open the vacuum cleaner maximum suction file, let the vacuum cleaner work, strong suction will suck out the blockage.

Observation effect: observe the dust bag or dust box of the vacuum cleaner. If the blockage is sucked out, the dredging is effective. If not successful once, it can be tried many times.

(6)、 Prevent clogging

1. Check before washing

Before each washing, carefully check the clothes pockets, take out coins, paper scraps, hairpins and other sundries, to avoid entering the washing machine plug drain.

2. Control the amount of detergent

According to the washing machine specification requirements, reasonable control of detergent dosage. Too much detergent can lead to excess foam, which can clog the drain.

3. Check drain pipes regularly

Regularly inspect the drainage pipe for aging, deformation, rupture, etc. . Find problems timely replacement, in general, the washing machine drain service life of 3-5 years.

4. Install anti-clogging devices

Installing a filter screen or anti-clogging at the outlet of the drainage pipe can effectively block debris from entering the drainage pipe. Filter screen and anti-clogging to be regularly cleaned to maintain unblocked.

Conclusion

Although washing machine drain pipe blockage is common, but master the correct coping methods and preventive measures, can easily solve the problem, let the washing machine to keep in good condition, bring convenience to life.