plastic faucet tube

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Christoff

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ive got a plastic tube running from my laundry room sink faucet down into the basement ,( i guess it goes into the sewer) it started leaking ,so i fixed it. my question is what is it for?? :confused:
 

Redwood

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Could be a lot of things... A/C condensate drain being one of the common ones...
 

Christoff

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here's a pic of the tube


this is from the underside of the sink
 

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Cass

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I am going to guess that the faucet was leaking or not sealed to the sink well and it was the HOs way of dealing with a leak.
 

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faucet

Interesting installation.

1. You do not solder the copper tubes into the bottom of that type of faucet.
2. The sink holes are at 4" center to center and yet that faucet, which should also be 4" c/c does not fit them.
3. There should be no connection on the faucet for that hose to connect to it.
4. Without knowing what its top connection is, or where it goes at the bottom there is no way for us to give a diagnosis.
5. That connection to the sink is strictly DIY/handyman quality.
 

Redwood

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Well I take back my earlier post after seeing the picture...
Lets just leave it as... "What evil lurks in the heart of the handy man?"
 

Christoff

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i think ive figured out what it is.
i have 2 laundry tubs in my house , and they both have theese tubes.they are overflows, cause laundry tubs have no overflow drains in them(in canada anyways)
 

hj

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They do not have overflows here either, but making one in the back of the sink would have made more sense than doing it that way. HOW is the water going to get under that faucet to run down the tube, and you could probably spit water faster than that tube would drain it.
 

Krow

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Thats an older model Emco faucet.

The plastic tubes are called "trap seal primears". They will go into the basement and end up in the floor drains to keep fresh water replenished in the trap. If 2 faucets have the same tubes., I suspect you have 2 floor drains in your basement.

I have a feeling you are in Canada

and BTW, those faucets have a 1/8" female tapping on the bottom of the faucet (A 1/8" removable plug would be there at time of purchase)
 
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sydneyplumber

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Thats an older model Emco faucet.

The plastic tubes are called "trap seal primears". They will go into the basement and end up in the floor drains to keep fresh water replenished in the trap. If 2 faucets have the same tubes., I suspect you have 2 floor drains in your basement.

I have a feeling you are in Canada

and BTW, those faucets have a 1/8" female tapping on the bottom of the faucet (A 1/8" removable plug would be there at time of purchase)

Hmm, good call.. I wouldn't have come up with this, we don't use the same installation down here :)
 

Christoff

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Thats an older model Emco faucet.

The plastic tubes are called "trap seal primears". They will go into the basement and end up in the floor drains to keep fresh water replenished in the trap. If 2 faucets have the same tubes., I suspect you have 2 floor drains in your basement.

I have a feeling you are in Canada

and BTW, those faucets have a 1/8" female tapping on the bottom of the faucet (A 1/8" removable plug would be there at time of purchase)

thanks for the help krow, now i know what it is for:)
 

Redwood

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It's funny how you cross a border and the plumbing changes...
Much of the Canadian stuff is very similar to ours but this instance is way different. For a trap primer here in the US we would rely on a valve that might be like this one...

A200.jpg


Now over in the UK they have some real strange stuff!
 

Krow

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It's funny how you cross a border and the plumbing changes...
Much of the Canadian stuff is very similar to ours but this instance is way different. For a trap primer here in the US we would rely on a valve that might be like this one...

A200.jpg


Now over in the UK they have some real strange stuff!
We have these as well, but the primear from a faucet has less chance of failing and is enough water to keep the traps primed.

The only time we would use that type of primear, is if there are no fixtures in the vacinity of the floor drains, or simply it would be too disruptive to the household to start poking holes just to run a plastic tube to the floor drain.
 
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hj

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primers

There are several non-mechanical trap primes, although I have never seen that particular one. Some come off the side of a flush valve's tailpiece and others are a diversion fitting in a lavatory tailpiece. Anything that periodically diverts water into the floor drain would operate as a trap primer.
 

Christoff

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They do not have overflows here either, but making one in the back of the sink would have made more sense than doing it that way. HOW is the water going to get under that faucet to run down the tube, and you could probably spit water faster than that tube would drain it.

hi, in actual fact, the father inlaw has the same setup in his house around the corner from me.
guess what, the other day he called me and he had a major flood in his basement, because his hot water tap was leaking , not from the facuet but from the tube that had been worn through where the installer had fastened it down, down in the basement, so it was bypassing the facuet into the tub, and draining into the tube, and draining all over the floor.
 
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