TrapGuard feedback

[Spaceman Spiff]

These have been out for a few years now and i've had them installed in different buildings w/o any problems reported, but I wanted to see what the feedback was from an audience larger than one...

http://www.trapguard.com/

We're continually having problems with trap primers failing because of sediment in the primer, so much that I have my mechanical engineers use trapguard or design the primer loop so that it can be replaced easily a number of times. (Tee up to ball valve, 12" pipe, 90 horiz to primer, 90 down to slab... this way you can cut off the 90's and replace it 10-12 times before you need a pair of couplers in the mix)

I'm an architect (100% commercial, 0% resi) and want to do whats best for my clients, so any feedback on these, positive or negative, is appreciated. Thanks!!!

 

[Geniescience]

been nixed many times before

i looked into this a lot two years ago, and at that time the web site promoted them as an alternative to a P trap. Today the claim made is as an alternative to a trap primer, from what i see after a quick visit.

All the Master Plumbers I spoke to back then nixed the idea. They all said they knew of the concept and that it had been studied and not approved and that it was not going to go in under their supervision and insurance responsibility. There was no wiggle room. Nobody budged.

I was legally bound to hire a Master Plumber for a certain portion of my residential remodeling, since I live in a high-rise condo building and my P traps are underneath my concrete slab floor, in my neighbor's ceiling downstairs. I did put new P traps in -- and gave my neighbor a nice gift to thank him for putting up with concrete dust, plaster dust, paint fumes, and risk, in his condo, just to let me have a new bathroom.

It might have been worth considering using this trap guard to alleviate some of the need to have trap primers in addition to a P trap, since the (partial) seal it makes will slow down evaporation by a large degree. Master Plumbers in my town are not as demanding about trap primers.

I think the basic flaw with Trap Guard is that sewer gases can still rise through the device. Sometimes there is pressure and the gases can come through, and far more than if they were at average atmospheric pressure. Sewer gases can kill, and not all sewer gases have detectable odors. So the issue is life and death. This explains why Master Plumbers won't install them. They can see a problem with Trap Guard.

Perhaps in conjunction with a P-trap, it can be good, in cases where a trap primer cannot be installed.

BTW, in the deaths caused by SARS about five years ago, many of the infections arose when faulty plumbing (floor drains with dried-out P traps) allowed bad air to infect people who stayed indoors a lot and breathed the air of the building, including the air of their bathroom. This happened in hospitals and in concrete high-rise buildings with floor drains in the bathrooms.

The trap guard product was discussed in one of these Terry Love forums last year as well.

david

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Dunbar Plumbing]

I remember the discussion regarding this product.

Seems great but you are restricting the open surface of that drain, no matter what and how much that drain can take on in waste.

They assume clear water without debri in best circumstance with that design.

Passing through a restriction such as that can also prevent the self-scouring/cleaning of the trap by normal flow rates.

It also prevents the awareness when a clog does occur.

Remember that codes were designed for the smart people as well as the dumb.