Air trapped in kitchen sink with different sized bowls.

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qdllc

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Mom wanted new sinks, and where we had two identical bowls on the old one, the new one has a bigger left sink and a smaller, shallower right sink. Ever since it's been installed, water drainage down the left one has been horrible when the right one is being used to wash dishes. I have to break the drain to let air escape so the left bowl drains normally. Is there a way to fix this? I figure a valve that lets air out but not water might work, but I've found nothing like it. Here's a photo of the current set up.

sinks.jpg
 

Tuttles Revenge

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Is the tee between the two drains a Baffle Tee? You shouldn't be able to see across it. The trap goes into the wall? Or does it go into the base of the cabinet?

If the drain goes down into the cabinet, its an S trap which causes a siphon.. 2 things that I think could be going on. The trap isn't vented and the drain has a blockage that doesn't allow free movement of air through it to another vent in the system.
 

John Gayewski

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This needs repiped in a different configuration. Drain one sink into the other tailpiece and then that drain goes to a vented tee. Get rid if the a-trap and get an aav
 

qdllc

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Is the tee between the two drains a Baffle Tee? You shouldn't be able to see across it. The trap goes into the wall? Or does it go into the base of the cabinet?

If the drain goes down into the cabinet, its an S trap which causes a siphon.. 2 things that I think could be going on. The trap isn't vented and the drain has a blockage that doesn't allow free movement of air through it to another vent in the system.

Don’t know about the T without taking things apart, but if that is what should be used, odds are it is. Drain pipe goes into the base of the cabinet and through the floor. We didn’t have this issue before, so I expect it’s the sinks having drains at different heights.
 

Tuttles Revenge

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Don’t know about the T without taking things apart, but if that is what should be used, odds are it is. Drain pipe goes into the base of the cabinet and through the floor. We didn’t have this issue before, so I expect it’s the sinks having drains at different heights.
we install sinks with different drain heights all of the time and never experience this issue.
 

Reach4

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I could see that, without there being a flaw. Especially if the trap water seal is 4 inch, and the sink basket has small exit holes.

If the level of the water in the sink being drained is deeper than the water seal, I expect whoosh... quick draining. Stick an air-filled plastic soda straw down through a hole in the drain basket, and I expect draining goes down faster.

You can get the same effect with a lavatory that does not have an overflow.
 

qdllc

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By the numbers, what should I check as possible causes. I know we reused most of the hardware from the old sink. It’s not that it doesn’t drain, but until the air pocket is released it doesn’t flow as it should. Is there any unique steps when plumbing a sink with two different depth bowls?
 

Reach4

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I don't think this is related to high+low bowls.

I suspect your old sink baskets had bigger holes/slots.

For fun, with an inch of standing water, drop a drop of dish washing liquid to land in the area of the holes. I have never tried this. It is an easy experiment, if you have dish washing liquid handy.
 

Reach4

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What am I looking for when I do that?
A result. An effect, or lack of an effect.

The two results that seem reasonable is nothing changes, and the other would be that the water starts going down the drain. But maybe there is some third possibility that I have not envisioned. I don't envision a negative result worse than you wasted a drop of dish detergent and 3 minutes of your time.

The upside of a negative result is we could all learn something. If it is a positive result, we would learn even more.
 
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Jeff H Young

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what is the expierament using dish soap putting a drop in ? I dont get what you expect will happen? the water might drain faster from the slippery soap ?
 

Reach4

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what is the expierament using dish soap putting a drop in ? I dont get what you expect will happen? the water might drain faster from the slippery soap ?
My theory is that there is surface tension on the air-water boundary. I think detergants reduce surface tension.


 

Reach4

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I really don't know which way the experiment will play out.
 

qdllc

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Well, I did the straw thing. As soon as the straw passed the hole in the basket, the pressure equalized and the water rushed out. So, it’s the hole size of the baskets causing the issue.

Likewise, anyone know of basket strainers that are all stainless and not this plastic crap? The bowls we got with the sink were all stainless but screw down. The ones we have now look like crap as the plating has come off the stems.
 

Reach4

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Your baskets look shallow. Those are often used when you are space-limited. You have a lot of space.
 
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