Stuffed Drain

[mquint]

Hi. I'm new to this forum:

I’m on a septic tank and I need help with a kitchen drain problem I have.
My kitchen drain backs up about every 4 months; it doesn’t affect any other drains in the house but the kitchen one. When this happens I’ve tried the all kind of drain cleaners, but they didn’t work.
At want time I’ve even had to call in a plumber. But after a few months it still starts to back in (I have had to rent an electric drain snake to clean it out) there’s no trees anywhere near the drain field.

It almost seem like there is some kind of blockage in the pipe that gets open and with time gets blocked again there a something should be looking for to fix this

 

[Gary Swart]

I suspect you have diagnosed the problem pretty well. There may be a broken pipe that is snagging debris and causing the blockage. If you hang around this site very long, you will quickly realize that the professional plumbers all agree that drain cleaners don't work. Also, the DIY snakes usually aren't capable of really cleaning the drains properly. Obvious, sometimes they will work OK, but mostly they are a waste of time and money. I'd say that you might be well advised to contact a plumber who can video the drain to find out just what is causing the problem for sure. Anything less is just guesswork at best.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Mike Swearingen]

Kitchen drains tend to get blocked more than others due to how they're being used. Too much grease and oils, food particles, etc. can clog them faster. We dump all food particles, grease and oils out of skillets and pans into the trash, and wipe the residue out with paper towels to help prevent clogging (we're on a septic system, too), and never have clogging problems.
If you have a disposal on a septic system, it is recommended not to use it.
Most caustic drain cleaners don't work, as Gary said. They're really made more for total clogs, and will flow right past partial clogs.
I have found one that works well for partial clogs and sluggish drains. It is a non-caustic, enzyme-based drain cleaner called DrainCare. It eats out all organic gunk, including the grease and gunk build-up that restricts drain flow.
You just run warm water into the drain, pour in the DrainCare, let it eat overnight, and then flush it with very hot water. If the build-up is really bad, you may need to do it more than once.
You might try that first. It has worked for me for years on all of our drains (available at big box stores, etc.).
Good luck!
Mike

 

[mquint]

Thanks Mike & Gary:
I'll Draincare out Mike and see what happens (HOPEFULLY IT WORKS), if it doesn't work I'm going to try elect snake again an see what happens.

I'll let you guys know.
Thanks again

 

[mrjetskey]

With my septic system I had the sink and washer drain into the first tank(grease trap)and toilets were tied into second tank,then both emptied into a third tank before drain field.I think probably someone emptied grease and other non digestable itemsinto your system.Most septic systems have to be healty to work correctly.I would never use a drain cleaner only a enzyme such as riddx.It sounds like your grease trap is full of grease and needs to be pumped out!!that is what it sounds like to me since all other drains operate ok.You need to find out how your septic system is configured 1 or 2 or3 tanks or 1 grease trap and one main tank etc. just have a vacuum truck come and empty both and start fresh and don't dump tons of grease and other refuse through your disposal put it in small plastic bag and then in trash.PS I don't want to sound like mister septic tank man!but if you take care of your system it can and will give you years of trouble free service.It just takes treating it right.

 

[mquint]

Stuffed

Thanks for the reply

I have a two stage system, I had it drained last year.
Do they need to be drained more than once a year?

Wouldn't it give off some smell if it needed cleaning?