Posts tagged ‘drain’
Sink Plungers are Not Toilet Plungers
Thankfully, my current home has good plumbing and I haven’t needed a plunger in a long time. But, I can’t say the same about previous places, especially some of those places in college!
The best way to get a plunger to work well is to use the right plunger. There are two main types of plungers: toilet plungers and general purpose plungers (for almost everything other than toilets).
Sinks and floor drains are typically flat, so a flat plunger is ideal. But toilet drains are typically curved and the curvature can vary widely among models. That means a flat sink plunger isn’t well suited for creating a seal and getting proper suction around the curvature of a toilet drain. You need good suction to clear a blockage and you’ll get better suction if you use a plunger with a flanged bottom to match the curve of the toilet drain.
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U-Shaped Plumbing Stops Sewer Gases
Look under any sink, shower or bathtub in your home and you’ll find a U shaped plumbing arrangement. This plumbing configuration may go by the following names: p-trap, j-trap, u-trap or s-trap. Depending on how you look at it, it can look like any of these letters.
Technically, the term “s-trap” describes a slightly older variation of this plumbing technique, but the term is often used to describe the one seen below. For short, we’ll just call it “the trap” because it traps water.
Trapping water serves two main purposes.
The first is prevent sewer gases from entering a building through the drain pipes. These gases smell bad and are bad for your health.
The second is to catch small items that are inadvertently dropped down the drain, such as jewelry. There is typically an access cap on the bottom of the trap that can be used to retreive valuables or clean out the trap — they tend to collect hair and other debris.
When water enters the trap, it pushes the same amount of water out the other side of the trap. This means the trap will always maintain the same amount of water in it. Traps may dry out due to evaporation if a particular drain is not frequently used. If you have a rarely used drain, it might be a good idea to run the water for a minute every 4-5 weeks.
Broken Secrets | By: Chad Upton
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Sources: Wikipedia, Water Evaporation
Broken Secrets 