sink fills up when washing machine is on

Blacey

Does anyone know why a kitchen sink might fill up with water when the washing machine is on? Water from the machine comes up the drainhole in the kitchen sink about twice in every wash.

I assume that both the sink and machine have the same drainpipe or something, but should the sink fill up?

FarmerGreen

I've had this problem myself, caused by a partial blockage
Fluff from the washing machine binds with grease from the sink.
"One-shot drain cleaner" from B&Q will dissolve it.
Read the instructions and be careful, its a strong acid.

Blacey

Thank you! I will try this asap and report back here as to how it worked out.

seamus

Yep, exactly what farmergreen says. The outlet pipe on the washing machine is connected to the outlet of the sink (if you look underneath you'll see it). The washing machine fills up twice during the cycle - once to wash, then once to rinse, this is why the sink fills up twice during the cycle.

Any good drain unblocker should sort it, though I don't know if you should disconnect the washing machine to make sure none of the unblocking solution goes back into the machine.

Joey the lips

seamus wrote: »

Yep, exactly what farmergreen says. The outlet pipe on the washing machine is connected to the outlet of the sink (if you look underneath you'll see it). The washing machine fills up twice during the cycle - once to wash, then once to rinse, this is why the sink fills up twice during the cycle.

Any good drain unblocker should sort it, though I don't know if you should disconnect the washing machine to make sure none of the unblocking solution goes back into the machine.

Yes. I would disconnect or run a rinse cycle straight afterwords to clean the machine. The easiest way would be to remove the trap and clean it. 90% of the time this is where the blockage is.

No chemicals required.!


ps if you do remove the hose from the washing machine. bock the hole with a plastic bag stuffed in it. Its tempory and easy to remove.