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Billbill84

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Hey guys, so today I noticed that my damn drain line for my SpeedQueen washing machine, near the end of its last cycle, has bubbles spewing out of it!!! (See pics). Is this an issue with the machine itself or the drain? I disconnected the supply hoses and ran them near full throttle down the PVC drain and it's not backed up or anything it drains just fine! I should note that I use very little soap (the HE type), and this only happens at the end of the final cycle, last 2 or 3 minutes or so. What the heck is going on here?!?!
 

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So this is happening where the drain hose from the washer connects to a standpipe that leads to your main drain? There is a connector available that clamps to both lines to make a water-tight (well sort-of) seal.
If this has not happened before, there must also be a reason why it has begun. Sounds like too much soap, but then it should happen sooner when there is more soap in the system. Very strange.
 
So this is happening where the drain hose from the washer connects to a standpipe that leads to your main drain? There is a connector available that clamps to both lines to make a water-tight (well sort-of) seal.
If this has not happened before, there must also be a reason why it has begun. Sounds like too much soap, but then it should happen sooner when there is more soap in the system. Very strange.
Not sure if it's happened before, only been in house since January but I don't think it was happening. Always used high efficiency tide soap and use very litte even on large loads. The standpipe actually already has that rubber adapter connected to it but something is going on here! If I run just a test cycle without clothes or soap there's no bubbles. Wth?
 
Just a guess, but were you washing towels that may have had some dishwasher detergent on them like Dawn? How about towels that may have been used to wash a car?
 
Reminds me of the time my wife was out of town and I decided to run a load of dishes in the dish washer. I added what I thought was "just a little" detergent. Came back to the kitchen later and had a flood of soapy water running out of the washer. :( My guess is too much soap, either added to or migrated in as others have stated.
 
Had a similar problem with a dishwasher. Wife tried a new detergent and apparently it was a bad batch and didn't have the suds suppressant. Suds all over. Have you tried a diffrerent soap?
 
Yeah the first time I noticed it, it was after my wife was using some cheap soap. I then cleaned up the bubbles and ran a full wash cycle without clothes or soap and everything drained fine and NO bubbles! Figured I got a good rinse. Now last night I new there was a possibility of bubbles so I used my usual HE type soap and used less than 1 bar. Was barely anything. End of cycle and BAM...bubbles out the standpipe again. Wtf?!?!?! I think tomorrow I'll pull the drain line off the washer itself and check the screen thing or the drain line may have some lint that's saturated with soap suds. Hell idk. Will report back with findings
 
Just a guess, but were you washing towels that may have had some dishwasher detergent on them like Dawn? How about towels that may have been used to wash a car?
No not really I mean, like most households we dirty dish towel and it all gets out in the wash, same practice we had in the last house as well and never had no issue
 
Update (if anyone still gives a **** lol). So today I decided to tackle this one and tore into the job. Disconnected everything and checked the drain line is clear, it was. Measured the standpipe and it was a bit low at 20" from top of p trap. I added 12" to it. Also used a hand held manual crank snake and snaked out 25' of line, didn't feel any clogs. Reconnected it all and ran 4 "dummy loads" with no clothes or detergent. Everything drains just fine and verified by going down and listening to the pipes at the sewer clean out in basement loudly flowing!
One thing I found odd and may be the cause of the standpipe suds overflow, was that during the last spin cycle I held my led light to the discharge line before it gets to the top of standpipe, and found air was being forced into the line. I could see water swishing around in the line. Air is pulsating in the discharge line on last spin cycle. Air plus soap = hello suds! Is this normal washing machine behavior??
About to throw a little detergent in and see what happens
 
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So how was the air getting in?
Hey. Thanks for inquiring. The last 5 min of the final spin cycle actually is spinning and pumping out, like most machines I assume. The discharge line always has a little bit of soapy water left in it because of its length and the fact that the pump is at the bottom of the machine, and the standpipe being higher (think P-trap nature), but during that last spin there is not enough water in the drum to justify the amount of pumping going on which then causes that leftover fluid to just oscillate in the line. What happens to water that has some soap left in it with this motion occurring? Suds! Suds then work their way up the line, down the standpipe, and overflow it. Make sense? I've investigated the issue intensely, lol. Only fix I found was to add a 12" riser to the standpipe with breathable foam wrapped fully around the rubber adapter and over the top of the hose retainer and the issue was solved.
 

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