spin cycle smells

jumper

When washing machine is in spin cycle there's a sewer smell. House does not have ideal drains or venting. Can I seal the drain hose to its receptacle?

Jamie Hall

Technically speaking -- at least by the last code I had to enforce -- you have to either have an air gap or an approved vacuum breaker for that connection. You could seal it if you put a vacuum breaker on the drain line.

Warning: your code may vary.

JUGHNE

If your drain hose is pushed down to far into the standpipe and into the trap water, then I have notices sewer gas issues with a front loader.

icesailor

Front loading Washing machines don't clean all their drain water out and will stink. A big negative with front loaders. They sell special soap to get rid of the smell. They are prone to grow all kinds of molds where the water doesn't get too.

Washing machines/automatic clothes washers are drained through a "Air Break" where the smaller drain hose drains into a larger diameter standpipe, connected to a trap and a properly vented drain and waste. If the drain overflows, it overflows over the pipe. It doesn't back up in to the tub or machine.

Automatic dishwashers drain through a "Air Gap. Where the drain/waste water has to fall through an open air space as it goes in to the drain. If the drain overflows, the waste/drain water overflows out of the gap and not back into the machine.

If you get an odor after a clothes washing machine drains, it is most likely that the trap seal was lost. Is the trap on the same floor as the machine? Old houses before codes often had the washing machine trap below the floor. Water momentum could cause the trap seal to fail. You shouldn't be smelling any odors.

JUGHNE

In my case I believe the hose was into the P-trap water and had enough velocity to empty the trap as it pumped out, or when the pump shut off it syphoned the water from the P-trap pack into the washer. Pulled up the hose so I could hear the water pump out into the trap water seemed to clear up the smell. Also we keep the door propped open with a folded towel when not in use. This is a high dollar Samsung washer and it looks odd that door must be left open.

Water always remained in the lower part of the standard top load, but has plenty of air to breathe.

JeffM

I've got one of those Samsung washers too, and keeping the door open is a little annoying. If yours has the pull out soap tray, I'd recommend you take 30 minutes some weekend and remove that as well for manual cleaning (and leave that open to dry as well). I recently found that my soap tray had lots of nasty stuff growing in the nooks and corners that aren't usually visible.

icesailor

The minimum height for a washing machine standpipe is 18". The standpipe must be a minimum of 1 1/2". Some increase it to 2" which is allowable in a 1 1/2" trap as an increaser of a receptor. The Standpipe is considered an indirect waste receptor.

If you need to keep the door open on your washer, it is because it is not cleaning out the old soap, soap curds and dirt. The smell is anaerobic bacteria.

If you do the Google around the Internets looking for something like "odor-Samsung- washing machine_ and whatever, you might find that you are not alone. I had a Maytag Neptune front loader that the mold and skuzz on the top of the door gasket, would make a rat run away and flies take cover.

JUGHNE

It is a water saver of course. Seems to need a post purge rinse to clean out the bottom end. The biggest savings seems to be the high spin which cuts down on electric dryer run time.

vaporvac

I thought the instructions advise leaving the door open for precisely this reason. I wonder if the new top loaders with the super spin have the same problem.

wogpa67

I have had a Fischer & Paykel top loader for about 8 years and it doesn't have that problem.
I can't remember which front loader I had but it smelled if you didn't leave the door opened.

icesailor

vaporvac said:

I thought the instructions advise leaving the door open for precisely this reason. I wonder if the new top loaders with the super spin have the same problem.

We bought a top loader. It holds far more than the front loader, and spins just fine. Best part, no smell.

icesailor

vaporvac said:

I thought the instructions advise leaving the door open for precisely this reason. I wonder if the new top loaders with the super spin have the same problem.

Anaerobic Bacteria (Lives without Oxygen can't live in an oxygen rich environment. Aerobic bacteria (Lives with Oxygen) eats Anaerobic bacteria, You leave the door open to help keep the oxygen levels up, The smell is a bacteria feed.

Larry Weingarten

Hello: Try running some hydrogen peroxide through the machine (with no clothes in it) and see if that helps the smelly bacteria move on. If that doesn't do it, the venting likely needs to be looked at.

Yours, Larry

Fred

I have the Samsung front load, low water, high effeciency washer too. Never had a problem with any odors and we keep the door closed. We do dry around the door seal when we finish using it. My pet peeve with this unit is if the size of the wash load isn't just right, it will try to balance the load for 20 minutes before it goes into a fast spin cycle. A 10 minute spin takes 30 or 40 minutes. So much for energy savings.