DIY plumbing smoke test, Rectorseal condensate P Trap, sewer smells

Рет қаралды 11,130

3 жыл бұрын

DIY smoke test to find sewage gases in your home. I try to describe the products and processes I followed to ultimately find where sewage stank was coming from. Hope this helps.
Rectorseal easy trap installation guide
• Installing the Rectors...
Rectorseal that I used for my condensate line
www.amazon.com/Rectorseal-831...
Smoke bomb - these are hard to find. Hopefully this retailer still sells these.
www.supplyhouse.com/DiversiTe...
BTW, I mention at the end to give me a call...I meant comment below!!!!
Good luck

Пікірлер: 52

@stacybrittain9448 3 ай бұрын

Thank you Jeff! A very well done video with helpful tips and a great explanation and presentation. We are researching doing a smoke test in our house and your video helps.

@fishinjunky 3 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

@PatrickGray 2 жыл бұрын

This is the chaotic good solution we all needed.

@Deep_Divers 6 ай бұрын

Great do-it-yourself fix! Quite creative on your part on the smoke test setup using a shop vac to blow the smoke into the system! Unbelievable that whoever cut the drain line did not install a cap and that the drain line for the heating system tied directly into the sewer system with no trap. Thanks for sharing how you did this.

@fishinjunky 5 ай бұрын

Thanks! 👍

@bahmannosratollah7017 Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for sharing your findings with others.

@serenelychaotic 2 жыл бұрын

THANK YOU! Every time heat kicks on sewer smell fills our bathroom and has been driving me nuts! I’m handy but disabled, so knowing my limits I had a nice team of plumbers come out for a $60 diagnostic. Worth it to rule out things, but they couldn’t isolate and offered a $1,029 smoke test. I respect pro tradesmen, but I’m broke. Lol Your ideas offer great alternatives!

@fishinjunky 2 жыл бұрын

Hi Paige. Did you check to see if your furnace has a condensate line that terminates in the sewage stack? It seems to me that in your case, if the smell is intermittent, or detectable when the heat kicks on, you could have the same situation that I have. The smoke test I used worked well. But you might be best served to have some help. The smoke doesn't last long, and if you're disabled, you may not be able to quickly scan all areas of the house for signs of smoke. Having a few extra sets of eyes might be really helpful. The shop vac trick using the hose on the exhaust side really worked well for me. Let me know if any of these tips helped! This is a really frustrating problem, and a health hazard to boot. Good luck!

@davidburkholder7360 Ай бұрын

Golly that seems high for a smoke test. Having one done tmrw in Clearwater, Fl. 300 dollars.

@johnt890 3 жыл бұрын

Nice job thinking through this. Thanks for sharing.

@jamesmooney5348 Жыл бұрын

Great video brother.... Thanks. Very helpful!

@functionalvanconversion4284 Жыл бұрын

Awesome information! I have a unit with a wierd smell and I am thinking it could be the cat box, but the smoke test you describe could help eliminate variables. Thanks

@fishinjunky Жыл бұрын

you're welcome. Good luck figuring it out! I know how frustrating it can be.

@TheDavidarlen 2 ай бұрын

Thanks helpful

@macknumber9 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much Jeff for creating this video. I hope this solves my problem but even if it doesn't it should help somebody else and you already helped me by creating an inexpensive way to create my own smoke bomb I was going to buy a machine but when I looked up the price I said HELL NO it was $600 on Amazon LOL

@fishinjunky 3 жыл бұрын

Great! Glad it helped. Finding sewer gas smell is a PITA. Hopefully that smoke bomb trick works for you.

@fishinjunky 3 жыл бұрын

As a side note, if the shop vac is blowing too much air too fast, you can duct tape a thin shop towel around the hose to help diffuse the air pressure. Alternatively, a hair dryer on the high setting might also get the job done.

@macknumber9 3 жыл бұрын

@@fishinjunky I'm going to have to do the smoke test because I checked the a/c and it doesn't drain to the septic line....I dont even smell it now...I think I busted a PVC pipe with the snake when I tried clearing the clog I had in the kitchen line...should actually be easy to find because I did not notice this smell before I snaked the kitchen drain line...

@fishinjunky 3 жыл бұрын

@@macknumber9 is the smell local just to one room?

@macknumber9 3 жыл бұрын

@@fishinjunky no it is kind of throughout the home...but it is just a 750 sq ft mobile home...I think I busted through the pipe when trying to snake out a clog and now the odor is coming up through there and is very subtle because it has to find the smallest air gaps to get up into the home...

@tenthdimension9836 2 жыл бұрын

First of all this is a great video. Very thorough explanation of the issue and resolution. I'd like to add a couple observations. 1. All condensation lines from HVAC units should have a trap due to the static pressure inside the ductwork. You can check out videos that explain the issue on KZfaq. 2. Condensate lines should have an air gap between the discharge point and the intake point i.e. floor drain, washtub etc. You DON'T want a sewage backup going into your furnace. 3. Here's something I've observed with these rectorseal p-traps. The manufacturer requires that you glue with PVC cement the clear tube to the white connectors. The clear tube is made of PVC. The reason it's shipped unglued is to give you flexibility on installation. For some reason people think that's supposed to be a water tight fit without glue. 4. This bring me to my question. Why do you have green tape on your p-trap? Did you glue it or is the tape how you sealed it?

@fishinjunky 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the comments! I did actually use PVC glue to connect the clear tube to the hard plastic p trap. The green tape I just had in my tool box, and figured it couldn't hurt. But to your point, it was not necessary.

@andrewmckinlay2964 10 ай бұрын

Do you need an air gap if there is a condensate pump? Don’t those have one way valves?

@prentfaiyaz Жыл бұрын

I love this.

@redwood1957 22 күн бұрын

Another question if i may. I have a couple main clean outs i could blow smoke into. I also have vent stacks on/thru the roof. Do i need to cover those before blowing smoke in? Thanks

@davidburkholder7360 Ай бұрын

How would you inspect a p trap of a shower in a slab home with NO crawl space? Clearly the p traps of vanities, sinks are all very easy to inspect but how would you do a p trap inspection for a washing machine drain that goes into slab or shower that drains into slab? Thoughts? Incidentally I am having a smoke test tomorrow (cost 300 dollars) and I live in Belleair Fl (boders Clearwater). I must say this sewer smell which seems to happen only at night will need resolved no matter the cost. Finally your condensation line point is well taken. Never thought of that one. Any thoughts on my comment? Best, Dave

@fishinjunky 28 күн бұрын

As long as there is water in the p trap, no gas will come through. A smoke test as I’ve described will tell you if the p trap is working or not. As an alternative to a shop vac, you can also is a hair dryer. Less force but enough to push smoke through the plumbing system.

@davidburkholder7360 28 күн бұрын

@@fishinjunky Did smoke test. House flippers omitted p trap at washer drain so smoke poured through. Rotorooter handled for 1300 plus 400 for smoke test. I have dealt with real estate for some time and I would now tell anyone on an older home get a smoke test done. Inspectors are tremendously lacking in plumbing inspections. And in fact I would say the inspection industry has failed in this regard, utterly.

@redwood1957 10 ай бұрын

Did the smoke have any smell that stuck around. Thank you

@fishinjunky 5 ай бұрын

Not at all

@connorhumphries81 Жыл бұрын

Can you explain how you did it with she shop vac? Did you put it in the smoke bomb in the bucket and then shot out the smoke?

@fishinjunky Жыл бұрын

I had to do this exercise once again as I smelled more sewage in my basement. This time I used a hair dryer instead of a shop vac. I poked holes in an empty can of corn that fit semi-snugly around the hair dryer. Once I lit the bomb, I dropped it in the can, quickly duct taped it around the dryer, and stuck the dryer in the pipe. I had a towel handy to stuff around the gaps between the dryer and the pipe. The dryer is much softer than the shop vac. It provided just the right amount of air pressure to not blow out water from my traps, or blow out the bomb itself. Give the hair dryer truck a try

@prentfaiyaz Жыл бұрын

@JeffT what was the issue this time??

@fishinjunky 5 ай бұрын

@@prentfaiyaz Using the hair dryer trick, I found an air admittance valve under my utility sink that was not functioning properly.

@Mrblahblah-thebastard 7 ай бұрын

The only way sewer gas can enter the furnace through a condensation drain line is through the secondary heat exchanger and in to the vent system, this wouldn’t enter the home unless there were a leak in the heat exchanger or possibly if the fresh air intake were drawing combustion air from the room rather then from outside.

@realisticinvestments9360 3 жыл бұрын

Hello Man, Are you still using the sharpens best sharpener? How's it been?

@fishinjunky 3 жыл бұрын

I lost my sharp n spark. Still have the poker chip and use it occasionally. Since those sharpensbest videos, I’ve learned a lot about sharpening knives and straight razors. I’ll put a dull knife to a whetstone before I ever reach for my poker chip. With proper form, The sharpensbest aligns the cutting edge. But the apex of the edge will still retain all irregularities. It is a honing tool. And not expect I’ve at removing metal. The “V” cutter will strip metal quite well however. I just prefer free hand sharpening with Whetstones now. And the edges I get are superior to the sharpensbest.

@realisticinvestments9360 3 жыл бұрын

@@fishinjunky I appreciate the fast reply man. I'm actually have a spear point knife? I was thinking of getting this sharpens best to sharpen it or do you think a whetstone is better?

@fishinjunky 3 жыл бұрын

@@realisticinvestments9360 if you have a sharpensbest, give it a try on your knife. Freehand sharpening requires a considerable amount of practice IMO. I’m still learning, but can put a respectable edge on most knives now. So if this knife you have is valuable, I’d get some thrift store knives and practice before using this one. As far as stones go, the Norton 4000/8000 is a good value, and can be found used for cheap regularly. Good luck.

@realisticinvestments9360 3 жыл бұрын

@@fishinjunky Thanks man. I appreciate you take the time to answer your comments. I'm planning to get the Lansky Sharpening system. I have stones but they are extremely difficult to use for me.

@fishinjunky 3 жыл бұрын

@@realisticinvestments9360 I had a Lanskey but could never figure out how to use it. Never got an acceptable edge. Sometimes the old way is the best way. Freehand sharpening and whetstones are king IMO. Plus you’re learning a skill. I’ve got a freehand sharpening vid you can check out.