I agree with KISS. When dealing with waste water from a washer, the best solution is to trap the lint before it goes into the drain. That is a must for septic systems and is also required in some municipalities. Lint filters (sock like) are widely and inexpensively available.

Of course, if this is a class project as part of the class then that is a different concern. A pump driven venturi is one possible method. A burst of higher power would be from a second battery, charged along with the first battery, but switched into a series connection for a short period based on a current level being exceeded. That would be hard on the pump but for 15 to 30 seconds it may not cause any damage.

 

Here https://filtrol.net/products/filtrol-standard-for-home/ is a commercial system which I believe works. I could not use it my application because of clearances. I require a laundry tub.

Mine is a multi-vendor solution, so postage eats up a lot of the cost. A working inconvenient filter is really easy to make.

 

One think to keep in mind is that wash waste water mostly contains threads and lint, and that sort of blockage will not be cleared by more pressure, because it clings to any roughness or protrudence into the flow path. So a blast of higher pressure will not break it loose. At the one residence where we had a problem with the washer drainage capability of the plumbing the solution was a reservoir that allowed the discharge to be pumped out rapidly and then to flow slowly down the drain pipe.There is an intrinsic stupidity in some folks that they believe that water will flow adequately through narrow pipes with no slope. They are wrong, in case you are wondering.

 

Genuine Laundry Lint:

 

This is my completed filter assembly. There is a pipe that releases the laundry discharge near the bottom of the sock filter. That had to have about 0.025" machined from the outside to fit the friction clamp.

The friction clamp has a 1/4-20 threaded hole in it and is about 1/16 to 1/8" off the surface by a "gasket". Having it off the surface makes it so the yellow friction lock moves freely. So to change/clean the filter, you release the yellow mechanism and pull it up. You have about an 8" PVC pipe attached. The filter slides out to the left. I do have a pic in the dissassembled state. The holder is commercial for another industry.

What happened:

The drain stopped up a few times. The Whirlpool washer eats the lint and spits it out the drain. Lovely design.

I used my snake that attaches to a drill. It went Clockwise in. I could not release the clog. I rented a snake and didn't realize it was CCW in. I spent nearly the entire rental period and it was a long time until I realized it. One I reversed the snake, the clog was freed. The clog was about 25' in 60 YO galvanized pipe under/in the basement floor.

That's when I decided to do something about it.

Proof of concept required a way to restrain the pipe so the force of the water would not pop it out and try different media.

 

Genuine Laundry Lint:



View attachment 180348

As the picture shows, which certainly it does agree with my observations of laundry lint, it does indeed tend to bind onto itself and become a laminated structure. The interesting tale of one client's disaster was that her washer was one of those that simply reverses the pump connections to stop draining. And some helper had added an extension to the drain tube so that the splashing into the laundry tub would not spray all over the paneled walls. So when the laundry tub drain became blocked, the poorly designed system would pump the dirty wash water back into the machine. The solution included clearing the drain clog and adding holes to the extension to prevent the suction from being able to pull the water back in.

 

Here https://filtrol.net/products/filtrol-standard-for-home/ is a commercial system which I believe works. I could not use it my application because of clearances. I require a laundry tub.

Mine is a multi-vendor solution, so postage eats up a lot of the cost. A working inconvenient filter is really easy to make.

Or one could use a less expensive solution. Stop at Lowe’s and pick up a hose clamp for your discharge pipe. Then, goto a Walmart or Dollar Tree store and grab a pack of Women’s Knee High nylon stockings. Clamp stocking to hose. Change a few weeks later. Repeat.

 

This is what my daughter in Virginia uses (required by code):


In any event, be sure it has a vacuum breaker or you may suck dirty water back into the machine (see post #26 by MisterBill2).

 

Used both at one time. Both crappy solutions. My solution is still inexpensive if you include the rental of the snake. I pulled off getting the rental of the snake for free.

It's been a long time - maybe 10 years, I think it was about $70.00 USD for version #1. Version #2 added another $50.00. The sock has never been replaced except for the ones I used in the initial trials.

 

Unfortunately we still have no clue as to why the TS needs a pump. It may be that there are no drains below the level of the dirty water discharge point. There are places like that. A lack of adequate information assures a steady stream of guesses.

 

Unfortunately we still have no clue as to why the TS needs a pump.

You make up stuff to do when it's a class project.

Things can get really wierd when you tell teach your answer was right. I got the credit because teach said "Your not supposed to know that yet".

When asked at an Hewlett-Packard Explorer's post in 1972 what color wire was hot, I said black. I was like in high school. I eventually won.

I don't like one industry (thermocouples) where the red wire is negative.

 

Hey @KeepItSimpleStupid,

I searched my PM's and couldn't find it. Would you be willing to post your final design here?

John

 

You make up stuff to do when it's a class project.

Things can get really wierd when you tell teach your answer was right. I got the credit because teach said "Your not supposed to know that yet".

When asked at an Hewlett-Packard Explorer's post in 1972 what color wire was hot, I said black. I was like in high school. I eventually won.

I don't like one industry (thermocouples) where the red wire is negative.

The red wire is also negative on the phone systems, even though it was the "hot" wire.
But in control panels the YELLOW wire is hot even when the disconnect switch is off. And the black wire may be 4 times hotter. (480 volts)

 

The red wire is also negative on the phone systems, even though it was the "hot" wire.
But in control panels the YELLOW wire is hot even when the disconnect switch is off. And the black wire may be 4 times hotter. (480 volts)

It was that Yellow could be live in a enclosure as it may be sourced externally to a control panel, it has been changed now to conform to the EU standard, now Orange.
NFPA79.
Max.

 

It was that Yellow could be live in a enclosure as it may be sourced externally to a control panel, it has been changed now to conform to the EU standard, now Orange.
NFPA79.
Max.

Leave it to the EU to mess things up. Yellow was always a good color for that , orange can look too much like brown if it gets a bit dirty.

 

That is the final design. I don't think I have a parts list anywhere. Not sure. I do have another picture to post.

It starts out with this https://www.marinedepot.com/cpr-sock-it-4-inch-adjustable-filter-sock-holder# thing. What the pic doesn't show is that the extension tube can be extended. It's a tube within a tube with an O-ring.

I don't extend it, but it needs to be removed when placing its shell it in a lathe. Only about 1.5" of length needs to have ABOUT a 0.025" cut. Don't quote me on the amount. i.e. reduce the diameter by 0.050 or so at the fitting side.

This is a perfect example of what not to do when trying to sell something. You may need other parts, but you don't know what they are until you receive this one. Would it fit the laundry tub? I had to buy it to find out.

You also need a slip male to F-NPT adapter and an NPT-Male to hose barb fitting and a hose clamp. I need to measure the size. I used new stuff at the end of the washer hose too. You'll also need PTFE tape and PVC gluing stuff.

The sock filter came from MSCDirect. Likely 500 um, Polyethelene, 4" diameter and 7" long (I think).

Drills, clearance drills and taps can come from here too. There will be a thumbscrew left-over that you can use to attach the clamp. You need to drill one hole and tap the aluminum shaft collar. My friend had a drill press. You'll need a clearance hole in the plastic as well. You need to cut some sort of material that raises the shaft collar off the plastic so you can activate the gold colored clamp . I purchased that from Zoro. Some sort of gasket that I trimmed. One screw loosely tightened holds the clamp to the plastic with the head of the screw inverted. I did use a stainless screw because I misplaced the packet of nylon thumbscrews.

I purchased a suitably sized Ruland Quick-Clamp from Zoro as well: https://www.zoro.com/search?q=ruland quick clamp I believe there is an adjustment range.

If you don't have a lathe, You need a water friendly donut that is about ~3/8" thick and will fit (loosely is OK) around the extension tube with an outer diameter around 2-3". That would go under the plastic. You then secure the tube from pulling out by water force at a convienient location and the donut distributes the force. It's easier to access the hose clamp with a nutdriver than a screwdriver. I had a nutdriver hanging close by.

Pretty simple, elegant and tool less.

Depending on where and how you mounted the sock filter, a PVC union before an elbow into the holder I think may be an alternate method of securing the extension tube.

I can see what else I can dig up.

 

Hi KISS,

Thanks for that info. I probably have all the tools needed. The sink mounting clamp is nice. BTW, I am also fond of concrete laundry tubs, but my farm house will probably have to do with plastic.

As for meaningless item descriptions -- some vendors go so far as to call them "technical details" -- I find most of them pitiful and seemingly written by someone who has never seen nor used the item. Here are the Walmart "specifications" for a Black & Decker drill set:

Brand:
BLACK+DECKER
Material:
Metal
manufacturer_part_number:
71-717
Volts:
0
Assembled Product Weight:
0.198 POUNDS
Assembled Product Dimensions (L x W x H):
7.76 x 4.88 x 0.47 Inches

Aside from the manufacturer's part number, what part of that information is useful?

 

Amazon is the same way.

@jpanhalt

If you blow up the picture, the left side of the clamp shows some gold and white. The gold is the anodized clamp release. The white is the piece of something that keeps the shaft collar off the plastic, so you can operate the clamp. So, it's two concentric circles with a clearance hole for the screw.

Go perpendicular across and there is a speck of lint and the tapped hole. There is screw coming up from the bottom that fits in the tapped hole that's loosely tightened. I believe the tapped hole is 1/4-20.

 

@jpanhalt

Project: Laundry Lint Filter (Key dimensions measured 6/2019

Shaft Collar is a Rulon Quick Clamp
2.945 OD
Likely a 1.5” nominal clamp (some adjustment possible)

Screw is 1/4-20 and it's tight, not loose.
Shaft Collar is drilled and tapped 1/4-20, 0.250 from inner diameter across from gold clamp.
The hole needs to pass thru the gasket as well. Head diameter is the other issue.

Gasket (spacer) under clamp:
Seems to be 2.63” OD. It must pass >1.4” diameter; probably 1.5”
Hole in gasket could even be square.
Thickness unknown - 1/16" maybe.

Outer Extension Tube
The end needs to be turned down to 1.495”
From memory about 0.025" cutting off the radius.

Dimensions of the Extension tube to identify fittings
1.32” is the dimension of the male part of the Slip-M to NPT-F fitting
1.01” is the max OD of the NPT-M to hose barb fitting for washer hose.

 

Thanks for that info. I have saved it for when I build mine.

John