My kitchen sink won’t drain. My garbage disposal seems to be working fine, but the water won’t drain and backs up into sink #2 while the disposal is running. When I turn off the disposal, the water levels out between the two sinks but still won’t drain. Eventually, overnight, the water will drain out through the system. I’ve taken all the pipes apart from the disposal all the way to the wall and they’re clear – totally free of clogs and debris of any kind. I’ve used a plunger while the the water was still standing in the sinks and made sure sink #2 (no disposal) was plugged so that the plunger would create a vacuum and clear any clogs. After using the plunger, the water still won’t drain until many hours have passed. I’ve even used a hand snake into the wall pipe to loosen any clogged material in the wall, but nothing.
What’s interesting to me is that the water drains from both sinks into a bucket with the pipes disassembled. The only pipes I leave attached are the disposal drain (straight) and the one it joins to for sink #2. The disposal drain pipe comes in at a right angle to sink #2’s drain pipe by way of a joint. But if I put all the pipes back together, I’m back where I started – standing water in the sink.
Is it possible that there’s a clog in the disposal hopper itself? I’m thinking hair, gunk, and/or soap residue may have accumulated in the hopper and that’s what’s causing the extremely slow drainage over an 8 to 10 hour period. If so, how do I get to the hopper?
I really need to get my sink unclogged, but I just don’t have the money for a plumber right now. Any help is much appreciated
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