Sewer backup Should I put Drano Max-gel down the sewer drain in the basement to clear the clog?

Use the sulphuric acid instead. But don't let it touch your chrome

try costic soda

I would not use drano or any other drain cleaning product directly in my dishwasher. I would be concerned about damage to pump seals.Thanks

Is this a split unit? The drain line is probably clogged. If you have a shop vac you can use it on the drain line outside and clear the clog or maybe use something like drano. A little Clorox added to the drain pan every now and then will help keep the drain line from getting clogged. (Just a couple tablespoons)

the drain is still partially plugged. what I do is blow out the drain with compreesed air. I made a fitting for my air compressor for this. this works best!! just 1 or two blasts should clean drain. unless it is very bad.

Continually washing with cold water and liquid detergent can cause a buildup of undissolved detergent between the inner and outer tubs (unseen). This buildup of detergent feels like grease and will pick up dirt from each load and hold it on the grease surface. Over time...the dirt held in the greasy detergent can give off an odor.

This problem may be able to be cleared up by running many loads of hot water (to dissolve the detergent) with no clothes or detergent. Switching to powder detergent will also keep the liquid detergent gel from forming. If you like liquid I recommend using hot water for ALL your white loads. This should make every third or fourth load hot and help dissolve buildup from previous loads.

If you are not in the habit of using cold water and liquid detergent consider other sources of the odor. Some typical examples are sewer or septic backup through the drain and into the machine between the tubs where you can't see it. Also, the laundry is usually in the basement if you have one. The basement is the lowest part of the house drainage system and if you are developing a slow drain you may find some dirty water backing into the machine if it can't go down the drain quickly enough. Usually these drainage issues show up as a floor leak when you drain the washer in the spin cycles...but not always.

Good Luck.

Try some drano other chemical drain cleaner. If there is a build up lint or other biodegradable material in the drain pipe the drano should remove it.

BTW how long has it been doing this..... did it just start?

Sometimes what happens is that when they install a garbage disposal the pipe coming out of it ends up being lower than the pipe exiting the pea trap thru the wall under the sink. If it is a dual kitchen sink this is very common. Being lower than the exiting pipe causes water to stay in the bottom of the disposal and not just the pea trap. If you have a side by side sink in the kitchen and the water is backing up in the other sink also then more than likely the pea trap has a blockage. It is not common for the straight line from the pea trap going thru the wall to become blocked, but it does sometimes happen. The biggest cause of this is poring hot grease down the drain. It is just about the point that it cools enough, sticks and hardens plugging the drain pipe.
You probably should have a plumber look at it and make sure everything is running downhill under the sink. The only place that water should set in the plumbing is in the pea trap so that odor from the sewer does not come up into the house. Without actually seeing it, it is hard to tell exactly what is happening. The pea trap is easy to clean, put a really big pan under the trap, make sure you have emptied as much water out of the sink as you can, then with a big pair of channel locks unscrew the two nuts that hold the pea trap in place and let the fluid drain from it, then finish unscrewing it from the pipe. You can then clean it out and check the pipe thru the wall for blockage. When reassembling it, screw it all together loosely and then move the pieces around while hand tightening each joint so the they have no pressure on them, then use the channel locks to finish tightening the nuts. Don't over tighten them because they have nylon seals in them that compress to make the seal. Just tight enough to seal and not leak. You should be up and running again unless the plug-up is farther down the wall pipe. Good Luck, RAC

IF THE WATER IS NOT IN THE BASIN OF THE DISPOSAL, THE PLUMBING IS THE PROBLEM, NOT THE DISPOSAL.
YOU CAN TRY TO TAKE THE TRAP LOOSE AND SEE IF THERE IS ANYTHING STUCK IN IT OR YOU COULD TRY SOME DRANO IN THE SINK WITH THE WATER STANDING IN IT. THE TRAP IS THE PART OF THE DRAIN THAT RAISES UPWARD TO HOLD WATER. IT KEEPS THE SEWER GASSES FROM COMING UP THROUGH, BUT IT ALSO IS A GOOD CATCH ALL FOR HEAVY ITEMS AND GREASE.
LOOSEN THE NUT LOCATED AT EACH END OF THE TRAP. HAVE A BUCKET UNDER IT TO CATCH ANY WATER THAT DRAINS OUT. REMOVE THE TRAP AND SEE IF THERE IS AN OBSTRUCTION IN IT.PRESSURIZED AIR WILL SOMETIMES CLEAR AN OBSTRUCTION IN A DRAIN LINE ALSO,

The top of the drain pipe that the washing machine drains in to should be about 3 feet off the ground. If the sewer pipe is higher than that you can either get a longer hose, or drain it into a sump with a sump pump that pumps it into the sewer pipe. If you don't have a sump, first try the longer hose and make sure it drains to a point higher than the sewer pipe (that would be the easiest) or cut a hole in your floor and put in a sump and sump pump (the most difficult).