Air Gap Leaking Water When Dishwasher Runs

[@shahnazpunjani3849]

Really love this video. Looking to install an air gap, and your explanation really helped us out. Love the little tips on how best to do this. THANKS!!

[@thewoggerswaydiy]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching and the nice comment

[@karengonzales3271]

Me too!! We got this!! Thank you!!👑

[@thewoggerswaydiy]

Yes you do!

[@jasonrhie3619]

Thank you. Very much useful.

[@thewoggerswaydiy]

Glad it was helpful!

[@bridgeticken]

Hi, thank you so much for the video that you have sent to everyone. It’s very helpful and it’s very detail. Great job also I’m still having my problem. I’m gonna have to take my pipes apart now because I cannot figure it out. Why does the water keep coming out of the air gap still after cleaning out the hoses putting a new air gap on there I don’t understand.

[@thewoggerswaydiy]

Thanks for watching.. see my answer on your other question.

[@TheGadaboutTraveler]

I've changed out the Air gap and flushed both hoses. I've reinstalled everything but water is still coming from the Air gap into the sink. Thoughts ideas

[@thewoggerswaydiy]

Did you check the nipple on the garbage disposal (or the drain pipe if you don't have a disposal), where the discharge hose connects, to make sure it's clear? The reason you're getting the discharge out of the air gap is because of a blockage between the air gap and the point of exit. Also, if you've changed out your disposal and forgot to knock out the plug inside the nipple, then the water draining from the dishwasher has no where to go but out the air gap. Also make sure the discharge hose isn't kinked shut if it has to bend to reach the nipple.. Comment below and let me know what you find out. Good luck with your project.

[@GaffGiraffe]

Same. It's power spraying out the air gap. Brand new dishwasher and brand new air gap, no disposal. I'm frustrated but think my drain line is my issue. The fat black hose is too collapsible and is kinking up at the connectors. I used a different tube and it's too small I think.

[@thewoggerswaydiy]

a kinked hose will definitely attribute to your issue. You can always test the drain line from the dishwasher, the air gap and the discharge hose. Just disconnect the discharge home from your drain pipe under the sink and place it in a bucket, making sure it's not kinked somewhere, then run your dishwasher through a drain cycle. If it drains fine out the discharge hose and not out through the air gap you're good up to the sinks drain pipes. Now you know the issue is in the waste drain some place. If it still comes out the air gap when doing the bucket test, take the discharge hose off the air gap and place the air gap in the backet and run the dishwasher again thru a drain cycle. if it still comes out the top of the air gap then the air gap has an issue.. if it drains out the airgap properly, then your discharge hose was the issue, either with a blockage or the kink. So, inquiring minds want to know. I'm assuming you got it rectified by now. So what was the issue?

[@Jeremy-yb5yo]

Thanks for the video, very nice explanation! I have the same issue as you demonstrated, I have cleaned the discharge hose and the disposal nipple and the air gap, they all seems to be fine without clog, any idea why water still coming out from the air gap? Shall I just replace to air gap and discharge hose as the next step? Thanks

[@thewoggerswaydiy]

As long as you have a clear path from the airgap into the disposal, you shouldn't have anything coming out of the air gap, unless there's something lodged in the air ga which is preventing the water to get past the air gap. Look down into the air gap and see if you can spot any blockage.. you can use a pair of needlenose pliers and pull the center piece up and out of the air gap to clean it out. If you still have issues you may want to change out the air gap. Good luck and post the results.

[@blazeaglory]

Hello. Im missing the rubber end/connector on the dishwasher hose that connects to the inlet of the air gap. I have a new hose but I cant remove my dishwasher because the tile is too high and no matter what I do, I cant raise the bottom over the lip of tile. Anyways, what can I do? I was thinking about adding silicone to the air gap inlet, installing the dishwasher drain hose (corrugated gray hose), lightly tightening the clamp, then let set for a day and finally tighten the clamp fully. OR I was hoping those rubber universal connectors would be able to fit INSIDE the end of the drain hose so I can glue it inside and clamp and then affix the other end to the air gap inlet. But it seems that the other end might be too big (7/8s vs. 5/8s)? What are your thoughts? Thanks

[@thewoggerswaydiy]

Hate it when tilers lay tile up to the dishwasher, instead of removing it to do it right. Have had numerous instances like this.. some times we've been able to lift the countertop slightly.. other times we've had to remove some floor tiles and then retile it afterwards. The issue you have with the end missing off the drain hose to your dishwasher is fixable. If you are near a Home Depot or Lowes you can pick up a new end connector (Home Depot SKU# 688045). You may need a stiffener in the drain line to keep it from collapsing when you tighten the connector. You should be able to find a barbed connector there that will slip into the drain hose and the rubber end to provide the support needed. If they don't have one you can just get a piece of pipe that will fit inside the drain line, cut a piece about 2" long to act as the connecting support. Hope this helps. Good luck with your projects and thanks for watching.

[@charlieHorsie]

Hi wogger. Really like your video however after i replaced the discharge line and a brand new disposer (i did knock out the port to make sure water from dishwasher can flow thru) i bought from home depot thay is 6 feet long water still coming out of the airgap valve. I also cleaned the airgap valve but no luck. Water still coming out. At this point should i replace the valve ? I have no idea why even after i replaced the garbage disposer and the discharge line from valve to disposer its still spitting out water from up top ... very frustrating

[@thewoggerswaydiy]

That's a head scratcher. There's only two reasons why water would expel out of the air gap.. blockage from airgap to the disposal or a faulty air gap. A faulty air gap is very rare and I've only seen one in over 20 years. To determine the issue, disconnect the black discharge hose from the air gap and pour some water down the discharge hose (a quart or more would be good and a little funnel would be helpful to do this). If the water drains through to the disposal and out the drain pipes, you have no issues in that segment. If the water backs up, then there is some type of blockage which needs to be addressed. If it drains with no issues go ahead and change out the air gap and you should be good.

[@charlieHorsie]

@thewoggerswaydiy could the problem be because I replaced the discharge hose with a 6 ft corrugated drain hose kit. I believe the diameter of the 6 ft hose is only 5/8 and it loops 3 times before it reaches the disposer. Could this be the problem ? I shouldn't need more than 12 inch or drain hose but this kit is 6 ft. The instruction on this kit says the hose should go from the dishwasher discharge directly to the disposer but instead I am going from air gap to the disposer.

[@thewoggerswaydiy]

That shouldn't be an issue as long as there's no obstructions in the line. If you go direct to the disposal without going thru the air gap first, make sure you install a high loop in the drain line. this is where you have the drain line under the sink, go up higher than the bottom of the sink and then back down to the disposal. you can tie or clamp the hose up there, just as long as it's higher than the bottom of the sink. This is to prevent backflow from the disposal into the drain hose and back to the dishwasher. Similar to what the air gap does. Let us know if you're rectified your issue and what you discovered the issue to be. thanks

[@bridgeticken]

I forgot to say one more thing I have a brand new garbage disposal that I just had put in and I only wash my dishes like twice a month out of the dishwasher because it’s me by myself only living in this house and I don’t have a lot of dishes most the time I wash them all by hand and then put them in the dishwasher and run it in the dishwasher because I have a Bosch dishwasher because I want it to be sterilized so there shouldn’t be any food going through there. I don’t understand why it’s still backing up through the air gap.

[@thewoggerswaydiy]

The blockage causing water to drain out your air gap typically isn't caused by "crud" coming from your dishwasher. It's normally from food particles and other stuff that you place in your garbage disposal, if your dishwasher drain dumps into your disposal (as opposed to a nipple directly on the sinks drain pipe). Stuff you put in your disposal will clog up the nipple on the disposal, which in turn prevents the dishwasher from draining, therefore you get the drainage out of the air gap. That's why it's a good practice to run your dishwasher frequently, so it can push all that crud out of the disposal before it becomes a blockage. I'm the same, it's just me and I don't generate a lot of dirty dishes to run the dishwasher very often but I do it anyway at least once a week just to keep the lines clear. also water that sits in the drain line gets nasty and smelly when it sits too long, so running your dishwasher through a short cycle on hot water setting is a good practice to keep bacteria and smells out of your drain line. I go through my cabinets and put dishware/.glasses in there that don't get used very often that accumulate dust. Lets me run the dishwasher and keeps all my dishes and glassware sparkling clean. If you don't have anything to wash placing a shallow bowl on the top rack with some vinegar in it and running the washer through a short cycle is another way to keep everything clean and sanitized. Hope this helps. Good luck with your projects.

[@deborahlambert4601]

Single lady doing this!

[@thewoggerswaydiy]

Yay! Good luck and thanks for watching.

[@donatist59]

Why doesn't it just drain tnto the sink?

[@thewoggerswaydiy]

If you have to opening on the air gap cover pointing towards the sink, it "should" drain into the sink, but too many times people have it pointing to the side or back and it pumps water out on to the countertop and floor, usually causing lots of water damage and mold. Have a video I'm working on where that was the case in a rental house and tenant didn't report the issue and ended up costing the homeowner over $3k in repairs due to the water damage. Plus, even if it does flow into the sink, you still have the blockage in the discharge hose and eventually the air gap may become clogged and your dishwasher won't be able to drain at all, which just causes more issues. Thanks for watching and the comment. It is appreciated.

[@paintediva]

That gasket goes above the counter, not under.

[@thewoggerswaydiy]

It can go on either side. Some manufacturers state to put it above the countertop, some say to put it below. I prefer to install it below and put a small bead of silicone under the nut on top, that will prevent any chance of water leaking into the cabinet below. Thanks for the comment.

[@blazeaglory]

@@thewoggerswaydiy I actually use this same method and it works better because the air gap has a tendency to want to unscrew itself but with the added silicone, it affixes semi permenantly

[@martinconnell8510]

So the fix is buy a new air gap not clean the old one out

[@thewoggerswaydiy]

As a homeowner I'd say go ahead and clean out the existing air gap if it's not too clogged. As a service provider we replace them for a couple reasons.. 1) It's faster which means less labor time for the client.. 2) A new one ensures it's clean instead of maybe not cleaning the existing one out thoroughly and having a call back to redo it, which costs us money. Thanks for the comment and for watching. Good luck with your projects.