Help with identifying pipes and connecting washing machine

[mishti]

  

Hello All, 

I have moved into a new place and here is a picture of under the sink in the Laundry. Can you tel what could the blanked out white pipe above the cold water valve be for?

Also, what could the left wide outlet that I have covered with the black plastic wrap be used for? 

The valve has mismatched adapter thread size so my washing machine cold inlet tubes do not attach.

Shall I get an adapter to blank the one side of the valve and let the hot water hose left lose ? or shall I get an adapter that fits the valve to upsize and connect the cold supply to the hot water inlet. 
PS I have Fisher and Paykel 8.5 washsmart

Sorry for the long post!! Thanks so much in advance !

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @mishti. It's wonderful that you've joined us, and many thanks for the question about connecting your washing machine.

I would presume the blanked out pipe with the white cap is hot water. However, it is missing the mini tap, and that white cap is a temporary cap. If it is hot water, I would hope that it is not plumbed in as that white cap isn't suitable for holding pressure. It looks like they were intending on having hot water but never got around to connecting it.

I'm not entirely sure why the pipe fitting you have wrapped with black plastic is exposed like that or what would have gone there previously. It would accept a 50 or 40mm pipe and perhaps a secondary sink. However, it is a bit of a peculiar setup. It could be capped off permanently with a short piece of the appropriately sized pipe and a Holman 50mm PVC DWV Push On Cap. You would glue these in place with Protek 125ml Type N Blue Cement Solvent.

You might need to check the installation instructions for your machine to find out whether the hot and cold hose must be connected. I would imagine the hot doesn't need to be connected, but I'd hate for your machine to be damaged if this is not the case.

Let me mention @TedBear to see if he has any thoughts about the pipework.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[plumberboy]

The white cap would be for a hot water point , it’s missing a mini stop “tap” but the white cap will hold it because they actually get pressurised above normal working pressure so there is no issue of it leaking or breaking.

The 50mm 45* junction you see blocked off would be there to work as a vent for your sewer it also hasn’t been finished, you will need an air admittance valve installed into it.

that will solve the issues ! 

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @plumberboy. Many thanks for joining the conversation and making such a helpful first post.

Let me mention @mishti, so they are alerted to your response. I hadn't thought of an Air Admittance Valve as the connection is down so low. Would it be placed down that low, or would an upright pipe length need to be installed, levelling it off with the S trap to comply with regulations?

Thanks for joining us once again. I trust your knowledge will be invaluable to our community, and in return, you'll receive plenty of inspiration for your own projects.

Mitchell

[TedBear]

Hi  @mishti,  having zoomed in on your photos, I have to agree with both@MitchellMc and @plumberboy .

Your washing machine doesn't have a water heater built in, so if there is hot water available behind that white cap, it would be a good idea to get another tap connector and connect it up to the hot water.  Maybe be best to buy two, so that you can replace that existing 2-way tap with a simple connection. (The taps don't cost much more than a cap anyway.)   You can then get 2 appropriate size adaptors while you are getting the taps.

The other drain inlet, I would have thought was for another sink to be connected, but since @plumberboy says it is a vent, it looks like you'd better get and fit the suggested valve too.

If you are not going to connect hot water, your machine's manual says that you need to block off the hot water inlet with an Inlet Valve Cap
(Part No. 388491P from Fisher and Paykel).

[TedBear]

Revisiting this one....  I agree with @MitchellMc  that the Y connection in the outlet pipe would be best capped off. I have never seen an air vent fitted inside a cabinet as it would nullify the point of having an S bend at the sink. The S bend is to keep smells from coming back out of the drains, and the necessary air venting is to prevent the water in the S bend from being able to be syphoned down the drain.  The vents are always outside, either as a tall pipe (venting well away from noses) or as a large vertical pipe at ground level with a vented cover.  

@MitchellMc,s suggestion of including a section of pipe first is wise, as it will allow you to cut the cap off and connect to that pipe if you wish to add another sink later.

[MitchellMc]

@TedBear,

From the brief amount of reading I did, it appears an Air Admittance Valve allows air to enter the system helping the water to drain but prevents air and gases from escaping. Unlike your old air vents outside that just vent in both directions. They are specific one-way valves used when you can't run a vent outside. Really quite interesting.

Mitchell