Make the trap see-through so if there is clog you can see if it is in the trap, or further down the line. You wouldn't have to take the trap apart if it is not visable in it. And usually the trap is under a sink or in a cupboard or in the basement where people don't care what it looks like.-- macncheesy, Jun 29 2004 Transparent Drain Traps http://www.shouldex...003/10/4/232446/718Someone else had the same idea. [phoenix, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004] Transparent kitchen http://www.halfbake...ansparent_20kitchenSo did someone else. "...I don't think I want to watch what happens in the water trap under the sink." sez I. [phoenix, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004] For [afrocelt] http://www.cultureplanet.com/afrocelt.htm [angel, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004] Solution to Gunky Formerly-Clear Pipes http://www.halfbake...lative_20windshieldJust 'explode' the soiled layer. It'll be fine. Safe enough to detonate with your face next to it. [contracts, Oct 21 2004] [+] assuming you mean the U bend.-- etherman, Jun 29 2004 yes- I mean the U-bend-- macncheesy, Jun 29 2004 Called a "trap" because it acts to trap gases from the drainage lines from re-emerging from the drains in your sink.
Sounds good. Bread!-- shapu, Jun 29 2004 Yes, yes, yes! It'd have to be pyrex, though, so it doesn't crack from hot water.-- DrCurry, Jun 29 2004 I like the idea, but I suspect that the inside would quickly get coated with a film that would make it hard to see through. Whenever I've taken apart a normal trap, the inside was rather disgusting.
Of course if you designed the plug/strainer so that it could be easily removed, you could have a little brush on a flexible stick that you could push down the drain to give it a weekly cleaning. If you did that, you might be able to keep it looking nice enough that you wouldn't want to hide it in a cupboard.
Personally though I wouldn't spend the time to clean it, so mine would just get filmed over. It wouldn't be any better than a normal trap for me...-- scad mientist, Jun 29 2004 At an old job of mine (we were interested in drains and the like), we used to have some glass ones, but I suspect that they were a special order type thing...-- luecke, Jun 29 2004 Oooh, just out of sheer disgust I'll vote +!!
Imagine what a late night of heavy drinking would look like.
What about that vent/trap thingie connected to your dishwasher that always clogs about once a year? I think the crud that gets stuck in there and rots would be rather interesting to see... sort of like your very own home mold garden.-- smurfzilla, Jun 29 2004 Not much gets stuck in there on a regular basis. Think of your toilet...it all goes down, not much stays. So you wouldn't be looking at gross food matter; maybe just murky water-- macncheesy, Jun 30 2004 This makes me think of a clear glass toilet. You'd know if someone forgot to flush before raising the lid.-- FarmerJohn, Jun 30 2004 Baked
In the school I went to in Scotland, the last two years (17&18 years old) could use a brewroom - i.e. a place to make a cup of tea, toast, ragu & spagetti etc. Anyway in the brewroom that I could use, the trap/U bend was clear plastic. . . . Didn't seem to decrease the time it took till someone did anything about it though.
And to be honset my claim of baked IS a bit hastie as that is the only one I know of.-- afrocelt, Jun 30 2004 //Someone else had the same idea.// This site you link to, www.shouldexist.org seems to be an equivalent (though obviously not as good) to the Halfbakery. Does this mean the Halfbakery is Baked? Alternatively if the Halfbakery came first, that means that shouldexist did exist. All very self-referential. Anyway - they can go jump, they don't do croissants or bones!-- wagster, Jul 01 2004 <fogfreak> The point is, if the trap is clean, you can move down to the line to the next cleanout. Plugs usually happen at sharp bends or decrease in line size, in which case there should be a clean-out cap near & prior to it (if the plumber thought it all through)-- macncheesy, Apr 05 2005 random, halfbakery