I emptied the clay trap tonight. It was completely full. @dryad2b gave guidance as to the HOW, and @JohnK helped with the logistics.
Not sure if/what the schedule is for cleaning the trap, but it was overdue IMHO.
No action needed tonight, but I’m not sure how long it’ll last between clean-outs.
When I did ceramics at the junior college, it was emptied every class. A good rule would be everybody cleans it completely when they finish…
That would be far too frequent. Once a month is probably plenty. We’ve got a nice big bucket, and folks aren’t supposed to be dumping actual chunks of clay down the drain.
Thank you so much for doing this!
Thank you!
Hi, I heard from a member that the clay trap maybe leaking. Heard that the wing nuts may not be tight or the bag could have a wrinkle along the rim. I won’t be in until later in the day on Friday. Could someone there in the morning please check this out for us.
Thank you!!
It was cleaned 3 days before this as well. Someone is dumping a ton of something down it, or there is another issue.
might I suggest training on a pain-in-the-ass “three bucket method” before people hit the sink .
Yes I hear you:
The other day I saw a lady cleaning ceramic brushes in the sink of the Galley. I explained to her that that she should be using the janitors closet because it is the only sink with a clay trap. She just kept on cleaning her brushes. I do not remember who this was. Your Ceramics folks definitely need to be re-trained.
If it is indeed leaking, there are a couple of likely culprit issues that are super speedy quick to fix. No big deal. If there is a leak rather than a slow drying messy spill, it is likely either the wing nuts not tightened down enough or, more likely, a small fold in the bag along the rim. It has to be perfectly smooth or it creates a channel that leaks once there is pressure.
That was probably on me: I didn’t check for folds when tightening.
I can check it on Sunday morning if someone doesn’t get to it before then.
Rich, if you see her again or recognize her please let us know. We focus on cleanup procedures in our 100 class and specifically talk about the utility sink and the clay trap. We can continue to point people in the right direction and reinforce our procedures when we see things like this.
It’s all good, you volunteered for the particularly gross and unpleasant part. Hero material in my book!
Out of curiosity, are the disposable bags still located at the bottom of the trap? If so, did you notice how many were left?
Disposable bags are in the brown mailing tube. Tube is labeled and most likely in the top rightmost wall cabinet shelf but I retain the right he be wrong about that. 