Problem with sink & size VARIERA frame for waste sorting system

Hello everyone,

after having diligently read along here in the forum over the past few weeks and gathered quite a few tips for setting up my Metod kitchen, I am now taking action myself with a question.

I have a 60 cm METOD base cabinet for the sink, cladded with a 60x60 front as a drawer using Maximera size 60x45.

The part of the kitchen with the sink was assembled by a fitting team and that’s when the ordeal began (I’ll spare you the details – in summary, they simply forgot to mount the MAXIMERA drawer to the front and instead mounted the front as a hinged door. No repair has been done yet).

The following problem:

Due to problems with the wastewater and poor installation, my plumber replaced the Ikea Lillviken siphon with a standard siphon (unfortunately, I am not really experienced and skilled in this area). The front will be retrofitted as a drawer next week and I would like to install the VARIERA / Utrusta waste bin system in 60 cm width. The new siphon hangs about 30 cm above the bottom of the base cabinet and leaves about 35 cm of space towards the front; the 45 cm deep MAXIMERA drawer is 20 cm high (without frame for the waste system and without bins). So far so good, the drawer should therefore disappear under the siphon in the last 10 cm. But I already suspect problems when the frame attachment for the waste system is added on top, because that will make the entire construction significantly higher.

Furthermore, I am a bit puzzled by the assembly instructions, last page.

The last infographic shows that the frame is not as deep as the drawer, so maybe it will still work out well.

Does anyone know my problem? Would I possibly have to hang the siphon "higher," i.e. shorten pipes so that the construction fits underneath? What are the exact dimensions of the frame mounted on the drawer?

I would rather not touch the siphon again, after it took forever to get the system sealed.

Thanks in advance and best regards,
Franzi

LILLVIKEN was a "space-saving siphon" or a "furniture siphon." If the plumber installed a standard bottle siphon, you can forget about the idea of the optimal waste system.

It may be that installers find flexible pipes unfamiliar, but for self-installation for various types of connection distances, LILLVIKEN is a good siphon. If you don't assemble it exactly according to the instructions or understand the concept of the flat oval pipe (saving space), you will be overwhelmed with the siphon.

Either ask the plumber again to convert to a space-saving siphon or show us a photo of the current condition of the cabinet.

Thanks for your reply, fleptin.

I have already noticed that the LILLVIKEN is mounted much further back on the back wall and much more compactly. The plumber "kindly" took the LILLVIKEN siphon with him right after replacing it ... really great. He’ll probably have to come again. Fortunately, a new LILLVIKEN siphon isn’t that expensive, but I’d rather not do the installation myself.

You don’t see any chance that it could work with the standard siphon? I’m really quite annoyed right now.

I’ll post a picture here tonight.

Have a plumber install a siphon from his range; he has a catalog from his wholesaler and rigid "HT pipes" with which he connects the siphon to the drain opening in the wall.

If you hire a plumber, you also have to understand that he generally rejects furniture store or DIY store goods and does not want to modify them. After all, he has to provide a full warranty for his work on these parts, so he prefers to replace a 10 to 20 EUR part with a new one rather than assume liability for water damage. If the part comes from his regular wholesaler, they support him in case of material defects and claims for damages from his customers.

But you can trust the LILLVIKEN siphon; we cannot say why your plumber threw it out. Perhaps it was incompletely pre-assembled, and the universal Ikea siphon for the international market just fits with the standard pipe parts commonly used with siphons in Germany. The flexible pipe is indeed a disadvantage compared to smooth fixed molded parts regarding susceptibility to dirt, but a huge advantage in terms of installation options without additional pipe extensions, seals, and adapters. I think the susceptibility to dirt can be neglected because the pipe diameter is large enough that it will not clog for a "kitchen lifetime."

Either repair it yourself and get a new LILLVIKEN again, or have the plumber convert it to a space-saving siphon with the materials he is familiar with.

In any case, it will be possible to use a waste collector system in combination with a space-saving siphon in a METOD kitchen. Even with the old Faktum kitchens, there were many possibilities, and it was much tighter there. In FAKTUM, the plinth and thus the top edge of the trash bins was 8 cm higher than it is with the current METOD kitchens.

My opinion: better to buy a suitable siphon again than to forego a flexible waste collector system with a lot of volume.

Here is an example without LILLVIKEN:

The statement that you can throw away the screwdriver already shows that Plumber A is not very clever. You don’t necessarily need the supplied plastic key, but other suitable keys (internal hex key and open-end wrench or hex socket wrench). Since you are not unskilled in craftsmanship, you will not have much difficulty with the assembly.