Is a leak in my sink drain caused by a connection that's too high?

Question

I've read thru some threads about garbage disposals + p-traps, and would appreciate some help. My P-trap leaks once a year (at Christmas!)
I bought a condo 2-years ago, last year p-trap started leaking when using the dishwasher. The plumber recommended a higher disposal or a shallower sink (to raise the disposal). Instead, we did a quick fix by switching out p-trap and everything was fine.
One-year later and the same issue crops up. This time, I want to fix it properly. The plumber came on the site, and it seems that height of disposal is not an issue. It's slightly higher than the drain.
It seems like I can just get rid of the extra piece of pipe, where there is extra coupling that will fail.
Thoughts?

Marty Fried · Answer

First thing to consider is that that connection will always be filled with water, because it's presumably the low side of the trap (hard to tell for sure from the photo, but it should be).  So, that connection needs to have extra attention; it needs to be tight, but before being tight, it needs to be perfectly aligned.

One reason it needs to be perfectly aligned is because (I believe) there is often no washer at that connection. My experience is only with PVC drains, but with them, that section of pipe from the waste side is tapered at the end rather than straight, and should not have a tapered washer like all other connections.  The pipe itself will be shaped like the washers if this is the case. I think there are a number of different configurations here, so it may require no washer, or a different type of washer, or maybe a standard compression washer.

The extension piece seems to be necessary to align to the waste connection at the wall.  If properly connected, there should not be a problem with leaks.  It looks like a normal connection.

Is a leak in my sink drain caused by a connection that's too high?

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