Using a metal snake on ABS plastic drain pipe?

[ChiefBodie]

I have an older home with lots of various piping. Galvanized, copper, pvc, etc.

My upstairs sink is barely draining. Below the sink it starts as galvanized drain pipe into the wall, as I can see under the sink. Somewhere along the way it becomes ABS plastic which is in the subfloor area of the first floor. Not sure where it makes the transition. Then it goes on to a septic tank.

How risky is it to run a motorized metal snake (type for cleaning out sewer lines) with a small head on it down the line? I have not done this before and am a bit worried if I hit a plastic elbow or joint it could be a disaster. I did try a hand snake (about 6 ft long) and it didn't do anything to improve the drainage.

Does anyone have experience with this?

 

[MossRoad]

In all seriousness, have you tried a plunger on it yet? I ask, because in the past three months I've done several hundred slow draining sinks with just a small hand plunger. 99% of them cleared. Had to turn it over to the plumbers on about 4 of them.

I find that if you remove the stopper, plug the overflow hole, then start plunging, once you get the plunger to stick down, YANK IT BACK UP HARD. It's that backward POP that sucks out the blockage. Sometimes it takes 15-20 pops, and all kinds of black gooey crud chunks will come back out on several tries, but I'm not exaggerating when I say I've done several hundred in the last three months this way.

 

[RNeumann]

The snake is fine with the ABS pipe. If the snake were to cause damage it would be in the old rusted galvanized pipe.

I’d start with a regular bulb head or drop head. Neither of those are likely to damage anything.

I’m going to edit this:

A motorized snake with a large cable (75-100#)designed for mainlines won’t work for a 1 1/2” - 2” drain. The cable, with no head, won’t make those tight bends. If it’s a motorized snake designed for interior use (25-50#) you will be fine.

 

[Welshman]

Isn't there a P-trap under the sink? If so, just take it apart and you'll probably find the blockage (and it will be disgusting). If not, there are hand crank type snakes that should work.

 

[ChiefBodie]

I took the P-trap off. Then used the hand snake into the galvanized pipe. Didn't get to any restriction that I could tell, and didn't improve drainage. And it is a 75 ft snake designed for exterior sewer lines. But with a fairly small head (non-cutting).

 

[RNeumann]

What type of sink? Kitchen, bathroom etc

 

[tjkubota93]

In all seriousness, have you tried a plunger on it yet? I ask, because in the past three months I've done several hundred slow draining sinks with just a small hand plunger. 99% of them cleared. Had to turn it over to the plumbers on about 4 of them.

I find that if you remove the stopper, plug the overflow hole, then start plunging, once you get the plunger to stick down, YANK IT BACK UP HARD. It's that backward POP that sucks out the blockage. Sometimes it takes 15-20 pops, and all kinds of black gooey crud chunks will come back out on several tries, but I'm not exaggerating when I say I've done several hundred in the last three months this way.

View attachment 569391

Just curious do you manage apartments or something? That's alot of plugged drains.

 

[ChiefBodie]

It's a bathroom vanity sink.

 

[pmsmechanic]

In all seriousness, have you tried a plunger on it yet? I ask, because in the past three months I've done several hundred slow draining sinks with just a small hand plunger. 99% of them cleared. Had to turn it over to the plumbers on about 4 of them.

I find that if you remove the stopper, plug the overflow hole, then start plunging, once you get the plunger to stick down, YANK IT BACK UP HARD. It's that backward POP that sucks out the blockage. Sometimes it takes 15-20 pops, and all kinds of black gooey crud chunks will come back out on several tries, but I'm not exaggerating when I say I've done several hundred in the last three months this way.

View attachment 569391

The above method works awesome on toilets too. Instead of trying to force the blockage through just work on breaking it up instead.

Had a young lady decide to plug the toilet at the local restaurant with paper towel. All I did was just work the plunger up and down to break up the paper towel. It worked awesome.

 

[RNeumann]

It's a bathroom vanity sink.

If the toilet and shower are still flowing fine (and I’m thinking they are based on the story) I’m guessing the clog is in the pop up assembly. It’s a common place for this to happen and an easy fix. Let me guess- someone with long hair uses the sink?

 

[Diggin It]

That's where I usually have trouble --- the straight piece between the sink and the trap.

 

[MossRoad]

Just curious do you manage apartments or something? That's alot of plugged drains.

Yep. Something like that.

 

[MossRoad]

Also, there's toilet plungers and sink plungers. Use a sink plunger. Toilet plungers look like this...

 

[ChiefBodie]

Moss, have you ever broken any pipes or caused leakage at fitting joints with your method? That seems to put a lot of pressure on the fittings?

I've never heard of a sink plunger ... just a toilet plunger?

The toilet seems to flush fine, the shower drain is a little slower than it used to be. A sink full of water can take an hour or more to drain. But when I took apart the P-trap I didn't see any restriction including when I examined the pipe after the P-trap.

 

[MossRoad]

I've never popped a pipe with a plunger. I don't do snakes. That's up to the plumbers. Although I do occasionally use the 2' long plastic zip strip drain snakes. They'll grab a lot of hair out of the drain plug. Like these:


Did you remove the drain plug in the sink and look down into the sink drain and see light when you had the P-trap off? As other's have mentioned, there can sometimes be a huge blockage of hair and bath products stuck on the lever that lifts the plug.

 

[MossRoad]

Also, don't skip trying a chemical drain cleaner. I have two daughters with extremely long, fine, blonde hair. When they were kids, it was down past their knees! So we had quite a few hair clogged drains. The bathtub drain, especially, but the sink drains, too. When they brush their hair, a surprising amount ends up down the sink drains.

I like to use the two-part gel-type liquid drain cleaner. It works most of the time. Liquid Plumr seems to work very well.

Liquid-Plumr(R) Clog Destroyer + Urgent Clear™ For Clogged Sinks

 

[MossRoad]

But that is only at home. I don't use the chemical at my job. Just remove the sink drain plug, clear any hair and gunk from that, then plunge the sink. 5 minutes and you're on to the next one.

 

[ChiefBodie]

I have a septic system so chemical cleaners cannot be used.

Another person suggested a large quantity of near-boiling water into the sink drain might clear any residual soap clogged into hair along the sides of the pipes. I have never tried that either.

 

[JPRambo]

I have also used the microbial liquids used in campers. It takes a few applications over a couple days but it works to clean the pipes.

 

[MossRoad]

I have a septic system, too. Liquid Plumr says its safe for septic systems. However, I understand your concerns, so try the plunger trick. Can't hurt, and a small sink plunger is only a few bucks. The zip strips are 3 for $2.99.

But be sure and pull that sink stopper out and look down there before doing anything else. It might be just right there, before the P-trap.