Using a metal snake on ABS plastic drain pipe?

[ChiefBodie]

UPDATE:

I ran the sink this morning, with both hot and cold running (maximum water flow.) At first the drain worked as it should. After a while, I flushed the toilet and then the water started to back up a small amount-- maybe an inch. With everything shut off, the drain still goes glug-glug-glug at the end but it does it much faster than before.

I will continue to sometimes work the plunger up and down very hard. I'll just have to somehow explain to my wife why I am spending so much time in the bathroom stroking the thing! :ashamed:

 

[ultrarunner]

Some may discount "Drain Care" or similar products that use enzymes to digest sludge...

I have found they work for regular maintenance...

My Grandparents would take two trips a year where I would house sit...

I got the idea to dose the drains with Drain Care on my visits... they never had another slow drain again.

I use it monthly at the Hospital on a weekend in some of the wards... slow drains are a rare occurrence now.

It will not do anything for a foreign object blockage... but good for sludge build up...

If it isn't a main problem such as a disjointed pipe or tree roots... it will be something in the pipe that shouldn't be there.

Over the years I have found things like pens, diapers... buckets of feminine hygiene products, swifter mop heads, sponges, toys, plastic Easter eggs etc...

One thing that can cause grief is Q-tips... they will block toilet paper and cause a dam and then shift and will be ok and then cause a problem later...

Also had some unusual conditions caused area wide where the city lines were blocked under the street... my plumber was helping me and a meter maid pulls up to write a no parking ticket... a approach and say thank you... that was quick... she gives me a strange look... then I say you are here to block off the street right???

She says no... then I said Public Works is on their way to work on a massive sewage blockage and point to a man hole cover seeping... she gets back in her police Cushman and drives off... no ticket... my plumber friend asks if I know her... I said it is all about communication my friend and a little luck... about an hour later public works shows up.

 

[D2Cat]

I've had various calls from tenants who have a stool not flushing properly. One lady told me the water goes down but real slow when she flushed the stool. As I keep asking question I came to the conclusion she may have dropped a round container that was able to get out of site but not to the drain.

I flushed the stool and let the water slowly drain. I inserted the 2" shop vacuum hose and sealed with an old towel. It took longer to hook up the vacuum than to suck it out. Works excellent, and it beats pulling the stool.

 

[2manyrocks]

Too bad you didn't convince her she had to park her Cushman on the man hole cover to keep the lid from blowing off.

 

[MossRoad]

When I was a kid, a local pizza joint would make deliveries with a 3 wheel Cushman.

But they didn't unclog drains, so that's a bit off-topic. :laughing:

 

[MossRoad]

Too bad you didn't convince her she had to park her Cushman on the man hole cover to keep the lid from blowing off.

Now that's funny! :thumbsup:

 

[ultrarunner]

Too bad you didn't convince her she had to park her Cushman on the man hole cover to keep the lid from blowing off.

Maybe if it was a "Tush" man?

 

[ultrarunner]

I know some that have done really well cleaning sewer lines...

One came here as a refugee with nothing... he started a one many company saying any line unclogged for $39 or no charge...

No plumbing license is required here to exclusively clean drains... just a city business license.

It did not matter if it was two in the morning or Christmas Eve... this was in the early 90's... he is a self made man now living in a very good neighbor hood and his son just graduated from UC Berkeley... Hahn is from Vietnam... no schooling to speak of and did not speak English...

People would say... Hahn, how can you stand to do this kind of work... what about the smell? His reply is it all smells like Money!

Asked if he ever had to walk away from a job and not collect his $39... he said a few times... but the people called him back for other jobs later because he was honest...

Hahn is the one who turned me on to Spartan Drain equipment... said it costs more but they will sell you any part of the machine and it is made in America... very important to him.

American dream started with desire and an old broken down Datsun Pickup... second hand cable machine and a cell phone with a Yellow Pages add.

 

[tjkubota93]

I know some that have done really well cleaning sewer lines...

One came here as a refugee with nothing... he started a one many company saying any line unclogged for $39 or no charge...

No plumbing license is required here to exclusively clean drains... just a city business license.

It did not matter if it was two in the morning or Christmas Eve... this was in the early 90's... he is a self made man now living in a very good neighbor hood and his son just graduated from UC Berkeley... Hahn is from Vietnam... no schooling to speak of and did not speak English...

People would say... Hahn, how can you stand to do this kind of work... what about the smell? His reply is it all smells like Money!

Asked if he ever had to walk away from a job and not collect his $39... he said a few times... but the people called him back for other jobs later because he was honest...

Hahn is the one who turned me on to Spartan Drain equipment... said it costs more but they will sell you any part of the machine and it is made in America... very important to him.

American dream started with desire and an old broken down Datsun Pickup... second hand cable machine and a cell phone with a Yellow Pages add.

I like people like that.

 

[GLyford]

Kitchen sink was always slow, I could help it some by pouring a kettle of hot water down it every so often to dissolve the grease, it would help some but not a lot.

Fast forward to kitchen reno three years ago. Pulled cabinets etc. and plumber removes old sink (with glued non-disassembleable trap) by cutting just under the basket with a sawzall.

I get home from work that day and am looking around at what they got done and I look inside the trap.

There were four dinner knives in the trap, not our pattern. I tried one against the slots in the sink basket (now in the front yard) and they were a perfect fit.

When my plumber installed the new sink, I insisted he use a trap I could take apart.

 

[ultrarunner]

Yep... found similar in kitchen sink... mostly grease though.

 

[MossRoad]

Kitchen sink was always slow, I could help it some by pouring a kettle of hot water down it every so often to dissolve the grease, it would help some but not a lot.

Fast forward to kitchen reno three years ago. Pulled cabinets etc. and plumber removes old sink (with glued non-disassembleable trap) by cutting just under the basket with a sawzall.

I get home from work that day and am looking around at what they got done and I look inside the trap.

There were four dinner knives in the trap, not our pattern. I tried one against the slots in the sink basket (now in the front yard) and they were a perfect fit.

When my plumber installed the new sink, I insisted he use a trap I could take apart.

I love butterknife stories.
A co-worker of mine in I.T. got a call for a desktop PC that wasn't working. He opened it up and found a butterknife laying on the motherboard.... the user said the fan was making a noise that annoyed him, so he tipped the PC up and started poking it with a butterknife, and lost his grip. The knife fell into the computer. So he set it back down, turned it on, and it smoked! :laughing:

 

[ultrarunner]

I love butterknife stories.
A co-worker of mine in I.T. got a call for a desktop PC that wasn't working. He opened it up and found a butterknife laying on the motherboard.... the user said the fan was making a noise that annoyed him, so he tipped the PC up and started poking it with a butterknife, and lost his grip. The knife fell into the computer. So he set it back down, turned it on, and it smoked! :laughing:

Well that is a problem... once the smoke gets out there is no way to get it back...

 

[MossRoad]

Well that is a problem... once the smoke gets out there is no way to get it back...

 

[the old grind]

I had a slow laundry standpipe a few decades/houses ago that would overflow with <1/2 gallon of water poured in. I diverted the discharge hose out a window for a few YEARS before looking into the old-school 2" cast iron trap to see what was up. I still have the screwdriver I pulled out of the pipe, but threw away the large lint art piece. The drain has worked great ever since according to the current resident.

When city water/sewer was put in there 'prior', there was a 90^ turn made by cementing 6" clay tile to the 4" CI of the original and new lines, creating a low spot that clogged easily. I could snake it from the roof thru' the 4" closet vent but got tired of the hassle. Trimming back to tidy pipe I glued up a short PVC leg between two 45s and tied them to the CI with "fernco" rubber/clamp bits. Only snaked once since from the roof and I easily slid more than half of a 100'-er thru' my repair. Judy says there hasn't been an issue since '89 when she moved in.

The house I'm in had the worst kit sink drain I'd ever seen. Pouring hot water in never did much to help, so I looked into replacing the basket strainers, trap and tailpiece. Turns out that someone had installed that cheesy accordion pipe crap and with 1/2" or more back-pitch going into the wall and raising the weir.

Relevant: the last septic I serviced had had its clay inlet 'T' shattered, apparently by ramming a snake in, but it must have been done before a remodel as the gawdawful in-slab routing/venting precluded access w/o removing the lid. The tank was a puny concrete 750 gal or less with a single chamber, so we could only re-build both in & out 'T's with PVC. I urged adding a tank vent due to lousy venting indoors, but owner balked and drains still gurgle. I surmise it's because none of the venting is right. I've never seen a snake that could harm PVC pipe (Sch-40 at least), but someone might have one of several hp, and stuff happens.

Moss, tiny electrolytics like in the video are why so many HP laptop cheapo Mobos failed. Some (6000s IIRC) were legend for just that.

 

[PILOON]

I quote----I've never seen a snake that could harm PVC pipe (Sch-40 at least), but someone might have one of several hp, and stuff happens.

I would agree, especially in a wet clogged plumbing environment since after all it is more or less 'lubricated' or water cooled.

OK, if the snake is rotated at a high speed friction could create heat but I've never seen a powered snake that spins fast.

I might also add that this discussions stinks, LOL

 

[WVBill]

High School amateur radio club back in '64 had a sign in the radio shack said "TUNE FOR MAXIMUM SMOKE".

 

[alexebdra453]

I too have the same problem block drain but have been unable to track it down so I sympathize with your wish. Hopefully, someone can help!!!

 

[Redlands Okie]

Alex, keep in mind the post is from several years ago.