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Unclogging a Drain/Pipe

Marcos

Marcos

I love you Rocky & Sammie and Bee...thank you
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Messages
1,763
OK. Let me start by saying that I am no master of these types of things. I usually just call a plumber. My kitchen sink/diswasher drain line empty into another pipe that my tub also drains into. I have had problems with this line before and have had to call in help on 2 occasions. I guess when food debris and grease clog up the line it starts to back up but since the the tub line sits lower then the sink line it backs up into my tub first. Part of the problem is obviously my fault. Should do a better job of removing more food debris and grease from stuff before it hits the sink or dishwasher. The other part of the problem is that the pipe the the tub and sink line drain into (the one that is clogged) at best sits level and may even have a slight back pitch to it so it is definitely prone to pooling which doesn't help. I bought a hand crank snake and forced it through that pipe and water appears to be flowing again with no backing up into my tub...hallelujah! :thumbs: Now that it is somewhat open I am looking for a product to run through there to really break down the grease food buildup. I have tried the classic Liquid plumber etc... and it has helped little. Looking for some other recommendations on what to use that will be aggressive to finish this job and to use as a maintenance tool to keep it open. Thanks in advance
 
Do NOT use liquid plumber or any of that stuff you can buy in the super market. It will rot away your pipes and cause you a bigger headache.
 
I can't remember, but I had bought some acid stuff from Wal Mart. It worked pretty well.
 
I would just call Roto Rooter or a similar service. I don't know if there's any commercially available liquid or chemical that's going to clean the pipe to the walls. Also, if you're on a septic system, those chemicals aren't the best thing for your system.

After you get the pipes cleaned out, get them fixed. That way you don't have to deal with this all the time.
 
My plumber says not to use liquid plumber crystals. Says it corrodes the drains pretty badly.

We have problems with our drains clogging up on a pretty regular basis, as we live in an older house. He told us we should run hot water down the drains like once a month or something. That will help to keep things cleaner through there.
 
Pyre said:
My plumber says not to use liquid plumber crystals. Says it corrodes the drains pretty badly.

We have problems with our drains clogging up on a pretty regular basis, as we live in an older house. He told us we should run hot water down the drains like once a month or something. That will help to keep things cleaner through there.
Click to expand...

I have been doing pots and pots of boiling water over the last two days and have done a few more today since my rudimentary snake job. Not sure really if it is helping or not but I guess it can't hurt.
 
After calling a plumber about every ten months, I got tired of them just cleaning out the kitchen drain until things flowed again. I went to Home Depot and rented a powered snake, the longest they had, and ran that puppy down the pipe. All of it. Let it run for a few minutes. Pulled it out and ran some hot water down the drain. It has been over a year and it is still flowing without any problems. The best part is the rental was less than half of what the plumber charged.

In my experience, chemical drain cleaners only appear to work on hair clogs in bathrooms. And then not that good. Get it snaked out.

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Home Depot. :laugh:
 
A plumber will more than likely power snake it like Boomer said he did and that has worked for me but make sure you know what you are doing. The problem with the Liquid Plumr and like products is unless the clog is real close to the point of entry of the product, it will get diluted with the water in your pipes and lose much of it's bite. Being in the chemical industry, I had access to undiluted Caustic Soda and poured some down my system and it didn't do a darned thing. I don't recommend doing this as I was young and dumb....ok, younger and dumber....then and have been told by professionals not to do this. Since I had my system power snaked by a professional, it has been virtually trouble free. Either that or my kids are older and have stopped flushing Star Wars toys and rolls of TP down the toilets.
 
Well so far the hand snake that I used is keeping things flowing. It's been a few hours and no backup yet. Since the snake was rather thin I am sure there are plenty of deposits left in the troublesome pipe but for the moment I am happy.
 
Anyone ever use a "Drain King"? It's great for unclogging a washing machine drain and a bathtub drain. It's a rubber device that fits on the end of a water hose.

You push the hose down as close to the clog as you can and turn the water on. The water pressure makes it swell up against the sides of the pipe, while water continues to flow through it.

It has saved me a TON of money with a stubborn washing machine drain.

My uncle was a plumber and used one all the time.

http://www.uncommon-cents.net/2008/08/17/d...the-drain-king/

I hope whoever invented it is sitting on an island somewhere sipping fruit drinks with rum served by beautiful brown women!
 
Last time I had a plumber come out he told me that plain old vinegar poured down the drain every now and then would keep the pipes clear. He said the "Liquid Plumber" type stuff was a waste of money in most cases. I still have a bottle of the stuff left though so I haven't tried the vinegar to see if he was right or not.
 
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