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Author:
Icemon80 (NY)
I recently installed a new sink in my bathroom. It has a pop-up (click) stopper that is not removable. I also replaced the hodge podge drain system the last owner has a a simpler one (P-Trap). The PVC is brand new and I've disassembled it multiple times. It used to drain slow with the old sink but not this slow. Thrift, Clobber, and Drain-O have all gone down this drain in the past. Yesterday I bought a 10ft auger snake and had it virtually all the way down the pipe in the wall (I removed the PVC from the wall to maximize my drain-snake). The toilet is also currently removed from the bathroom, the shower drains like a dream. When water is standing in the sink it looks as though it's stationary, even after a few minutes, but if I come back over an hour later it will be gone. HELP! Thank you in advance.
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Author:
KCRoto (MO)
I am guessing that you have an air bubble trapped under the stopper that is causing the problem. If you want to test it, put about 3 inches of water in the sink and open the stopper. If it doesn't drain, take a drinking straw and slide it under the pop up and into the drain a couple of inches. The water should immediately start draining and work fine as long as the straw is in place.
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Author:
hj (AZ)
If it is a stoppage your 10' snake is probably too short to reach it, and is definitely too small to unclog it if you did reach the stoppage.
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Author:
Icemon80 (NY)
I've tried the drain without the sink attached as well.
I had found an old flat snake drain that is probably at least 25 ft coiled up. I'm not sure if that would take the corners in my pipes though.
Edited 1 times.
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Author:
hj (AZ)
It will never make any corners.
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Author:
Icemon80 (NY)
SO....
I tried a longer 25' snake as well as Crystal Heat. Nothing. Not one thing. I believe the snake is getting to the final 'T' before the sewer connection and can't make that turn to push the clog out. I am looking into getting a "Drain King" or something of the like to put some pressure behind it.
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Author:
hj (AZ)
Or, you could call a professional plumber who has the proper equipment and knows how to use it.
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Author:
KCRoto (MO)
Anyone that uses clobber thinks they know what they are doing already. I hate coming behind someone like that.. destroys the cable you are using. If I know they used acid, I tell them to use baking soda and water in the drain for a day then call back. I had a 3 day old cable snap like a twig on day 6 or so after hitting an acid line; I washed the cable off with a hose and sprayed wd-40 on it, but I suspect it was holding acid down the center core.
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Author:
Icemon80 (NY)
I didn't think this help-thread would be so condescending and full of assumption. I didn't use Clobber on my own accord, nor did I do it anywhere near the timing of the snake. It's also not in the system anymore, that was over 6 months ago. I also never said "I know what I'm doing". I DO KNOW how to use a simple cable auger, as does my uncle who works in plumbing. I also know how to read directions on a bottle and follow them. If everyone is done being keyboard warriors and has any info regarding a drain king or air ram would be fantastic!
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Author:
KCRoto (MO)
sorry, I don't use either one. I cable drains that need cabling.
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Author:
Icemon80 (NY)
yeah, i'll be calling a plumber in the end. They capped an end of a T, so the snake keeps going in there.
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Author:
hj (AZ)
If the stoppage is tight enough all a Water jet will do is force the water up onto the roof and when you turn off the pressure it will ALL come out of the pipe onto your floor. Regardless of what WaterRam says, the pressure DOES go up the various vents, the only difference between it and the water jet is that there is no additional water to drain out when the pressure is released. I have know MANY plumbers who had snakes but did NOT know how to use them, and thus they could not clear a drain with them. Unless you have a functional problem, not a clog, I could unplug it. IF chemicals work, all they do is create the smallest opening possible so they can flow past the blockage to the sewer. Condescending? NO. Realistic? Yes.
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Author:
hj (AZ)
In that case, "they", whoever they were, were NOT plumbers, because with a properly installed system, there is no way the snake would contact a "cap on a tee".
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Author:
Icemon80 (NY)
AND...we have a resolution.
The Drain King was hooked up and a slight trickle could be heard down the sewer drain, but the Drain King couldn't achieve a good seal the next two attempts because there was a copper 90 at the top to deal with. So, we went to cut off the 90 to have clean access to the straight section. As the words "I just am nervous about..." came out, the 90 beneath the floor level was weak and gave way when the straight was moved away from the wall for saw blade clearance. Not only was the water that WAS in the drain running to my kitchen ceiling, I still had a clogged pipe and now a pipe to repair. I had just finished laying ceramic tile in there, so I went downstairs to get a hammer and chisel. Up they came. A saw was used to cut out the section of the floor that followed the pipe. It came away from the wall, then turned toward the tub/sewer connection. But when it got even with that connection....there was about a 4 inch vertical piece that connected to the rest of the drain through a "y" that not only was installed with a piece pointed DOWN, but the sway was backwards. So a certain percentage of all tub drainage was diverted away from the line and down into this Limbo for water. I wish I could get a picture from my phone on here to show the set-up and how absurd the vertical was. My uncle and I couldn't fathom why they would ever set it up with an uphill section. It was like another larger trap in a way, but any debris that went down in there would never make it back up. The initial drop went to a 41" straight piece and then a 90 turn to a 24" piece before it came up the wall for the sink. The other half of the equation was the mortar that was rinsed out of the bucket after tiling. This became the debris that gets diverted away from the drain line. So that was stopping the snake.
All copper sections have been removed and replaced with PVC that is level (if anything, slightly downhill) along with a new "y" that flows with the tub drain instead of diverting.
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