Hello,
I have six urinals that barely manage to flush without overflowing. If this is caused by deposits, what is the best way to clean them? One company wants to use acid.
Thank You

Try using hydrogen peroxide

I found a formula for clogged sinks that may work. Try pouring 1/4 cup of baking soda in, followed shortly by 1/4 cup vinegar. This is to be flushed with about a half gallon of boiling water.

Boiling water in any china fixture; toilet, urinal, etc., is NOT a good idea. It can cause the fixture to instantly crack.
EDIT: Basins, kitchen sinks, laundry tubs are another story.

e-plumber
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"The society which scorns excellence in Plumbing as a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an
exalted activity will have neither good Plumbing nor good philosophy: neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water." -
John William Gardner 10/8/1912 - 2/16/2002

Repair your leaking Plumbing fixtures ASAP [www.theplumber.com]
This slow drip will waste 7+ gallons of water per day.



Edited 1 times.

Depending on exactly how the urinal drains are installed, the problem could be a clogged/restricted drain line and only snaking the line will thoroughly clear it...very nasty, smelly job.

If the urinals are caked up with mineral deposits, some people use a muriatic acid/water mixture but a pro should handle this task.

e-plumber
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The society which scorns excellence in Plumbing as a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an
exalted activity will have neither good Plumbing nor good philosophy: neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water." -
John William Gardner 10/8/1912 - 2/16/2002

Repair your leaking Plumbing fixtures ASAP [www.theplumber.com]
This slow drip will waste 7+ gallons of water per day.

e-plumber is right, run the snake. i worked for a school dist. for 18 years and never found anything you dump in that did much good,doesnt mean there isnt something out there, but i never found it.another thing that helps [once the drain is open], is auto flush valves if you dont allready have them.i had one bank of urinals i had to snake every 6 mo. and after adding auto flush valves it went to about every 1 1/2 years.my advice also is to snake it out.

Cable the urinals first, using heavy rubber gloves ,
I have had good luck with a product called San-teen, it is an acid and as e-plumber stated it is best left to a professional, it is very caustic and can produce dangerous gasses if not used correctly.

PlumbCat TM 2003


Plumbermandan

auto flush valves are the way to go if you have enough traffic to warrant 6 urinals in a bathroom. alot of guys dont seem to know that urine just sitting in a fixture is not a good thing and in time will create problems so therefore a lot of them dont bother to flush. i see this all the time in public restrooms

I've been told that Hercules makes a product called Sizzle for this purpose. They make an acid drain cleaner called Clobber that I'm familiar with. It is for drain pipes. I have never used either one because of my personal dislike of the potentially damgerous consequences.

My supply house stocks a product called "UrinalKleen" It works on non-organic stuff like mineral buildup and the urinal mints that dissolve and then turn into rock in the trap. I just turned a school district onto it and they love it.

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"You can't get there from here"
Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe

Useless other than to make a lot of fizz. Acid would be my approach, but it has to be the correct acid.

About the same as peroxide and as ineffective, both in urinals and drains.

Sizzle is just a high priced muriatic acid.

SNAKE...SNAKE...SNAKE

Pop Pop fizz fizz don't work for me.

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Snake, snake, snake the pipes, gently down the drain. Pop, Pop, Fizz, Fizz, oh what a relief it is. (When the urinal drain passage itself is closed with calcium, that is.)