I have a blocked toilet - the bowl drains very slowly, suggesting a 90 - 95%
blockage.

Pumping up and down repeatedly with a large plunger has made a big improvement
- estimated blockage now down to 10%

How to clear it completely?

On 09 Oct 2004 21:54:41 GMT, (Paper2002AD) wrote:

I have a blocked toilet - the bowl drains very slowly, suggesting a 90 - 95%
blockage.

Pumping up and down repeatedly with a large plunger has made a big improvement
- estimated blockage now down to 10%

How to clear it completely?


Have you been able to determine whether the blockage is within the pan
or further away in the soil pipe?

If it's the former, you could try running hot water theough it for a
period of time from a hose. Is there a shower with flexible hose
within reach for example?

The remaining material is likely to be paper or perhaps vampire's
teabags, and hot water may move them.


..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Paper2002AD wrote:

I have a blocked toilet - the bowl drains very slowly, suggesting a
90 - 95% blockage.

Pumping up and down repeatedly with a large plunger has made a big
improvement - estimated blockage now down to 10%

How to clear it completely?


Pump up and down with an even larger plunger?g
--
Cheers,
Set Square
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is invalid.

On Sat, 9 Oct 2004 23:56:06 +0100, Set Square wrote:

Pump up and down with an even larger plunger?g

More pumping and bucket full of water poured as fast as possible from
3' above the pan, a flush is pretty pathetic compared to that.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

Paper2002AD wrote:
I have a blocked toilet - the bowl drains very slowly, suggesting a 90 - 95%
blockage.

Pumping up and down repeatedly with a large plunger has made a big improvement
- estimated blockage now down to 10%

How to clear it completely?

Another possible source of blockage is dental floss. If one piece ever
gets caught up on something, it will continue to tangle up more dental
floss, paper etc... and it never, never rots away. Unfortunately the
blockage can occur way downstream of the bowl, where the plunger, hot
water or chemicals will be ineffective.

One of those extendable rotary plungers might help. They're not intended
to go round the U-bend, but they will with a little care. Also, you
might be able to use it to reach the blockage via the top of the
stink-pipe or the manhole cover near the bottom.

Or if that doesn't work, you'll have to remove the bowl (which is
actually no big deal) and go fishing.

But whatever you find has caused the blockage, make it a house rule not
to do that again.


--
Ian White
Abingdon, England

More pumping and bucket full of water poured as fast as possible from
3' above the pan, a flush is pretty pathetic compared to that.

--

Thanks to all who replied - I will try more pumping etc, as well as hot water -
but any chemical remedies?

"Paper2002AD" wrote in message
...
I have a blocked toilet - the bowl drains very slowly, suggesting a 90 -
95%
blockage.

Pumping up and down repeatedly with a large plunger has made a big
improvement
- estimated blockage now down to 10%

How to clear it completely?

dynamite

On 10 Oct 2004 10:07:38 GMT, (Paper2002AD) wrote:

More pumping and bucket full of water poured as fast as possible from
3' above the pan, a flush is pretty pathetic compared to that.

--

Thanks to all who replied - I will try more pumping etc, as well as hot water -
but any chemical remedies?

If the blockage is within the pan and under water, then chemicals (the
usual caustic or acid remedies) might help.

However, if it's in the soil pipe, partial and perhaps at the top of
the pipe, then chemicals may well not reach it.

If the hot water approach doesn't work, I think that I would be
inclined to remove the pan next and gain direct access to the pipe and
pan.





..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

mj wrote in message 1097403740.X2JbeiCXv8GhrOBsdXbpRw@teranews...

"Paper2002AD" wrote in message
...
I have a blocked toilet - the bowl drains very slowly, suggesting a 90 -
95%
blockage.

Pumping up and down repeatedly with a large plunger has made a big
improvement
- estimated blockage now down to 10%

The blockage is either
in the u bend. Shoving your hand down there with a short length of hose
should eliminate that.
or outside in the vertical soil pipe. Unlikely, but there should be a
removable plate for rodding,
or outside and below ground (most likely) where you should have a manhole
cover. I'd start with the latter and work backwards.
Removing the bowl is pretty drastic for such an everyday event.
Chemicals are usually a waste of time. You need some kind of physical impact
to shift obstructions.

stuart noble wrote:
The blockage is either
in the u bend. Shoving your hand down there with a short length of hose
should eliminate that. or outside in the vertical soil pipe.

Or very likely, lying in the length of slightly sloping pipe that
connects the two. A hose or a rotary plunger pushed around the U-bend
will come out along the top of that pipe, and may completely miss what's
lying underneath.

However, you may be able to block the end of the hose and drill a hole
in what will be the bottom side, to make some kind of jet that can reach
that area.

(It's so much easier to think creatively about a blocked toilet when
it's someone else's.)


--
Ian White
Abingdon, England

"Paper2002AD" wrote in message
...
More pumping and bucket full of water poured as fast as possible from
3' above the pan, a flush is pretty pathetic compared to that.

--

Thanks to all who replied - I will try more pumping etc, as well as hot
water -
but any chemical remedies?

Stuff a hose down - flexible ones will get round the U bend with some
encouragement - then once it's a long way in turn it on and push.

In article , Paper2002AD
writes
More pumping and bucket full of water poured as fast as possible from
3' above the pan, a flush is pretty pathetic compared to that.

Thanks to all who replied - I will try more pumping etc, as well as hot water -
but any chemical remedies?

Nitrogen trichloride?

--
Paul

Paper2002AD wrote:

I have a blocked toilet - the bowl drains very slowly, suggesting a 90 - 95%
blockage.

Pumping up and down repeatedly with a large plunger has made a big improvement
- estimated blockage now down to 10%

How to clear it completely?

Tip caustic soda crystals fllowed by kettle of hot water, down it,
wearing usual safety nanny googles and gloves, and cover with a plastic
bin liner till it stops fizzing.

Then leave for an hour or two, then flush.

If you suspect heavy pipe scaling pour a half gallon of brick acid down
it and wait a day till it stops fizzing.

Andy Hall wrote:

On 10 Oct 2004 10:07:38 GMT, (Paper2002AD) wrote:


More pumping and bucket full of water poured as fast as possible from
3' above the pan, a flush is pretty pathetic compared to that.

--

Thanks to all who replied - I will try more pumping etc, as well as hot water -
but any chemical remedies?


If the blockage is within the pan and under water, then chemicals (the
usual caustic or acid remedies) might help.

However, if it's in the soil pipe, partial and perhaps at the top of
the pipe, then chemicals may well not reach it.


They will reach wherever the blocked, but slowly filtering, water that
dissolves them will.

If the hot water approach doesn't work, I think that I would be
inclined to remove the pan next and gain direct access to the pipe and
pan.


Strong alkali and strong acid applied serially will usually dissolve
anything organic, leaving the pipes and bowls nice and clean.





.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

How to clear it completely?

Tip caustic soda crystals fllowed by kettle of hot water, down it,
wearing usual safety nanny googles and gloves, and cover with a plastic
bin liner till it stops fizzing.

Then leave for an hour or two, then flush.

If you suspect heavy pipe scaling pour a half gallon of brick acid down
it and wait a day till it stops fizzing.

Neither of which will have any effect on the typical household blockage
which, as in this case, is only partial. The chemicals will just flow past
it a little slower than normal.
Caustic unblockers are designed for people who pour things like cooking oil
down the loo. A lot of cellulose based products actually swell in alkali.
And scale sufficient to block a soil pipe? Jesus, that *would* be hard
water.

stuart noble wrote:

If you suspect heavy pipe scaling pour a half gallon of brick acid down
it and wait a day till it stops fizzing.

Neither of which will have any effect on the typical household blockage
which, as in this case, is only partial. The chemicals will just flow past
it a little slower than normal.
Caustic unblockers are designed for people who pour things like cooking
oil down the loo. A lot of cellulose based products actually swell in
alkali. And scale sufficient to block a soil pipe? Jesus, that *would* be
hard water.

I've had two blockages in two different loos in the last 3 months,
both with slow dispersal.
Both were cleared with chemicals from the local hardware store -
the first was caustic soda, and the second was sulphuric acid.
Both had very clear instructions (wear goggles, etc) on the container.
They cost about 6 euro each.
The sulphuric acid seemed to work more quickly.

Incidentally, what is "brick acid"?

--
Timothy Murphy
e-mail (80k only): tim /at/ birdsnest.maths.tcd.ie
tel: +353-86-2336090, +353-1-2842366
s-mail: School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland

In article , "Timothy Murphy"
says...
stuart noble wrote:

If you suspect heavy pipe scaling pour a half gallon of brick acid down
it and wait a day till it stops fizzing.

Neither of which will have any effect on the typical household blockage
which, as in this case, is only partial. The chemicals will just flow past
it a little slower than normal.
Caustic unblockers are designed for people who pour things like cooking
oil down the loo. A lot of cellulose based products actually swell in
alkali. And scale sufficient to block a soil pipe? Jesus, that *would* be
hard water.

I've had two blockages in two different loos in the last 3 months,
both with slow dispersal.
Both were cleared with chemicals from the local hardware store -
the first was caustic soda, and the second was sulphuric acid.
Both had very clear instructions (wear goggles, etc) on the container.
They cost about 6 euro each.
The sulphuric acid seemed to work more quickly.

Incidentally, what is "brick acid"?

Either phosphoric acid or "muriatic" (hydrochloric) acid.

Rob Morley wrote:
In article , "Timothy Murphy"
says...
stuart noble wrote:

If you suspect heavy pipe scaling pour a half gallon of brick acid down
it and wait a day till it stops fizzing.

Neither of which will have any effect on the typical household blockage
which, as in this case, is only partial. The chemicals will just flow past
it a little slower than normal.
Caustic unblockers are designed for people who pour things like cooking
oil down the loo. A lot of cellulose based products actually swell in
alkali. And scale sufficient to block a soil pipe? Jesus, that *would* be
hard water.

I've had two blockages in two different loos in the last 3 months,
both with slow dispersal.
Both were cleared with chemicals from the local hardware store -
the first was caustic soda, and the second was sulphuric acid.
Both had very clear instructions (wear goggles, etc) on the container.
They cost about 6 euro each.
The sulphuric acid seemed to work more quickly.

Incidentally, what is "brick acid"?

Either phosphoric acid or "muriatic" (hydrochloric) acid.

Where in the UK can punters like ourselves buy such delicacies, as
industrial-grade chemicals in their own name (ie not as constituents of
some other product like toilet cleaner); at sufficient concentration to
be capable of doing something; in sensible quantities (eg a litre); and
at sensible prices?


--
Ian White
Abingdon, England

stuart noble wrote:

How to clear it completely?

Tip caustic soda crystals fllowed by kettle of hot water, down it,
wearing usual safety nanny googles and gloves, and cover with a plastic
bin liner till it stops fizzing.

Then leave for an hour or two, then flush.

If you suspect heavy pipe scaling pour a half gallon of brick acid down
it and wait a day till it stops fizzing.


Neither of which will have any effect on the typical household blockage
which, as in this case, is only partial. The chemicals will just flow past
it a little slower than normal.
Caustic unblockers are designed for people who pour things like cooking oil
down the loo. A lot of cellulose based products actually swell in alkali.
And scale sufficient to block a soil pipe? Jesus, that *would* be hard
water.


Well, I had a case once...

basically teh loo outfall was about 1/2 diameter due to years of scale,
and into that got wedged a lot of loo paper and fecal matter.

Now teh caustoc got rid of te fecal matter, and the acid got rid of the
scale - albeit taking several applications over several weeks. And
sanit(ar)y was restored.

My experience is that usually a blockage is not just one thing, but
many, and all need to be cleared.

With a partially blocked toilet, the chemicas flow slowly and collect
where the block is.

Once its mostly cleared it washes away unless there is something really
solid there. Might be a tree root, might be scale, might be a disposable
razor jammed up with a plastic beaker.

Acid and alkali will bugger up almost anything organic - if one doesn't
the other will.

The only stuff that gets left is generally physical plastic objects, and
sometimes metal ones, but acid often erodes those as well - enough to
free them.

Pushing a hose backwards up the pipe towards the blockage from
downstream is also very very effective.

I've kept various drains clean using all these methods for years in
varous crappo rented properties.

*shrug* If it works, use it.

Timothy Murphy wrote:

stuart noble wrote:


If you suspect heavy pipe scaling pour a half gallon of brick acid down
it and wait a day till it stops fizzing.

Neither of which will have any effect on the typical household blockage
which, as in this case, is only partial. The chemicals will just flow past
it a little slower than normal.
Caustic unblockers are designed for people who pour things like cooking
oil down the loo. A lot of cellulose based products actually swell in
alkali. And scale sufficient to block a soil pipe? Jesus, that *would* be
hard water.


I've had two blockages in two different loos in the last 3 months,
both with slow dispersal.
Both were cleared with chemicals from the local hardware store -
the first was caustic soda, and the second was sulphuric acid.
Both had very clear instructions (wear goggles, etc) on the container.
They cost about 6 euro each.
The sulphuric acid seemed to work more quickly.

Incidentally, what is "brick acid"?
30% hydrochloric acid.

Ian White wrote:

Rob Morley wrote:

In article , "Timothy Murphy"
says...

stuart noble wrote:

If you suspect heavy pipe scaling pour a half gallon of brick acid
down
it and wait a day till it stops fizzing.

Neither of which will have any effect on the typical household
blockage
which, as in this case, is only partial. The chemicals will just
flow past
it a little slower than normal.
Caustic unblockers are designed for people who pour things like
cooking
oil down the loo. A lot of cellulose based products actually swell in
alkali. And scale sufficient to block a soil pipe? Jesus, that
*would* be
hard water.

I've had two blockages in two different loos in the last 3 months,
both with slow dispersal.
Both were cleared with chemicals from the local hardware store -
the first was caustic soda, and the second was sulphuric acid.
Both had very clear instructions (wear goggles, etc) on the container.
They cost about 6 euro each.
The sulphuric acid seemed to work more quickly.

Incidentally, what is "brick acid"?

Either phosphoric acid or "muriatic" (hydrochloric) acid.


Where in the UK can punters like ourselves buy such delicacies, as
industrial-grade chemicals in their own name (ie not as constituents of
some other product like toilet cleaner); at sufficient concentration to
be capable of doing something; in sensible quantities (eg a litre); and
at sensible prices?


Builders merchant. £6.99 for 5 liters of 30% hydrochloric.

I get caustic crystals from the hardware store, and ammonia too - still
sold by cleaning brand firms.

There's plenty of caustic in 'Mr Muscle foaming oven cleaner' too, but
at ten times the price.


Not sure about sulphuric - battery acid - halfords?

Ian White wrote in message ...
Where in the UK can punters like ourselves buy such delicacies, as
industrial-grade chemicals in their own name (ie not as constituents of
some other product like toilet cleaner); at sufficient concentration to
be capable of doing something; in sensible quantities (eg a litre); and
at sensible prices?
There are chemical wholesalers everywhere, but do you really want 25L of
acid sitting in your shed? If not, you need to find a trade that uses it and
breaks it into smaller packs. E.g. french polish suppliers stock a lot of
common chemicals