On Sat, 30 Dec 2006 11:17:08 -0800, "Eigenvector"
wrote:

Good Lord that was a pain in the rear!

I bought a 14 dollar drum snake and went at it. Getting it past the P trap
was a major frustration and I bent the cable getting it past it.
Fortunately once it gets past it moves nicely and I immediately hit the most
foul looking clog of hair I never wanted to see.

I pulled up a chunk of it and went back to plunging - got it down. A few
gallons of hot water and the drain works perfectly.

At least I didn't have to resort to toxic chemicals or dismantling the
plumbing.

If you had made a hole in the pipe, PC-70 will go on while a pipe is
wet, while it is dripping, and when it dries it's waterproof. I know
that first hand. I had to keep pushing the stuff back in place for
about 10 minutes until it stopped drooping, but after that, I just did
nothing for a day while the faucet continued to drip a lot or maybe it
streamed lightly. I was a subtenant and my roommates seemed not to
care if it got fixed. I don't think I was supposed to go to the
landlord directly, and they were sludges, so I just fixed it myself

I think their label says it dries underwater.

Strangely enough, it cleans up with water.


"Eigenvector" wrote in message
...

"Lawrence" wrote in message
oups.com...

Eigenvector wrote:
After reading all about how to use a drain auger I have a question about
it's use.

Are you trying to PUSH the clog, or are you trying to HOOK the clog and
pull
it out?

Based on what I've read it sounds to me like it's a little of both
actually,
but since I've never used on before I didn't want to start ramming the
auger
into the clog and wind up making it worse.

You are just trying to push the line into the pipe until you hit a
clog. Whether you hook it or not is a bit of luck. Try to get it wedged
into the clog real good but don't risk breaking the line. It is then
time to pull the line out and see. Remove the clog, if any, and then
snake it again and keep snaking it until you have reached the capacity
of your tool. I one time removed a dozen clogs before it came out
clean. Hair and grease.

If you can't hook it then smearing it along the walls of the pipe seems
to be what happens. At least the line is clean to the diameter of
the snake and that's the best the tool will do. A have a 50' Milwaukee
drain cleaner it is a good one.

Okay thanks. Sounds like it's really just a matter of doing it and using
whatever works.

I only have to unclog about 6 feet of drain line until I meet my main
septic line so I don't have forever to go. My big fear is that my clog is
really rust buildup in the galvanized drain line and no auger is going to
break that loose without causing some damage to the pipes.