DIYbanter - View Single Post - Retrieving screwdriver from toilet drain pipe?

Dan Espen

writes:

Winston wrote:
Yes, I'm a dumbass. This has become quite apparent, so there's no need
to remind me.

Long story short, I dropped a 10" screwdriver tip-first down an open
2nd floor toilet drain pipe, and it is now stuck at the base of a
45-degree bend just under the basement ceiling. I know it couldn't have
gotten any further than this point, due to 2 sharp 90-degree bends that
follow the 45-degree bend. Unfortunately, I can't see it from the drain
opening because I can't look down the pipe due to a slight offset just
past the toilet flange. Do you know of any specialized plumber's snakes
or other tools that could be lowered into the pipe to grab the
screwdriver somehow?

You could probably take the magnet from a junk hard drive and put a
piece of electricians fish wire on it to get down there and retrieve
it.

I'm not sure every homeowner has one of those junk hard drives,
but I think that's a good suggestion.

If you haven't ripped open a broken hard drive,
I recommend it. There are magnets in those things that are
insanely powerful. Just be careful handling them.
It's not hard to hurt yourself with them.
You will pinch your fingers before you know it.

They aren't made to be opened, I found drilling out the
security screws worked best.