Pete wrote in
:

On 1/7/2011 9:22 PM, Tegger wrote:



OK, I poured some more of the drain cleaner last night. This morning I
snaked again and a bit of gunk came out. I tried attaching some wire
and backing out the snake. More gunk came out, but the wire twirled
off the spiral cable wire. So I reattached some more wire and went
back down with snake - a lot of gunk came out. I then flushed the pipe
again with a sinkful of hot water and lots of Dawn, and that really
did it. Lots of crud, and free flowing water!




Hey! Success is sweet.




I noticed in the gunk there were a number of greasy black flaps. My
suspicion at this point is that the flaps were partially stuck to the
walls of the pipe, but the unstuck sections blocked the smooth flow of
water. The snake probably got through them OK, but once the snake was
removed, the flaps and any other grease still there slowed the flow to
a trickle.

Anyway, all is well, and I thank everyone for their suggestions.

Now, prevention. Besides limiting the grease, and using cold water
when grease is flushed, are there any drain cleaners that are
particularly effective in maintaining clean, less greasy pipes?



I find regular application of Drano (or other preparation containing sodium
hydroxide) to be particularly effective. I use the Gel stuff, because it
sticks around longer.


--
Tegger