overflowing toilet
 

a few days ago a plastic pill vial fell in the toilet just as the flush was
finishing. I tried to grab it, but didn't have a chance.
Now the toilet just about over flows before it goes down. I tried plunging
it, but that doesn't help at all. I tried reaching in, but don't get very
far.
I presume the pill vial is stuck inside (since the flush problem started
when the vial went down) but don't know how to fix it.
What do I do to fix this. I really hope pulling the toilet out is not
required.

John Smith wrote:
a few days ago a plastic pill vial fell in the toilet just as the flush was
finishing. I tried to grab it, but didn't have a chance.
Now the toilet just about over flows before it goes down. I tried plunging
it, but that doesn't help at all. I tried reaching in, but don't get very
far.
I presume the pill vial is stuck inside (since the flush problem started
when the vial went down) but don't know how to fix it.
What do I do to fix this. I really hope pulling the toilet out is not
required.


As a first step, try bending a coat hanger into a hook at the end.
Push that in, at the same time turning it. Slowly pull it out,
still turning slowly. If you get lucky, it might come out.

There is a special snake called "Closet Auger" you can buy,
but for a pill bottle I doubt it will be effective.

Jim

"John Smith" wrote in message
I presume the pill vial is stuck inside (since the flush problem started
when the vial went down) but don't know how to fix it.
What do I do to fix this. I really hope pulling the toilet out is not
required.

Pulling is a good option as you don't want the vial to get stuck downstream
where it will be even tougher and/or more costly to retrieve.

Try a toilet plunger to pull it back out using vacuum. You may get lucky.

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
...

"John Smith" wrote in message
I presume the pill vial is stuck inside (since the flush problem started
when the vial went down) but don't know how to fix it.
What do I do to fix this. I really hope pulling the toilet out is not
required.

Pulling is a good option as you don't want the vial to get stuck
downstream
where it will be even tougher and/or more costly to retrieve.

Try a toilet plunger to pull it back out using vacuum. You may get lucky.

Plunging didn't pull it out, and a coat hanger didn't so anything; but I
flushed after trying those, and it seemed to flush normally. Maybe it
pushed it out?
Why would it get stuck downstream? Aren't all the pipes after that big
enough to pass a pill vial? I am on septic, but use it very little. (I
expect the plastic will take 1,000 years to actually break down.)

Plunging didn't pull it out, and a coat hanger didn't so anything; but I
flushed after trying those, and it seemed to flush normally.

Nope, it was okay at first ,but now is back to its old ways.

On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 15:37:49 GMT, "John Smith"
wrote:

Plunging didn't pull it out, and a coat hanger didn't so anything; but I
flushed after trying those, and it seemed to flush normally.

Nope, it was okay at first ,but now is back to its old ways.

Been there done that, though not with a pill vial. Just pull the
toilet and be done with it. It's not as big a job as it seems :-).

--
Luke
__________________________________________________ ____________________
"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier...just as
long as I'm the dictator."
-- George W. Bush, Washington, DC, Dec. 18, 2000

Sounds like you are going to have to pull the toilet off and look up the
bottom.
We had a resturant that had Herion users sneaking into the bathroom and
they would flush the cut off pop can that they used to cook it in. They
get wedged in there and when we would snake it it would pivot past them.


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"John Smith" wrote in message
...

Plunging didn't pull it out, and a coat hanger didn't so anything; but I
flushed after trying those, and it seemed to flush normally.

Nope, it was okay at first ,but now is back to its old ways.

I'd try a closet auger-- a super strong snake/crank tool-- that has a
plastic protector so it won't scratch the bowl like a hanger will;-)

I've rarely had an obstruction that this handy tool didn't get rid of.
They're under $10 at your favorite home center store.

1

I've rarely had an obstruction that this handy tool didn't get rid of.
They're under $10 at your favorite home center store.

Success
I pulled the toilet out and found the pill vial in there just barely. The
toilet barely weighed 50 pound and it only took 30 minutes.
Warning
I expect the closet auger (which I did buy, and planned to use until I had a
look at the pipes below the toilet) would have taken it out easily enough,
but then it would have gotten stuck in the first elbow it came to. It would
have been much harder to get it out from there.
Question
The ring (or whatever you call the thing the toilet mounts on) was PVC
bolted to the old iron ring. No problem, but why would that have been done?
The iron ring looked sound; well, as far as I could see with all the wax
that was between the PVC and the iron.

"John Smith" wrote:

The ring (or whatever you call the thing the toilet mounts on) was PVC
bolted to the old iron ring. No problem, but why would that have been done?
The iron ring looked sound; well, as far as I could see with all the wax
that was between the PVC and the iron.

A filler for when the floor was made thicker?