Hi
Is there a simple way of clearing out the sludge in a shallow drop wast
pipe from my bath. It is almost horizontal droping about 1 inch over 10 foot

I have a drain clearing spring thing but it just runs over the top of
the sludge, so I have a very slow pipe with a couple of bends in it that
i cannot easily clear.

I have tried sulphuric acid but that was dangerous and did not work.
Any suggestions welcomed.

Gary

On Tue, 08 Feb 2011 21:11:43 +0000, Gary
wrote:

Hi
Is there a simple way of clearing out the sludge in a shallow drop wast
pipe from my bath. It is almost horizontal droping about 1 inch over 10 foot

I have a drain clearing spring thing but it just runs over the top of
the sludge, so I have a very slow pipe with a couple of bends in it that
i cannot easily clear.

I have tried sulphuric acid but that was dangerous and did not work.
Any suggestions welcomed.

Caustic soda would be better at dissolving organic matter.

--
Frank Erskine

"Gary" wrote in message
...
Hi
Is there a simple way of clearing out the sludge in a shallow drop wast
pipe from my bath. It is almost horizontal droping about 1 inch over 10
foot

I have a drain clearing spring thing but it just runs over the top of the
sludge, so I have a very slow pipe with a couple of bends in it that i
cannot easily clear.

I have tried sulphuric acid but that was dangerous and did not work.
Any suggestions welcomed.

Gary

Really it is no good just to pour stuff down the pipe and hope that it will
move. In my experience of this type of problem, it is best to disconnect
pipe on outside of house or if possible pit a stopend on the pipe and then
fill it from inside with the cleaning agent and allow it to sit in the pipe
overnight. Copme the following morning, remove stopend, being very carefuil
indeed not to get the cleaning agent on you and all should be well again,
until next time you wish to clean it.......

Jim

Gary ) wibbled on Tuesday 08 February 2011 21:11:

Hi
Is there a simple way of clearing out the sludge in a shallow drop wast
pipe from my bath. It is almost horizontal droping about 1 inch over 10
foot

I have a drain clearing spring thing but it just runs over the top of
the sludge, so I have a very slow pipe with a couple of bends in it that
i cannot easily clear.

I have tried sulphuric acid but that was dangerous and did not work.
Any suggestions welcomed.

Gary

IME that sort of sluge shifts better with an alkali. But it is getting it in
contact which is difficult.

Method 1: Put a bucket of really hot water in the bth with plug - 1/4 bottle
bleach, pull plug and leave overnight. Repeat 2-4 times for a major buildup
then once every so often.

That carries strong bleach over all the crap and allows it time to work -
both the germ killing and the alkali action server to break up the crap so
it can be flushed away. Fill bath 2" with hot water and flush so there is a
prolongued hot flush.


Method 2: If possible, block the pipe at the other end and fill it with hot
string bleach or hot caustic soda. Leave overnight at a minimum then flush
with a part bath of hot water.

2 ought to manage it in one application. Once you break up any fats a bit
and break down any organic strands, the crap tends to break up and fall away
without much trouble.



Any idea what you are doing to the bath to cause this? Or has it just been
left a long time? I get that problem on kitchen sinks mostly due to the food
matter that goes down that both sticks and feeds the bugs which then form
some sort of bugslime. Do you use a lot of traditional soap? We don't - all
bath salts and bubble bath.

My bath has the minimum fall ( about the same grdient as yours) for about 6m
(exceeds building regs limits) but is done in 50mm pipe. I make a habit of
checking the pipe though one of my tees with a rodding cap on and I just
checked mine right now out of interest - 18 months of heavy use from new.

The bottom of the inside of the horizontal run is clean to the plastic.
There is about 1mm thick of some creamy coating up both sides to the halfway
mark which is the tide mark for when the bath empties (which is why I didn't
put an AAV on that branch - always an air gap on top of the water)

Hmm - perhaps I should give mine a soaking with bleach too... I expect mine
will clear out using method 1 in one application, maybe two - but I can
block the pipe outfall if required and give it a good soaking.

If you can crack the problem, it would be worth certainly in treating it
once a year just to keep it under control.

HTH

Tim


Cheers

Tim

--
Tim Watts

On 08/02/2011 22:37, Tim Watts wrote:
Gary ) wibbled on Tuesday 08 February 2011 21:11:

Hi
Is there a simple way of clearing out the sludge in a shallow drop wast
pipe from my bath. It is almost horizontal droping about 1 inch over 10
foot

I have a drain clearing spring thing but it just runs over the top of
the sludge, so I have a very slow pipe with a couple of bends in it that
i cannot easily clear.

I have tried sulphuric acid but that was dangerous and did not work.
Any suggestions welcomed.

Gary
IME that sort of sluge shifts better with an alkali. But it is getting it in
contact which is difficult.

Method 1: Put a bucket of really hot water in the bth with plug - 1/4 bottle
bleach, pull plug and leave overnight. Repeat 2-4 times for a major buildup
then once every so often.

That carries strong bleach over all the crap and allows it time to work -
both the germ killing and the alkali action server to break up the crap so
it can be flushed away. Fill bath 2" with hot water and flush so there is a
prolongued hot flush.


Method 2: If possible, block the pipe at the other end and fill it with hot
string bleach or hot caustic soda. Leave overnight at a minimum then flush
with a part bath of hot water.

2 ought to manage it in one application. Once you break up any fats a bit
and break down any organic strands, the crap tends to break up and fall away
without much trouble.



Any idea what you are doing to the bath to cause this? Or has it just been
left a long time? I get that problem on kitchen sinks mostly due to the food
matter that goes down that both sticks and feeds the bugs which then form
some sort of bugslime. Do you use a lot of traditional soap? We don't - all
bath salts and bubble bath.

My bath has the minimum fall ( about the same grdient as yours) for about 6m
(exceeds building regs limits) but is done in 50mm pipe. I make a habit of
checking the pipe though one of my tees with a rodding cap on and I just
checked mine right now out of interest - 18 months of heavy use from new.

The bottom of the inside of the horizontal run is clean to the plastic.
There is about 1mm thick of some creamy coating up both sides to the halfway
mark which is the tide mark for when the bath empties (which is why I didn't
put an AAV on that branch - always an air gap on top of the water)

Hmm - perhaps I should give mine a soaking with bleach too... I expect mine
will clear out using method 1 in one application, maybe two - but I can
block the pipe outfall if required and give it a good soaking.

If you can crack the problem, it would be worth certainly in treating it
once a year just to keep it under control.

HTH

Tim


Cheers

Tim

27 years of use. problem became apparent last year.

Gary ) wibbled on Tuesday 08 February 2011 23:49:


27 years of use. problem became apparent last year.

Ah. Best block it on the outfall and go for a damn good soaking in hot
caustic and another in bleach (or a good couple of sessions with bleach
alone might do it) with some heavy duty flushing with hot bathwater in
between.

Does a washing machine run into this pipe? That *can* sometimes leave
another deposit that is better cleared with acid - but obviously keep the
acid and bleach well apart.

--
Tim Watts

On 09/02/2011 01:25, Tim Watts wrote:
Gary ) wibbled on Tuesday 08 February 2011 23:49:


27 years of use. problem became apparent last year.
Ah. Best block it on the outfall and go for a damn good soaking in hot
caustic and another in bleach (or a good couple of sessions with bleach
alone might do it) with some heavy duty flushing with hot bathwater in
between.

Does a washing machine run into this pipe? That *can* sometimes leave
another deposit that is better cleared with acid - but obviously keep the
acid and bleach well apart.


Typical .the pipe runs into what i was alwasy told was the stink pipe.
The pipe is boxed for the last 4 foot. so not an easy job.
Thanks for the info.

Gary

On Feb 8, 5:37*pm, Tim Watts wrote:

Do you use a lot of traditional soap? We don't - all bath salts and bubble bath.

What do you wash with then, soapless washes, gels, and cakes?

Bob ) wibbled on Saturday 12 February 2011 07:36:

On Feb 8, 5:37 pm, Tim Watts wrote:

Do you use a lot of traditional soap? We don't - all bath salts and
bubble bath.

What do you wash with then, soapless washes, gels, and cakes?

Read the second bit ^^^^ soapless detergent aka bubblebath.

I hate soap - scums everything up

--
Tim Watts