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| Thread ID: 76142 | 2007-01-22 07:44:00 | Clearing drain blockage | somebody (208) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 518311 | 2007-01-22 09:48:00 | Try an old fashioned (but still available) plunger - looks like the top half a ball with a vertical stick at the top. Fill the sink with very hot soapy water, put plunger over the trap and push sharply.... mine can push between one and about two litres of soapy water through the system at a time and apart from once many years ago it has never failed. On that occasion, Mitre10 sold me a flexible band of steel like a huge clock spring and it worked. Probably still in the workshop. Check call-out prices for drainlayers before contracting to them............ | Scouse (83) | ||
| 518312 | 2007-01-22 10:18:00 | Don't know if this is any help but Laura had the same problem a while ago.... pressf1.co.nz Well done, Winston, for finding that link while I was logged off. My problem wasn't the kitchen drain (Wish it had been. Not so yuck) but the toilet/bathroom one further away from the street. And because of hygiene, I did call the drainlayer, in spite of all the PF1 advice. Earlier, though, I'd bought a container of Basol 88 from Mitre 10. Cost about $17, I think. ("Toxic & corrosive," so presumably caustic soda?) I have it still unopened in my shed, hoping I don't need it - but aware that tree roots do grow again... And I can recommend Scouse's "clock spring" steel. A friend used to get one from Hirequip occasionally for about $15 - not sure if that was 2 or 4 hours - and it worked for his problem.. Good luck, somebody. |
Laura (43) | ||
| 518313 | 2007-01-22 19:57:00 | Try an old fashioned (but still available) plunger - looks like the top half a ball with a vertical stick at the top. Fill the sink with very hot soapy water, put plunger over the trap and push sharply.... mine can push between one and about two litres of soapy water through the system at a time and apart from once many years ago it has never failed. On that occasion, Mitre10 sold me a flexible band of steel like a huge clock spring and it worked. Probably still in the workshop. Check call-out prices for drainlayers before contracting to them............'' Thanks scouse. Unfortunately my problem is not with the sink drain, but rather the drain from the waste trap outside, down connecting to the main council wastewater lines. Winston/Laura: I have read your thread, and it seems that I have tried most of the "easy" sugggestions - garden hose + water at high pressure, to no avail. I will try a chemical solution today and see what happens, and if that fails, it looks like a call to the local drainclearers will be required. The main issue I see is that this has been an ongoing problem, though never to this extent. The aforementioned drain blocks itself up every 3 months or so, and usually a good jabbing with a garden hose and a bit of digging around to dislodge and remove the fatty globs fixes the problem. I fear that the problem is further down the pipe than we thought, which will make things very tricky. |
somebody (208) | ||
| 518314 | 2007-01-22 20:14:00 | Contact your Local Council. If the blockage is outside your property, it's Council's problem and could very likely be caused by tree roots. The roots need to be cleaned out professionally and usually a CCTV scan is used to identify the problem and where it is. Again, contact Council and check it out with them. |
Bryan (147) | ||
| 518315 | 2007-01-22 20:25:00 | I doubt the blockage is outside the boundaries of my property, as our other drain is functioning perfectly fine. | somebody (208) | ||
| 518316 | 2007-01-22 20:58:00 | Good news - another blast with the garden hose seems to have unblocked it (for now anyway). Thanks everyone for your sugggestions. | somebody (208) | ||
| 518317 | 2007-01-22 22:50:00 | Hi Somebody. Good job. However, as it is on a three monthly schedule as you suggest - get it done professionally now. Next time might be in the middle of a storm - or worse still a long weekend when there are no trademen available to call out. :2cents: | Scouse (83) | ||
| 518318 | 2007-01-23 08:11:00 | If you suspect it to be highly basic, then try some acid. HCL anyone? HCl - small 'L' i don't see what chemicals could do without water flow, but now you've got it back perhaps every 2 months you should flush out the system with a water soluble solvent, like caustic soda or hydrochloric acid (HCl). think of it as preventative maintainance (sp?). and use alot of it, it'll get diluted and react with everything else in there too, meaning very little acid will actually get to the problem area unless you can pour it in reasonably close |
motorbyclist (188) | ||
| 518319 | 2007-01-23 08:18:00 | I've managed to get hold of some cleaning agent used for cleaning out food-processing machinery, which I'll try out. After that, I might try some Caustic Soda, depending on what the drain looks like after step 1. | somebody (208) | ||
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