[Shop-talk] The road goes on forever, the plumbing never ends

[Pat Horne]

Mark, I have a very similar problem with a low spot in my pipe that plugs up. It’s 25.2 feet from the nearest clean out which means I needed to go to the next longer snake which is 1/2” diameter. I bought one of those brass craft kits but haven’t done anything with it yet. 

I was out of town the last time it plugged so the wife called a plumber. $150 later it worked fine for 2 years. I’m planning on adding the bread craft cutter to the end of the snake by bending the opposite end of the snake to give me a loop to attach the cutter to. I’d rather take the chance of loosing a small piece of metal in The pipe than something larger. A magnet on the end of the snake would have a better chance of pulling the piece out if it was small. The corkscrew might also be able to get hold of it too. 

Good luck. 

Peace,
Pat 

Pat Horne 
We support Habitat for Humanity


On May 16, 2020, at 4:28 PM, Mark J Bradakis via Shop-talk <shop-talk at autox.team.net> wrote:

I may not be that handsome, but I'm fairly handy around the house.  Kitchen sink drain clogged up again.  It has been a continual problem.  Basically it involves about 15 feet of drain pipe that has about a quarter inch drop over the run.  Well, maybe more than that, but not much more.  I made it a lot easier many years ago by putting in a T fitting in a spot easy to get to, so I no longer need to snake the entire length by taking apart the pipes at the sink.

The drain pipe is 2" internal diameter.  The corkscrew on the end of the snake might be 3/8" in diameter. It bores a pretty small hole in the gunk clogging the pipe, so it doesn't take long to clog again.  I don't think there are any small, handhelp drain snakes with really big tips on them, capable of cleaning the entire inside diameter of the pipe.  I have seen these at the hardware stores made for bigger, heavier machines.  Not something I want to hold head high while working on the drain.

I was thinking maybe I could fab up a steel rod.  One end would have a hole the size of the snake coil, the other end a slot with a grub screw to fit the Brass Craft ends.  Seems simple.  I wonder it the snake coil is weldable, or at least brazable?  I'd hate to have it fail by breaking off as soon as any force is applied, i. e. the cutter hits the clog.  Having a chunk of steel lodged a few feet into the pipe would make subsequent snaking problematic. Would my plan work?

Such fun having to clean drains right after the falling tree mess and the muffler blowing out on my Blazer.  Does May, or for that matter 2020 have a reset - do over button?

mjb.


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