Bath sink drain

[Puddin' Man]

Always got 2+ projects on my plate. I fix one thing. Something else breaks. Never fails. Guess it's like that for many folks.

Little brick bungalow in midwest US, built in 1954.

The bath sink drain stopped up very abruptly last nite. It's always run slow, has what looks like 1.25 " pipe running into the wall. All original plumbing in bathroom.

I put bakg soda, Drano crystal, and a pot of boiling water down it. Plungered it. No help. Got out my $6 snake, no help. Bought a $30 Ridgid auger, worked and worked it, no help.

There's 2 little closets between the bathroom and a bedroom. The big stack runs right by the toilet, and is maybe 4' from where the drain enters the wall. I got an easy 4' of snake thru there at least twice unless I miss my guess. Snake feels like it bottoms, but I figger it just ran into the far side of the big drain pipe.

What am I missing here? How could it still be stopped up? There's no perceptible change in the restricted (maybe a teaspoon/minute) flow.

Liquid Plumber??

Any/all help much appreciated.

Puddin'

"Law Without Equity Is No Law At All. It Is A Form Of Jungle Rule."

[RobertPatrick]

Puddin' Man wrote in news: [e-mail]:

One time I thought my tub drain was blocked. I tried the baking soda and hot water. The next day I realized the little drain handle was in the closed position.

[Larry]

Got a wet/dry vac? Someone told me about this, and it's worked more than once.

You have to make sure you have water in the trap, take a wet rag/wash cloth & cover the over flow. Turn on vac, suck out the drain. Repeat several times making sure to fill the trap with water. Covering the overflow with a _wet_ rag is very important, otherwise the vac will just suck the air.

Don't try any compressed air, I know someone who thought they had a better idea. It blew the joints apart @ the trap.

[aemeijers]

Take it all apart and clean the soap scum and hairballs out of the trap, and where the arm for the stopper comes into the tailpiece?

A 1954 trap will likely disintegrate as soon as you touch a wrench to it, so have new parts sitting on the floor next to you. They are cheap, and the job is enough of a PITA that I replace them as a matter of course when I take a drain apart. You can buy PVC kits that replace everything from the tail coming out of sink to the compression fitting on the wall. If drain is exposed (vanities were rare in the 50s), and looks matter to you, you can still get the chromed brass stuff, for a little more money.

If you wanna keep trying chemicals, I have had the best luck with the binary cleaners- two liquids in a siamese jug. But that may be a function of my local water and the brand of soap I use.

[Puddin' Man]

I cleaned the trap, etc after the hot water failed to help. The stopper is permanently stuck "up": damaged years ago.

So did I , years ago. Likely more than once.

All that's left is maybe an inch of the pipe going into the wall. Just enough to get the PVC compression fitting on.

I'll try anything the way it's looking now.

Thx, P

"Law Without Equity Is No Law At All. It Is A Form Of Jungle Rule."

[Puddin' Man]

Not sure I understand. It'll suck the water in the trap up, and then what? Suck some gook out of the drain pipe embedded in the wall over 4 feet away(hopefully)?

I wouldn't necessarily mind except for the trap water. Sounds like forced air might be more effective than vacuum. Maybe force gook from little drain pipe into big one (where it's not a problem)?

Thx, P

"Law Without Equity Is No Law At All. It Is A Form Of Jungle Rule."

[Larry]

Try it, you'll understand. The initially suction of water will force other debris out of the wall drain pipe.

I have PVC piping, wouldn't trust forcing anything.

[Puddin' Man]

It worked!

I cleaned filters etc in my 5hp ShopVac so it'd clean up after, hooked it up per your instructions, cycled it maybe 6 times. It sucked up hideous gook the first time: not certain about thereafter.

I'd forgotten how powerful the 5hp vac is.

Drain now runs cleaner than it has in years. Messy stuff, but if it works, "It Works!!".

Many, Many, MANY thanks to Larry!!

Cheers, Puddin'

"Law Without Equity Is No Law At All. It Is A Form Of Jungle Rule."

[Larry]

Glad to share a tip I learned. Glad it worked for you too.

[The Daring Dufas]

A shopvac is also very good for cleaning AC drain lines. No splatter or mess to clean up.

TDD

[jimmy]

[Jo Ann]

Wow, I wish I'd read this last week. I'd surely have gotten a new shop vac instead of a plumber and new pipes. Drain runs like lightning now, at least, for the first time since I moved into this old house.

[Lee B]

Sears actually used to sell (maybe still does) an accessory for the end of the shopvac that fit tightly over drains.