Bad smell from utility sink.

[Ignoramus26172]

We have a bad smell coming out of utility sink (which is near kitchen, so it hurts). I suspect the vent going to the roof. The vent has no cover and has a 3" wide opening. Then it narrows and turns a little inside the attic.

I cliembed the roof today and used some hose (compressor hose, no air, just hose) and stuck it "in there" and wiggled. It did feel like there was an obstruction. I think that I pushed it down a few feet, not yet sure whether it went down far enough to be cleared. Time will tell if the smell diminishes.

My question is, how to properly deal with such obstructions.

i

[hallerb]

vent is basically a sewer line open to the outside at the roof. try flushing with a garden hose, have someone watching inside so if theres a malfunction you dont flood your homes inside

[Ignoramus26172]

Thanks... It felt as though the obstruction was quite tough. I wonder if pouring lye there a day before flushing would be a good idea?

i

[Ignoramus26172]

After some reading, I think that sulphuric acid would work better. Can I pour it and then flush with water the next day?

i

[David Martel]

Try flushing with water. If that doesn't work you can use an auger or snake. But I don't follow your pipe obstruction plan at all. I think you most likely have a dried out sink trap under the sink rather than a clogged vent pipe. Run the water in the sink for a minute and see if the smell goes away.

Dave M.

[Ignoramus26172]

Well, the sink gets daily use, I cannot see how it would dry out. Plus, I did feel an obstruction when I pushed in a hose to probe stuff. I think thatI am going to pour som sulphuric acid cleaner down the vent, wait a while, and then flush with water.

i

[C & E]

"Ignoramus26172"

I wonder if pouring lye there a day before flushing would be a good idea?

First of all, with a username 'Ignoramus' I can't help but feel that you are just yanking everybody's chain because the above suggestion is just too foolish for words. Cover your ears, I'm going to shout: NEVER ADD WATER TO ACID. ONLY ONLY ONLY ADD ACID TO WATER AND DO IT SLOWLY!!! Either of the above suggestions could wreck your plumbing or hurt you permanently (I use 'you' here for anyone else who might be reading this thread and taking this guy seriously). DO the hose idea and if not successful - here it comes again - CALL A PROFESIONAL!!!!!!!!!!

[hallerb]

he could use drano or liquid plumber or a snake.

[mm]

I wouldn't pour either of these down there. Why do you think it is agood idea? What did you read, for example? I've never heard of any one using sulfuric acid for anything like this.

What is the pipe made of and how fast does that material disolve in lye or sulfuric acid?

Why hot a plumber's snake, or an electrician's snake, to puncture an obstruction if there is one.

BTW, there is normally no cap on any of these air vents. Have you ever seen a cap?

I can see how an obstruction could dry out the trap however. If the vent doesn't vent, the water will siphon out of the trap. Probably won't get all of the water, but maybe enough that sewer gas can come up through the sink.

[mm]

To add to what I said, I've heard of using lye in drains, but isn't there always instructions to wait for a certainl length of time and then flush the pipe with water, to flush the lye away. Do you intend to be on the roof flushing the lye away at the right time, even if it is dark or raining out? (I don't think the rain will be enough to flush it, but will be enough to make the roof slippery.)

In addition, lye is needed because of human hair that is hard to dissolve in anything else, and is hard to get a snake through, isn't that so? Not sure that anything in the vent is so hard to penetrate.

(They had an unusall thing on Max something on tv, trying to get a kitten out of vent, but after breaking though the wall etc. it was a bull frog. Still, very unusual, and probably not your case.)

[hallerb]

Use liqiuid plumber, put garden hose in vent, then just turn it on to flush when needed.

that saves climbing on roof in dark or rain.

remove hose when convenient:)

[Alan]

You could try using a cat but probably it wouldn't be interested in a dead rat.

[Ignoramus24006]

Thanks. After yesterday's "poking", there does not seem to be any more smell. That's probably because I punctured the obstruction enough with my compressor hose (no air, just hose).

That smell was intermittent, so, it is a little early to declare full victory.

So, while the urgency of this has been reduced, I think that I need to finish the job and clear out the remainder of what was there.

What is that luquid plumber that you mention, is it sulpuric acid or something else?

Thanks!

i