Kitchen drain pipe - snake goes through easily, but not water?

[Pete]

I'm baffled. Kitchen sink backed up yesterday, so I removed the kitchen disposal to snake the pipe. I also disconnected the pipe in the basement (where I have a rubber boot connector to plastic pipe that's fortunately runs over my wash basin). So I've got a run of only about 6 or 7 feet of pipe that I snaked. Snaking went easy, with the cable end coming out the end of the pipe with very little gunk. So, I pour water down the pipe under the sink and it just trickles out in the basement! I've snaked it

3 more times, and still the water flow out the end of the pipe in the basement is about a quart every 10 minutes. Any ideas?

[Pete]

BTW, I also poured a pint of Pequa drain opener in the pipe, which also trickled out at the same rate. I let it sit for 2 or 3 hours, but still the same results.

[Country]

Ventilation?

-C-

[mm]

I've never been in this situation, but my ugess is you need to attach something bigger to the snake, like a sponge, or something that will fill the pipe and not just push a hole through which gets filled up again as the snake passes through.

I don't know anything about pequa.

Oh, yeah, ventilation. Somehow snake the pipe to the roof. Or from the roof??

They used to sell a garden hose attachment that swelled up as a ball and was supposed to fit tightly in a pige. I don't know if you need that or not.

I don't know what happens if you attach a sponge and then the sponge comes off!!! In the middle of some pipe. LIke I say, I've never done this.

[Pete]

Showing my ignorance here, but I'm not sure. The pipe goes in the wall and behind cabinet a foot or so and down from there. The bathroom's right above the kitchen, so it's possible there's a vent pipe that ties to the bathroom. Just guessing.

[Molly Brown]

[Pete]

Showing my ignorance here again, but even if there was no vent pipe, I don't understand how that could be a factor in this case. I've removed the p-trap. I would think that with the pipe under the sink wide open, lack of a vent pipe wouldn't impede the water flow.

[Vic Smith]

A flat wire snake just poking a hole through gunk might end up with the results you describe. A typical spiral wire snake shouldn't. Have you snaked while the drain piping is loaded with water, or poked a hose running with water while pausing your snaking?

Seems odd to me. You're right about venting. If the drain is open it's to the kitchen, it's vented. When you say the snake came out of the end, you mean in the basement, right?

--Vic

[Pete]

Yes, the snake came out in the basement. It's a cable snake with a half inch spiral wire end. I've snaked it with water in it. In fact, I had the snake all the way through to the basement and filled the pipe at the same time (with an inverted elbow piece). I pulled the snake back out, and the water still drizzle out in the basement. I'm thinking gremlins.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Order of trouble-shooting is from top to bottom. Checked vening yet?

[RogerT]

+++++++++

And, that is a photo of .....?

[Tegger]

Pete wrote in news:ig8d50$7a2$ [e-mail]:

Two things I can think of:

1) That 1/2" spiral isn't big enough for your clog. A guy I used to know taught me a little trick: Loosely fasten a piece of wire to the spiral. As you spin the spiral, the wire flies outwards and acts as a sort of roto- rooter, dislodging more gunk than the spiral does alone. The faster you spin the spiral, the better the wire works.

2) Maybe you need a better drain-opener. I see that Pequa's drain-opener is potassium hydroxide. This may not be as effective as lye (sodium hydroxide). Drano (for one) is lye-based, and properly used, is an excellent gunk-decomposer. Drano is septic-safe.

[hrhofmann]

Attach some fairly stiff wire to the end of the snake once you get it coming out in the basement, bend the wire so it is at least 1/2 the diameter of the pipe, and then fill the pipe with water and spin the snake while pulling it back up, keep the water filled. That way, as you come back up and dislodge anything, it is free from that point down to the basement end. What you are doing may loosen something, but then it clogs back up. My way will give whatever is clogging the pipe an open pathway from the clog point into the basement.

[Tegger]

"hr(bob) [e-mail]" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I like that idea. He's got access from both ends of the clog, so he might as well take advantage of it.

[bob]

Perhaps there is cooking grease gumming up the pipe. This would allow snake to go through but retain water. Maybe hot water would flush it open?

I still see that stuff in hardware stores. You may also need to buy an adapter to connect garden hose to the kitchen faucet.

If this still doesn't work, you could call a plumber with a drain pipe camera, or use a pressure washer with a jetter hose.

[Ed Pawlowski]

? "Tegger" wrote

At least try snaking up from the basement. It may be enough to go at a different angle to grab the clog.

[mm]

I don't know if this is related to your problem, or not, but every fixture in your house has a vent to the roof. They combine the fixtures in one bathroom, and for this reason and others try to put the various sinks, toilets, showers on top of each other, so that most houses only need one or two such vents. That's why you have those two little pipes coming out of your roof. They are not chimneys for the mice's fireplace, like so many people think.

I see in a later post that you pour the water in when the pipe is disconnected and there is no trap between the pipe and where you put the water in. I guess that should duplicate the purpose of the vent and it's not the vent.

[mm]

ARe you saying I can't do all my repairs by myself? You might be right so I guess in the OP's shoes I woudl plug the basement sink and see how much is there when I got there.

[mm]

Good question!

[Colbyt]

That is a picture of a spade blade used on the leading edge of a snake. Far more effective that the corkscrew type.