Sink drain giving trouble - water not draining.

[Frank Erskine]

You've done that too then?

[The Natural Philosopher]

I think yiouy are unfair. Firstly this is a drain, not a door. One really simply wants to reduce localised PH from dangerous (to plastisc) levels..not neutralise the PH of th whole sewage system. Theres enough awtaer coming in from toilets and showers and baths to dilute teh alkali to very high degrees.

Seecondly, when using caustics, on wood you wash off the bulk of the alkali with water. The vinegar is simply to neutralised the very little that is left.

If you are worried about realtive Ph, Use brick acid instead.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Well I have used it vonsisten;ty over 30 years or so and have not blinded myself, or blocked up a plughiole, yet, ever.

I guess doing A level chemistry, when an A level meant you actually did something of practical use, has something to do with it.

I realise that today, tehe education system is specifically designed to terrify people away fom real knowledge into those who would rather expose themselves to the dangers of blidndly fdllowing rules designed by lawyers (or ad men seeling expensive products) to prevent possibility of being sued, than thee ultra small chance of being blinded by failing to follow them

Fort tjose of this ilk, tye correct proecuder when umnblockingh a sink is

(i) get quotes from registerd health and safety designated wate clearnec executves (ii) erect scaffoliding and a tent over the entire house to contain possible nuclear and bilogical contaminants. Just because there is no evidence of WMD or bioliogical agents there, doesn't mean it ain't so. The PM told me so. (iii) using grade 3 high density plastic protective garmentst, dismantle the entire plumbing system, and as much of the house as you need to, to gain access to it (iv) replace any bits that smell even remotely whiffy. (v) dispose of all removed bits in triple sealed plastic bags at your neatrest nuclear waste and asbestos reporocessing clinic. (vi) get all your childrens inhjections up to date, viles disease, cholera, tyhphoid and tetanus, as well as anthrax are all recommended when dealing with drains. (vii) ensure that they eat a meal of out of dateTurkey Twizzlers, and then sue the company doing the drains or at least £400,000 for 'endangering the lives of your chilldrunn-ah' when they go down with gastro enteritis. Lie about the turkey twizzlers (viii) get the house demolished and totally rebuilt by the insurance company,on the grounds that it is contaminated beoind health and safety standards.

I still think my way is quicker and cheaper and more environmentally sound :-)

[The Natural Philosopher]

Thats' what the caustioc soda is for.

[EricP]

How did you find out??

I thought I had eliminated everyone that saw it!!

[Chris Bacon]

But it's knackered your brain/finger co-ordination, by the look.

If lavenders19 should try to use this method, which has nothing to commend it over using a made-up solution of "caustic soda", then if I were him I'd take precautions, such as using eye protection, having a couple of full pails of cold water at hand to wash in if necessary (the sink being a no-go area), as well as a good supply of vinegar to finish washing in. Oh, I'd read the instructions on the container, too.

No - cancel that. I'd ask you, with your 30 years or so of experience to come and do the job, after getting you to sign a disclaimer.

[<me9]

I get the impression it's not uncommon.

[Pete C]

Sounds like the tenants could have been pouring fat down the sink, in which case it may have solidified in the drain where the surrounding concrete keeps the pipe cold.

Pouring lots of boiling water and detergent slowly down should heat the pipe up and help soften grease, then a blast of water should flush it away into the sewer.

cheers, Pete.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Fine. I've had boiling casutic on my hands a few times. It stings, it washes off - no need for soap :-)

It is of course deadly for eyes, so glasses are handy, or look the other way.

My first experience of it was in the chem lab, where a dumb 16 year old sucked a burrette full up into his mouth. Despiet warnings.

Talk about washing his mouth out with soap..:-)

The chem teacher made him rinse for 15 minutes, packed him off home via the doctors, and he was in school the next day looking sheepish, but otherwise undamaged.

Ive doine more damage to my clothes - etches through jeans quite nicely. But again, one gets to use it carefully - first a trickle of hot water, then as it goes exothermic, wait a little, the add a little more...the idea is to get it all up to a nice boiling point and as concentrated as possible. That etches through the fats quite well.

Once you have the flow rate up. generally running the hot tap flushes the muck away.

I'd far rather have hot caustic on my skin than eg, trichorethylene..done that twice, taking stuff out of baths of it with bare hands. felt totally sick for half the day, and distinctly unfit to drive.

[John]

I used to have a chart given out with one of the process plant magazines each year which showed a selection/suitability chart for materials used with various reagents. AFAICR it showed pvc pipe to be perfectly suitable for use with 36% HCl and (not at the same time) 40Twaddle Caustic soda so your dangerous to plastic comment seems a long way from the mark

[lavenders19]

Hi guys. Thanks for the info so far. I think I better go back tonight as I have a couple of things to try. I will try the caustic soda. It does say to "leave for 30 minutes" and use cold water. Add soda to the water and not the other way round. Is the leaving for 30 mins necessary?

Secondly what type of detergent should i add to the boiling water? Will normal washing up powder do the trick or should I use something else?

Many thanks everyone.

[Rob Morley]

I reckon bio washing powder is the stuff to use.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Well, I had a plastic sink, and it used to pickup up a LOT of tea stains, and I used caustic to remove em.

After a few years it was brittle and flaky on the surface. Like non U PVC gets in sunlight.

It may not have been PVC, but it definitely degraded.

[Pete C]

Hi,

Probably depends on the plastic, I've found liquid dishwasher detergent can etch microscopic lines in clear hard plastics, which catch the light and are quite noticable.

It is sodium silicate and not hydroxide, but comes in an HDPE bottle. Ideal for softening baked on crud, but makes the pump squeak which is a bit worrying. Might be good for unblocking drains though ;)

Anyway, I wonder if the OP has unblocked their sink yet...

cheers, Pete.

[sensecam]

Re drain cleaning, what worked for me was Buster drain cleaner,

from Was very pleased with it, saved me the cost of a plumber.

Nice video of it in action here

Williams

[Helen Deborah Vecht]

Frank Erskine typed

Haven't we all, ONCE?

Methinks that the trap is probably clear, given the volume of water that flows freely initially anyway.

BBC websites are all full of dire warnings about cooking fat at the moment.

A washing-up bowl ful of hot tap water can be useful, combined with a plunger...