Ralphie ★ Posted March 11, 2020 Share #1 Posted March 11, 2020 But I guess there is snot room for that. I recently tried to remove my daughters’ hair from it with a drain cleaner plastic thingy, only to have it break off. Then I discovered why using one of those was a bad idea-there is a right angle instead of the gooseneck I was picturing. Thankfully I was able to use my favourite tool to get hold of the broken plastic-a pinchy thinghy that allowed me to manipulate it enough to get a grip on it with. needlenose plaars. Turned a bad situation good. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Page Turner Posted March 11, 2020 Share #2 Posted March 11, 2020 ...to be code approved plumbing (and to not stink from sewer gas) there needs to be some kind of trap. But there are various setups. Look here, and maybe it's covered. Sometimes it gets moved downstream (like if there's a separate shower). There just needs to be some kind of trap between the tub and the sewer outflow. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted March 11, 2020 Share #3 Posted March 11, 2020 Acid drain cleaners dissolve hair quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted March 11, 2020 Share #4 Posted March 11, 2020 58 minutes ago, Longjohn said: Acid drain cleaners dissolve hair quickly. Pipes eventually thin out and crack..........sometimes inside walls. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted March 11, 2020 Author Share #5 Posted March 11, 2020 1 hour ago, Longjohn said: Acid drain cleaners dissolve hair quickly. That is what I usually use and it does work well, although I thought Drano and the like were lye, but all we had on hand was that plastic thinghy, and the mechanical extraction did work well aside from that near miss of possibly getting it stuck in the pipe forever and ever! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted March 11, 2020 Author Share #6 Posted March 11, 2020 26 minutes ago, maddmaxx said: Pipes eventually thin out and crack..........sometimes inside walls. Was it PVC? WOULD DRANO LET YOU HURT YOUR PIPES? One of the world's greatest rhetorical questions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Silly Posted March 11, 2020 Share #7 Posted March 11, 2020 Wedge a wet cloth or paper towel into the overflow and plunge the clog out with a plunger. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted March 11, 2020 Share #8 Posted March 11, 2020 4 hours ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said: That is what I usually use and it does work well, although I thought Drano and the like were lye, but all we had on hand was that plastic thinghy, and the mechanical extraction did work well aside from that near miss of possibly getting it stuck in the pipe forever and ever! They make both, both will work (not together). I always used the acid because it worked better for me. CLOBBER was my drain cleaner of choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted March 11, 2020 Share #9 Posted March 11, 2020 9 hours ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said: I recently tried to remove my daughters’ hair from it What??? Your daughter didn't take care of her own problem??? Snowflakes these day, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2Far ★ Posted March 11, 2020 Share #10 Posted March 11, 2020 Yeah, gotta be a trap somewhere, otherwise poo-tinky fo shizzle. I usually use the Drano gel, seems to work well. I recent bought this, but haven't had a chance to use it yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Silly Posted March 11, 2020 Share #11 Posted March 11, 2020 Prevention is more valuable than a cure. You should pour a couple glugs of bleach down the tub drain every week. Bleach dissolves bio-matter pretty well which can reduce the possibility of a clog without harming the pipes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted March 11, 2020 Share #12 Posted March 11, 2020 31 minutes ago, Mr. Silly said: Prevention is more valuable than a cure. You should pour a couple glugs of bleach down the tub drain every week. Bleach dissolves bio-matter pretty well which can reduce the possibility of a clog without harming the pipes. DO YOU REALIZE THE CURRENT MARKET VALUE OF THAT BLEACH RIGHT NOW?!?!?!?!?!?! That's like pouring gold bullion down the drain! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted March 11, 2020 Author Share #13 Posted March 11, 2020 1 hour ago, 2Far said: Yeah, gotta be a trap somewhere, otherwise poo-tinky fo shizzle. I usually use the Drano gel, seems to work well. I recent bought this, but haven't had a chance to use it yet. Yeah, I still don’t know how this trap works, it must be sloped slightly. One plumber’s site says drain eventually will hurt your pipes and it is snot for regular use, they recommend plungers and snakes before calling them, so I need to crack the whip on the daughters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2Far ★ Posted March 11, 2020 Share #14 Posted March 11, 2020 1 hour ago, Mr. Silly said: Prevention is more valuable than a cure. You should pour a couple glugs of bleach down the tub drain every week. Bleach dissolves bio-matter pretty well which can reduce the possibility of a clog without harming the pipes. I've heard that a squirt of Dawn dish soap once a week is helpful, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsnip Totin Jack ★ Posted March 11, 2020 Share #15 Posted March 11, 2020 Shave your daughter’s head while she’s sleeping. I don’t have clogged drains and I bet @Square Wheels doesn’t either. She’ll save money on conditioner too. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Road Runner Posted March 11, 2020 Share #16 Posted March 11, 2020 36 minutes ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said: Yeah, I still don’t know how this trap works, it must be sloped slightly. One plumber’s site says drain eventually will hurt your pipes and it is snot for regular use, they recommend plungers and snakes before calling them, so I need to crack the whip on the daughters. Yes. I have talked to many plumbers and drain DIY'ers, and all recommend against drain cleaners. Plungers are okay but don't always work for one reason or the other. Snakes are best, in my experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kzoo Posted March 11, 2020 Share #17 Posted March 11, 2020 2 hours ago, Road Runner said: Yes. I have talked to many plumbers and drain DIY'ers, and all recommend against drain cleaners. Plungers are okay but don't always work for one reason or the other. Snakes are best, in my experience. Yeah that drain cleaner stuff that's sold in plastic bottles and will stay in the plastic bottle on the shelf for 385 years should never be used for 15 minutes at a time on plastic drain pipes. Says the same guy that charges $200 an hour (plus mileage) to come unplug your pipes. #commonsense 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12string Posted March 11, 2020 Share #18 Posted March 11, 2020 27 minutes ago, Kzoo said: Yeah that drain cleaner stuff that's sold in plastic bottles and will stay in the plastic bottle on the shelf for 385 years should never be used for 15 minutes at a time on plastic drain pipes. Says the same guy that charges $200 an hour (plus mileage) to come unplug your pipes. #commonsense Although the concept of pouring all those chemicals down the drain doesn't thrill me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kzoo Posted March 11, 2020 Share #19 Posted March 11, 2020 Just now, 12string said: Although the concept of pouring all those chemicals down the drain doesn't thrill me. Well there is that. But that's a different conversation than the 15 to 20 minutes that they sit in your trap before being diluted with hot water according to the instructions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickinMD ★ Posted March 11, 2020 Share #20 Posted March 11, 2020 15 hours ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said: But I guess there is snot room for that. I recently tried to remove my daughters’ hair from it with a drain cleaner plastic thingy, only to have it break off. Then I discovered why using one of those was a bad idea-there is a right angle instead of the gooseneck I was picturing. Thankfully I was able to use my favourite tool to get hold of the broken plastic-a pinchy thinghy that allowed me to manipulate it enough to get a grip on it with. needlenose plaars. Turned a bad situation good. Those in both my houses have traps. I'll ask "in case I drop something" but the drains in the shower/tub and the walk-in shower in my apartment probably both have traps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12string Posted March 11, 2020 Share #21 Posted March 11, 2020 a drain without a trap really stinks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted March 11, 2020 Share #22 Posted March 11, 2020 2 hours ago, Road Runner said: Yes. I have talked to many plumbers and drain DIY'ers, and all recommend against drain cleaners. Plungers are okay but don't always work for one reason or the other. Snakes are best, in my experience. A friend of mine who owns a plumbing company is the one who turned me on to clobber. He snaked the tile field where I work and then followed it up with Clobber. He recommended it to me and reminded me to wear eye protection and rubber gloves. Someone flushed a wooden name tag and the pipes ran under the concrete slab. The power snake couldn’t budge it. A good dose of clobber and the wooden tag was gone. Don’t splash any on anything you need. (It comes in a plastic bottle so I guess it won’t clear a plastic clog) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Road Runner Posted March 11, 2020 Share #23 Posted March 11, 2020 2 hours ago, Kzoo said: Yeah that drain cleaner stuff that's sold in plastic bottles and will stay in the plastic bottle on the shelf for 385 years should never be used for 15 minutes at a time on plastic drain pipes. Says the same guy that charges $200 an hour (plus mileage) to come unplug your pipes. #commonsense You're right. I was thinking of my neighborhood of older homes. All of the drains here were originally galvanized steel. Some homes have been replaced with plastic, but mine are the original steel. My neighbor repeatedly used a caustic cleaner on his kitchen sink and soon had to replace all of his drain pipes. Probably for the best, but I'd rather keep the old stuff as long as it still works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
team scooter Posted March 11, 2020 Share #24 Posted March 11, 2020 Due to the duct work for the furnace, the J trap for our master bathroom shower was installed several feet down the drain line for maintenance. Which sounds OK, but on super windy days it dries out if you don't use the shower everyday. On another note, when our DIL stays over, she'll plug the guest shower with hair within a few days. We leave one of these drain cleaner thingys in the shower just for her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted March 11, 2020 Author Share #25 Posted March 11, 2020 6 hours ago, Mr. Silly said: Prevention is more valuable than a cure. You should pour a couple glugs of bleach down the tub drain every week. Bleach dissolves bio-matter pretty well which can reduce the possibility of a clog without harming the pipes. I'll try some bleach and chase it with ammonia just for old times sake. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted March 11, 2020 Author Share #26 Posted March 11, 2020 5 minutes ago, team scooter said: Due to the duct work for the furnace, the J trap for our master bathroom shower was installed several feet down the drain line for maintenance. Which sounds OK, but on super windy days it dries out if you don't use the shower everyday. On another note, when our DIL stays over, she'll plug the guest shower with hair within a few days. We leave one of these drain cleaner thingys in the shower just for her. I would only use that on gooseneck traps after almost loosing half of it in the shower drain. I hate making things worse. We have a wire mesh strainer in the drain, but when it is full of their heir they just take it oot rather than cleaning it Raised by wolves apparently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
team scooter Posted March 11, 2020 Share #27 Posted March 11, 2020 In our guest shower, the hair seems to catch and accumulate on the drain closing mechanism thingy, before making it down to the J trap. DIL has long hair, so I've pulled out 18 inch long hair clumps using those red plastic dohickys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted March 11, 2020 Author Share #28 Posted March 11, 2020 OK, this is what I was looking for. There is a gooseneck, it's just that it is snot right at the drain and there is no way that red plastic thinghy is getting anyway near it. The right angle at the drain is a problem, but at least it seemed to catch all the heir with the vortex breaker. So a gooseneck would seldom plug anyway since it is pretty free flowing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kzoo Posted March 11, 2020 Share #29 Posted March 11, 2020 2 minutes ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said: OK, this is what I was looking for. There is a gooseneck, it's just that it is snot right at the drain and there is no way that red plastic thinghy is getting anyway near it. The right angle at the drain is a problem, but at least it seemed to catch all the heir with the vortex breaker. 2 screws to remove the flapper/stopper and snake from there. Easy peasy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted March 11, 2020 Author Share #30 Posted March 11, 2020 5 hours ago, Old#7 said: Shave your daughter’s head while she’s sleeping. I don’t have clogged drains and I bet @Square Wheels doesn’t either. She’ll save money on conditioner too. And another thing! They use all the conditioner when they are here! Sheesh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted March 11, 2020 Author Share #31 Posted March 11, 2020 15 minutes ago, Kzoo said: 2 screws to remove the flapper/stopper and snake from there. Easy peasy No screws, and the problemo is the vortex breaker and tight right angle with more restrictions inside snapped the red plastic thinghy with hooks very easily. The wire mesh is the best prevention I think, but only if it is used! I don't think mine is brass, but it has a similar restriction inside which I assume is the vortex breaker, or maybe it is a hair catcher! It sure works as one! One thing that had me thinking it was a trap was it had a water level in it. I'll have to see if it still does because I don't know why it would, it should be sloped to drain I would think. Of course improper installation is always a possibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bikeguy Posted March 11, 2020 Share #32 Posted March 11, 2020 The best part of the drawing... is the P trap. Seems appropriate for this from. I just thought is was called a goose neck too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted March 11, 2020 Author Share #33 Posted March 11, 2020 3 minutes ago, Bikeguy said: The best part of the drawing... is the P trap. Seems appropriate for this from. I just thought is was called a goose neck too. My research into this has turned up J traps and the illegal S trap and archaic drum trap. I think I will just step away slowly. ;D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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