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(all advice offered sans any guarantees. double-check for accuracy before acting.)
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Washing-machine hoses can burst.
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Taking the plunge.
c) Make sure the plunger forms the best possible seal. Position it at the proper angle and rotate it back and forth to seat it as best possible. This way the force of your push will be directed down the pipe to the clog and not spurt out the sides of the plunger.
f) When the bowl (or sink) is full of water it can be easier to plunge, probably because the surrounding water makes it more difficult for the water in the plunger to escape out the side.
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Augers are good.
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Make a note of the main valve of your water supply line. Also note any other valves for particular sinks, baths, hot, cold, etc. This way you will know ahead of time where to go cut off the water in case of emergency.
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Great tips. Thanks. I especially like this one:
Dear ICOT, I enjoy and appreciate your posts.
I would like to point out that even the metal-mesh washing-machine hoses need to be replaced every 3-10 years. They weaken, too, but not as fast as the rubber ones.
When the hose to a washing machine bursts, there’s nothing to stop the flow of water. If it’s in the basement, you will likely flood the basement. If you’re on a higher floor, you could do considerable damage to ALL the floors below.
Meta-tip: Shut off the water before working on any pressurized lines.
Excellent, ICOT and RONSR.
As far as plungers go, the black ones with big double-layered tapered sides are much more effective than the flimsy red flat-ended ones. Having some water in the tank makes plunger work more effectively, as it fills with water, not air, which works better, as you mention. So if water level is very low, then sometimes pays to flush ONCE before plunging. However, if water level is high already, or if you flush twice, you will overflow sides of tank and have a much bigger mess to deal with. It is a carefull judgement call.
Now on the subject of showers, can those new types of single knob shower controls be fixed when they begin to wear out without breaking all the tiles and requiring a very expensive rebuilding of a shower? With a regular faucet, sometimes all you need is to replace a rubber washer. However, can similar maintenance be done with these fancy shower fixtures? It would be a poor design if you need to replace entire shower for a simple repair, but at least one person told us we may need to do so.
Another question: In a basement where the main drain is above floor level, in order to install a bathroom we have heard it will require special pump. Are there reliable? What happens if power goes out, will we have a major mess? What about using on Shabbos?
thanx for the great tips! what do you say about Drano?
the ball that hit the ledge was apparently closer to the wall, therefore because of the venturi effect was going somewhat faster
icot
You got me, probably neither, it was just the best I could come up with.
I like your wedge of air better.
Interesting though that it was an “80” floor building.
Hello folks.I,Koma am the plumber in this chabura, and you are all guilty of “Mishtamesh b’tachsisei malchus. Tsk Tsk. About the basement bathrooms, a quality pump is worth its price, but still has limitations. They are designed to handle the waste, and just toilet paper. Nothing else should be flushed, and kitchen connections and laundry connections are risky because of the grease, and because of lint and the occasional lost sock. In a power outage, obviously it won’t pump, and the average installation can only store two or three flushes. They are also maintenance heavy.
In terms of psak for use on Shabbos, I have seen, in a long career psak from every angle and flavor. My own Rosh paskined not to use them at all, I saw in a RY’s house a shabbos clock with one pin in one pin out (plumbing roulette), in a shul of an adam gadol, there were two canisters, one flowing into the other, and some large mikve sized industrial setups in large shuls and yeshivas where the size made psik reisha a non issue.
The best solution I saw was someone holding by my RY. He lived in a basement and had no choice but to use the pump. He rigged a washing cup on a hinge, with a faucet dripping into it. When full, the cup tipped and spilled into the sink, pulling a string, which by means of small pulleys mounted on the ceiling and floor, pulled the flush handle to flush the toilet. The drip was timed to flush once an hour,and a counterbalance brought the cup back into the fill position. Mi K’amcha yisrael. Just not a conservationist, or EY solution.
I can only try:I think that is how all the grama jigs by the Institute for Science and Halacha work, with a random (within limits)delay. I could also be melamed zchus for those instututions based on grama. In a really big system, there is not an immediate delivery of waste to the tank, and there can also be variability, and there can be multiple flushes at once as well. I don’t know if the hanhola of these places ever entertained the question, and the size of those tanks was 1000-1500 gallons, with monster 4″ discharge twin pumps. In the modern home size, it depends on the length of the float switch tether. If set short, one flush will do it, even the 6l flush. If left long, it can be three flushes, but then the float is subject to hanging up and other problems. You also have to figure the slow failure of the check valve. Before it totally fails, it leaks, and raises the level of the tank. About your on/off, I would not rely on ploni almoni to check that the flush was during the off cycle. I have the same kasha with the RY’s system, about flushing when the pin is in, it would be hard to tell, and a hard habit to learn. Being in the business made me an astute observer of human nature.
ICOT, we have a main drain line in the basement which backs up. I’ve got some idea of what it’s clogged with, and it’s beyond my little hand-powered wire auger. Would your recommend RR or just the local plumber for this sort of thing?
From personal experience:
If the power goes off and it could be days before it gets turned back on (or long enough to freeze pipes), turn off the water for the whole house and open up faucets to let the pressure out.
Otherwise, your pipes could burst in 7 places…
*sigh*
BS”D
Drano is best left for kiddush. It is a total waste of time and a very dangerous chemical to boot. Just reminds me I haven’t made harif in ages and I’m going to pick up some Sano-installator with a Badatz hechsher to use instead of salt with the peppers and tomatoes.
Sulfuric acid has no business in the home unless you happen to be a trained professional. In most states, acid drain opener “Hercules Clobber” can only be sold to licenced plumbers.
anuran!! Avoid RR or any of its clones, or the other extreme, shops advertising $x any clog. The big boys are expensive and rigged like a casino. They never lose. The cheapos are using a flat rate as a hook and they cant be in business at their advertised price. a local mench who deal in emes is best.
ICOT: Some of the old pipe here is from the Brit influence when they still used inches, and most of the cast iron is inch sized. Then there is asbestos pipe and concrete pipe, and clay pipe in whatever size the unsteady supply supplied. The modern media are plastic sized in 110mm, 50mm 40mm and 32mm closely matching 4″ 2″ 1.5″ and 1.25″ The wall thickness, and the way they do gas pipe here would land you in jail if you did that in NY area. In threaded pipe there is a mix of NPT, the American way (9 degree taper) and BSPT, the British strait thread. This gives one way too tight, and one way too loose. We also have stuff influenced by the European tzarut ayin mistaken for economy. Life for and American plumber here is challenging, but fulfilling. You can also walk into any hardware store and buy really caustic stuff with nary a safety label.
You can also walk into any hardware store and buy really caustic stuff with nary a safety label.
BS”D
Yes, and they export that stuff to Eastern Europe where we have no safety regulations to speak of except that you have to bribe the local standards institute. The first and last time I used sulfuric acid drain opener was in Moscow – it was BAGI POTCHAN made (and packaged shoddily) in EY.
If you MUST use caustics, do NOT face the keli you are pouring the chemical into. Figure out the longest safe distance between you and the farshtopped sink or whatever, open the bottle, and then face AWAY from the keli while pouring the stuff in backhanded (back to the keli is best; side is OK if you can’t pour from behind). This way if chas vesholom something does happen, your face and eyes are safe B”H and the worst you get is chemical burns on your back LA.
Has anyone used any of these safe biological drain cleaners?
A600KiloBear-
You make a good point re: caustic clog removers.
BS”D
Yes – and not only that but some of the procedures he will use if he knows there are no chemicals in the drain could be destructive to your property as well if there are indeed chemicals there.
EDITED
Can you get new main drain covers easily (the big round things with a square nut on top)? Ours doesn’t seal perfectly and if there is any clog, a slow drip comes out. Do they come in plastic or with rubber rim so they will seal better? The old one is metal, but I think water gets around the threads.
if anyone is buying a washing machine, here’s a tip- when you get it, make sure to take out the shipping bolts! If you don’t, your machine will jump up and down like crazy, and it isn’t good for the machine. Oh, and don’t assume the delivery men or whoever installed it took them out. we didn’t know this when we bought our machine and my husband had to hold down the machine it was jumping so hard!
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