The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Equipment => Topic started by: GribinIsaf on November 20, 2017, 07:44:42 pm
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Our first floor toilet often seems to get bunged up inspite of best efforts to give it tender care. Usually a bucket of water dropped from a great height does the trick. However the latest blockage is resisting all assaults. Besides the bucket we have tried plunging and a six foot long spirally thing which you poke down and turn a handle at the end.
This has prompted me to look at the boxed in piping and I can see that after the U-bend the pipe runs more or less horizontally three feet or so, including three right-angle bends - I guess this is where the blockage is as from there it drops vertically to a junction with outflow from a ground floor toilet which empties fine. There are no hatches or things like that for rodding.
Hesitating to use powerful chemicals it this point due to septic tank.
Does anyone have any imaginative ideas?
Many thanks
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Whatever you do don't put really hot or even boiling water down it. I did and then we had a cracked toilet bowl, after which our then plumber insisted in calling me thereafter 'crackpot' every time he saw me :eyelashes:
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Get hose pipe , feed around ubend and shove through as far as you can. (rubber gloves required !) Switch on.
Monitor for bowl filling up. - feed hose backwards and forwards if possible.
Alternative : If you cannot get the hose round the u bend, you could drill a small hole in the TOP of the soil pipe at a convenient point along its length then feed the hose pipe in there. On completion find a firm fitting rubber bung of some kind to block it again, (this needs to be secure and water tight.)
As a longer term fix, on this level pipe run you mention, is there any scope to get shims under at various points to wedge it up slightly at the toilet end and create a slight fall along this length.. ?
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Whatever you do don't put really hot or even boiling water down it. I did and then we had a cracked toilet bowl, after which our then plumber insisted in calling me thereafter 'crackpot' every time he saw me :eyelashes:
LOL
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Get hose pipe , feed around ubend and shove through as far as you can. (rubber gloves required !) Switch on.
Monitor for bowl filling up. - feed hose backwards and forwards if possible.
Forgot to say, did try hopsepie but couldn't get it round u-bend. Also tried pressure washer... and pressure washer through hosepipe.
Alternative : If you cannot get the hose round the u bend, you could drill a small hole in the TOP of the soil pipe at a convenient point along its length then feed the hose pipe in there. On completion find a firm fitting rubber bung of some kind to block it again, (this needs to be secure and water tight.)
This sounds a really good idea, and something I had not thought of - thank you
As a longer term fix, on this level pipe run you mention, is there any scope to get shims under at various points to wedge it up slightly at the toilet end and create a slight fall along this length.. ?
Will look at that - a good plan
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Apressure plunger? I've got a cheap one that works well on the sink my wife keeps clogging washing chicken feed bowls (I can't get her to rinse them in a bucket outside!) but not used it on a loo.This one isn;t cheap but has great reviews: https://www.screwfix.com/p/rothenberger-ropump-super-plus/63775#product_additional_details_container (https://www.screwfix.com/p/rothenberger-ropump-super-plus/63775#product_additional_details_container)
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Apressure plunger? I've got a cheap one that works well on the sink my wife keeps clogging washing chicken feed bowls (I can't get her to rinse them in a bucket outside!) but not used it on a loo.This one isn;t cheap but has great reviews: https://www.screwfix.com/p/rothenberger-ropump-super-plus/63775#product_additional_details_container (https://www.screwfix.com/p/rothenberger-ropump-super-plus/63775#product_additional_details_container)
That looks good - not sure if I am ready to pay out £105 yet - might prefer to dig holes in the wood (actually. that is not necessary as we have built a rather splendid compost toilet in the woods which is much nicer to use than the WC in the house)
Edit: on eBay for £60 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ROTHENBERGER-Ropump-Super-plus-no-72070-X-7-2070X-washer-tube-cleaning-/381105863140?_trksid=p2385738.m2548.l4275 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ROTHENBERGER-Ropump-Super-plus-no-72070-X-7-2070X-washer-tube-cleaning-/381105863140?_trksid=p2385738.m2548.l4275)
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Going to try this next:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Worlds-Best-Toilet-Plunger-Powerful/dp/B01HBS1PAC/ref=pd_sim_60_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=VKSSDZAEM3MRP3FXS42P (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Worlds-Best-Toilet-Plunger-Powerful/dp/B01HBS1PAC/ref=pd_sim_60_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=VKSSDZAEM3MRP3FXS42P)
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At the end of the day, the described foul drainage run will likely always cause problems. Really, the best solution would be to rebuild to achieve greater fall and, if possible, ease off those bends.
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Do you have a modern dual flush cystern if so learn that you need to use full flush every time you flush the toilet & use paper as well as any " Ghosties that don't .
However like has already been said try & re-siting them so you use the minimum number of bends, as the resistance to flow increases tremendously with each additional bend you use .
Could you re-site the pan to reduce the bends ?
Another thing that often cause problems is when the pan has a double syphon P trap put it bluntly big turds stick like a log in a bucket . These sort of old pans usually have square ish rims with the corners cut off at 45 % angles and often date from the 1960's & earlier .
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Do you have a modern dual flush cystern if so learn that you need to use full flush every time you flush the toilet & use paper as well as any " Ghosties that don't .
However like has already been said try & re-siting them so you use the minimum number of bends, as the resistance to flow increases tremendously with each additional bend you use .
Could you re-site the pan to reduce the bends ?
Another thing that often cause problems is when the pan has a double syphon P trap put it bluntly big turds stick like a log in a bucket . These sort of old pans usually have square ish rims with the corners cut off at 45 % angles and often date from the 1960's & earlier .
Thanks for all that.
Rerouting pipe definitely is on the medium term plan.
meanwhile awaiting arrival of this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01HBS1PAC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01HBS1PAC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
have bought some Dambuster https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162739608839 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162739608839)
but having read the label have not dared to use it yet.
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If the 6 foot spiral unblocker didn't work the blockage is further down. Adding hot water certainly won't reach it, nor will any chemicals unless you have some flow. It could be at the junction point with the downstairs loo- tapping the pipe may tell you by the tone if it is full or not. Blockages often occur at points where the pipe has been cut but where the installer hasn't deburred the internal edge. They can also occur in freezing temperatures on a flat section of pipe.
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I find dishwasher tablets or washing powder, both in strong solution, work pretty well. With a bad blockage sometimes you have to wait a few days while it works its way through. Your main challenge then is to keep away all the idiots who are instant experts and think that as the level in the bowl has gone down a bit (but is obviously still blocked) then all you have to do is pull the chain. They are oblivious to the fact that it has maybe taken 2 days for the level to drop as the magic liquid seeps through. So in their "wisdom" they fill the bowl up again, so diluting the chemicals that are slowly working on the blockage.
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Well everyone will be pleased to know that things are now flowing smoothly thanks, rather strangely, to "The world's best toilet plunger" which you can see a picture of here (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01HBS1PAC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). I suppose it is the same principle, although a bit cheaper, as the Rothenberger Ropump (https://www.screwfix.com/p/rothenberger-ropump-super-plus/63775#product_additional_details_container) recommended by pgkevet.
As pointed pout by a couple of people, we will have recurring problems unless we change route or fall of the existing pipes, not easily done in this property.
I have gathered useful information and methods from this thread so thanks to all who contributed.
Personally I think I will stick to our outside conveniences, which have a much better view (https://gribinisaf.wordpress.com/2015/06/25/guest-suite-including-loo-with-a-view-now-available/)