# Chemical burns



## Bill (Jun 17, 2008)

I had been burned a few times by stuff like Drano, and a few other chemical drain cleaners. Ask the HO if they used any, always get the "No, I called you" routine. Sure as hell as soon as you cut a line, thats when all that crap comes out and lands on you.


----------



## uaplumber (Jun 16, 2008)

Went to a place today for a clogged kitchen drain. Nope, we never used draino. hmm..... what about the 3 bottles sitting on the counter? Her face was as red as the bottle! I removed the line to find 3 peices of 1/4 round trim sitting in there on the horizontal. Must have been there since construction 30 years ago! Also the washing machine ties in downstream of the sink. They just bought a new machine and have found out that a 1" copper vent is not large enough for the 2" standpipe I needed to install. Down comes the kitchen wall. They are redoing the kitchen anyways, so no biggie.


----------



## Plasticman (Oct 14, 2008)

An old man I first starting plumber for used to get this powder stuff from the city. It had red granulars and what I remember looked like shiny pieces of metal. He would put that stuff in a stopped up floor drain, at some water and look out. It would boil like hot water and then spew up out of the drain like old faithful. I remember getting some of it splashed on me and it burned like heck. Oh yea, he called it " fire ".
Don't recall the actual name. That was back in like 1975.


----------



## Plumberman (Jul 7, 2008)

Chemicals are harsh. I will stick with the Bio-Clean and my trusty side kick. Rigid K-50 and K-1500


----------



## rocksteady (Oct 8, 2008)

i've had it on me a number of times, i don't think it burns me anymore. i can usually smell it if they've used it and i know what to expect. pour a box of baking soda in the drain, it'll help neutralize it a bit.







paul


----------



## service guy (Jun 26, 2008)

I have never been burned so far. BUT, I have ruined some cables because of chemicals in the drain. Now I ALWAYS rinse my cables and lube them with snake-oil immediately. It seems to help.

Also, I always wear rubber gloves under my leather cable gloves, and I really need to start wearing safety glasses on every drain-cleaning call.


----------



## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

service guy said:


> Also, I always wear rubber gloves under my leather cable gloves, and I really need to start wearing safety glasses on every drain-cleaning call.


You should try ugly gloves instead of the leather...










And yes wear safety glasses!
Chemical burns to the eye are no fun!


----------



## brain freeze (Oct 20, 2008)

i learned to ask the HO if they used chemicals.

for some reason they aren't always truthful about dumping chemicals down the drain. can't quite figure that out. maybe if i state that it's for my own safety they'll get the picture.:blink:

when i used to work for the gov't up here we used to get this stuff called "Sanfax". i can't recall what kind if acid was in it but i can tell you that it worked too well. splash back.

if it helps at all, before i clean a drain, i try to give a really good plunging before i put any tools down the drain. sometimes it will open up the drain enough to drain the line then i use my cleaning tools.

i use the plunger with the cup on it. i put the plunger over the drain w/o the plug and fill the fixture up with water using the plunger as the plug.

i lift up the plunger and allow the water to fill the line. then i plunge like there's no tomorrow. i've had good luck with this method.

Vince


----------



## Sewerologist (Jun 29, 2008)

Acid eats anything organic. Drain cleaning cables are composed partially of carbon steel. Carbon is organic. Service guy is right. wash your cables good. And charge enough to cover the cost of replacement clothes, cables, gloves, eyecare, etc.

It suprises me to see how many newbies are advertising bottom basement pricing on sewer and drain cleaning because their previous employer made a "fortune" on it. LOL, you're better off paying a marketing firm to do mass mailings on your services as a whole......


----------



## CentralPlumbing (Jan 22, 2009)

I always hear, "I put a bottle of drain-o down the drain before you arrived but it didn't do anything" I tell them the stuff is crap and you are just pouring your money down the drain. Then I tack on an extra $50 - $100 for having to deal with the chemical. It makes the job longer and a whole lot more dangerous.


----------



## Bill (Jun 17, 2008)

Good thing HO's can not get their hands on Clobber (Around here anyway)


----------



## WestCoastPlumber (Jun 17, 2008)

Sinus infections and messed up cables, large amounts of sludge, people never learn, chemical drain openers SUCK!!

I had a guy dump some in the lav before work, the nanny came, found another bottle of something else, dumped that in, they called me about 9pm, couldn't enter the house, I had a respirator on, I had to still crawl the floor, once the drain was clear and chemical gone, it ate the finish off the sink, blisters all over a custom tiled in lav and counter top.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and 2 weeks of orange sticky boogers.


----------



## I'mYourTourGuide (Jun 23, 2008)

I had a call once, a man had a clog in KS drain (from pouring grease down the drain) and I ended up going under the mobile home to replace the drain from the floor penetration, all the way to the 4" stack going outside. 

He had poured "Liquid Fire" down the drain and it backed up into one compartment of the sink and he left it sitting!

It ate a spoon into 2 pieces, all that was left was the handle, lol, no joke!

Not to mention I got it all over me and had to drive home in 30 degree weather with my windows down because it stank so bad


----------



## retired rooter (Dec 31, 2008)

seems like pouring vinager on hands used to help when I got drano or red devil lye on my hands but when it got so bad little blisters came up I knew I had f--- MEssed up When I was in college I vagely remember Ralph Nader trying to get rid of drano type stuff @ (corvairs) lol but big companies were bigger than him


----------

