# Drain chemicals (acids)in sewers



## MACPLUMB777 (Jun 18, 2008)

How many of you have had a problem with drain (ACID) chemicals damaging or
destroying your sewer cables ?

And what did you do with such a cable ?

Toss it out, cut off and add new end to keep using ?


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## Will (Jun 6, 2010)

I use mostly General Wire version of the Ridgid style sectional cables. There about 4-5 years old and see chemicals all the time. Nothing wrong with them


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## Plumbducky (Jun 12, 2010)

The main cables that see acids are my 5/16, and 3/8.

When I do encounter it, I charge for a new cable or let the customer remove all of the acid. Their choice.


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

A member on here {Sewer Ratz} mentioned that he keeps test strips on his truck and tests the swill in the drain line to see its PH. If it's acidic, he says he charges more for the drain cleaning since the acid is corrosive to the steel cables. I stock the PH litmus strips on my truck but have not yet begun charging more for acid in the drain line. I think I'll start soon. 

Also, if the acid water splashes into my eyes, I'll be at risk for damaged eyes. I have to start wearing safety goggles when doing drain cleaning, I ususally just use the goggles for working with power tools.


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## Will (Jun 6, 2010)

Seems excessive to me, what is not acidic or corrosive in a sewer? I've snaked I don't know how many lines with draino, cables still fine


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## Drain Pro (Nov 3, 2013)

I snaked a drain once that whatever chemical the customer used actually burned through my ugly gloves. The cable was fine afterwards, lasted nearly a year more. Maybe that "spar shine" actually works.


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

Drain Pro said:


> I snaked a drain once that whatever chemical the customer used actually burned through my ugly gloves. The cable was fine afterwards, lasted nearly a year more. Maybe that "spar shine" actually works.













See? You should have charged extra to cover the gloves.

I'm amazed at all the costs a company incurs in order to operate a business. It seems like everyone's got a hand in your pockets. Fees, taxes, expenses, etc., etc., etc....


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## Shoot'N'Plumber (Apr 27, 2013)

At my last shop we did a bunch of work for property management companies. One in particular really took the cake when it came to just having us out the first time and do it right instead of having one of the agents husband (a sunline bus driver) try his hand at minor repairs to only cause a bigger issue. Anyway, he would always try the liquid crap on tubs kitchen and lav backups, then call is when it wouldn't work. We eventually we just raised our normal rate by $20 a call, but we used our cables so much that the stuff never really had time to sit and rust.


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## MACPLUMB777 (Jun 18, 2008)

Shoot'N'Plumber said:


> At my last shop we did a bunch of work for property management companies. One in particular really took the cake when it came to just having us out the first time and do it right instead of having one of the agents husband (a sunline bus driver) try his hand at minor repairs to only cause a bigger issue. Anyway, he would always try the liquid crap on tubs kitchen and lav backups, then call is when it wouldn't work. We eventually we just raised our normal rate by $20 a call, but we used our cables so much that the stuff never really had time to sit and rust.


So you never had a problem with the cables getting brittle and snapping ?


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## Shoot'N'Plumber (Apr 27, 2013)

JERRYMAC said:


> So you never had a problem with the cables getting brittle and snapping ?


Well sure we did, but after like 3 years and hundreds of uses. Like I said even after clearing a k/s with draino in it, we always ran hot water after clearing and pulling out, then it was off to the next call or two calls later where we would use the same machine again on a k/s or lav that didn't have acids in it, and again, after clearing run hot water. We would also spray down our cables with a solution of acid neutralizer every few days though. So my theory was with
heavy repeated use I think that helps continually clean the cable . Now take me right now, for instance, Im now on my own as a one man shop, starting out, my drain call volume wasn't busy. my first machine I bought was a k-400 :laughing: I recall doing a few jobs with it early on where draino was used, I mean the water in the sink was thick like raw egg whites out of the shell. Now my next call would be like a week out and I noticed that after 3 weeks I needed to replace 3/8" cable before it did snap. So with that crap sitting on the cable for a frw days did rust the chit out of my cable. Now that I'm using 5/8" sectional it's easy to just clean/spray the sections I need to with an acid neutralizer, which no longer gives me rusty brittle cable, and I use it quite often. Plus with the sectional cable I'm paranoid about the coupling becoming brittle. 
Like anything, taking care of yur equipment will help make it last. But a good solution of acid neutralizer in a spray bottle goes a long way with cable maintenance.


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## Drain Pro (Nov 3, 2013)

Tub cables seem to get brittle. I get a year or more out of my sewer cables. My 3/4" cables are going on two years now.


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## SewerRatz (Apr 25, 2009)

I do test for acids, and I also put baking soda in the line to help neutralize the acid. Or if they used a caustic soda I add vinegar. 

Depending on the cable and how strong the acid is, you may see it get brittle and snap the next day. I have had cable that as I pulled it out of the drum, it was breaking like peanut brittle. That cable was the cheaper oil tempered cable. Now if you get your hands on music wire, that cable is very acid resistant. You can get years from music wire.

The difference is how porous the cable is. Oil tempered cable the molecules are all going in random directions making it very porous, music wire has the molecules all going in the same direction making it a whole lot less porous. Now if you get a cable that snaps real clean while rodding verses the cable looked like it tried to unwind before it snapped, more than likely it was in acid. To test this take two pipe wrenches to the cable and try to unwind it, if it snaps easily it was in acid. If it unwinds you are pretty safe.

I used to do the drain cleaning at Detroit Diesel out by me before they moved into a new building. Their waste was so acidic, we had a 1065 set up just for use by them. Also the EPA had them block the outlet of the first basin for the triple garage basins and install a pump in it. The pump moved the water to a 250 gallon tank which treated the water, moved to a second tank, then back into the second basin.


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