# Tough time getting the jetter hose out.



## V.A Hydro-ooter (Oct 14, 2018)

I had a tough one today. Went to hydro jet a main sewer line that is 115 feet long. It is cast iron underground but I accessed it from a PVC cleanout. Everything was going well until it came time to pull the hose out. 

I pulled as hard as I could and even got help from the plumber who referred me. I tried running the pulse valve, put dish soap down the line, tried pulling it out with the jetter off. It would not budge at all.

I'd run the camera before jetting so I knew it wasn't broken. There was one spot I couldn't see, about 15 feet in, but I'd gone 100 feet past it so I knew it hadn't dug into the dirt. 

I ran the camera and found out the spot I couldn't see at first was a wye followed immediately by another wye. When I pulled on the hose it was getting stuck on that 180 degree bend. Yes, both wyes had 1/8 bends added so it was 180.

I was finally able to get the hose out by disconnecting my hose from the reel and putting one of those corrugated sump pump discharge hoses over it as a sleeve. I was able to push it past the wyes. That was able to reduce friction enough to allow the hose to move. Even then I had to put the hose over my shoulders and squat up to pull out a foot or two at a time.
Figured this might help someone in the future.


----------



## OpenSights (Mar 23, 2015)

Good idea on how to get it out! You’re going to be sore tomorrow!


----------



## V.A Hydro-ooter (Oct 14, 2018)

OpenSights said:


> Good idea on how to get it out! You’re going to be sore tomorrow!


 I'm sore now, haha. I've already got bruising on my shoulders from when I tried pulling before I ran the sleeve.


----------



## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

So the jetter hose turned back and was going back in a similar direction that you had sent it....that sucks.

Glad you got it out. That's an un-easy feeling when the cable or hose won't come back.


----------



## V.A Hydro-ooter (Oct 14, 2018)

Tommy plumber said:


> So the jetter hose turned back and was going back in a similar direction that you had sent it....that sucks.
> 
> Glad you got it out. That's an un-easy feeling when the cable or hose won't come back.


The jetter hose didn't turn back. It went out to the tap as I wanted. It just wouldn't come back because there was too much friction with the tight 180 degree bend in the cast iron.


----------



## Tango (Jan 13, 2018)

I don't carry corrugated pipe so if it came to that I'd have to cut the 1/4" jetting tube at the machine and use 1/2" or 3/4" pex. It would ruin the crimped end though.


----------



## V.A Hydro-ooter (Oct 14, 2018)

Tango said:


> I don't carry corrugated pipe so if it came to that I'd have to cut the 1/4" jetting tube at the machine and use 1/2" or 3/4" pex. It would ruin the crimped end though.


 I didn't have to cut the corrugated pipe. That's why I disconnected my hose from the reel, so I could slide the pipe over the hose without having to cut anything. I figured it would be easier to push into the line that way. The corrugated being slit would probably have been too flexible to go very far, plus I did not want the jetter hose to be able to slide out of the corrugated pipe.

I doubt you'd be able to get pex very far into a branch line with all those vent 90's you deal with.


----------



## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

Tango said:


> I don't carry corrugated pipe so if it came to that I'd have to cut the 1/4" jetting tube at the machine and use 1/2" or 3/4" pex. It would ruin the crimped end though.





He was using a large jetter for a 4" line, probably 3/4" to 1" hose.




If our mini-jetter hose gets stuck I think it's safe to say you just yank 






.


----------



## Toli (Nov 7, 2015)

V.A Hydro-ooter said:


> I had a tough one today. Went to hydro jet a main sewer line that is 115 feet long. It is cast iron underground but I accessed it from a PVC cleanout. Everything was going well until it came time to pull the hose out.
> 
> I pulled as hard as I could and even got help from the plumber who referred me. I tried running the pulse valve, put dish soap down the line, tried pulling it out with the jetter off. It would not budge at all.
> 
> ...



No guts no glory, right?

I’ve wrapped 1/2 hose around the bucket on a mini to pull it out.


----------



## Tango (Jan 13, 2018)

V.A Hydro-ooter said:


> I didn't have to cut the corrugated pipe. That's why I disconnected my hose from the reel, so I could slide the pipe over the hose without having to cut anything. I figured it would be easier to push into the line that way. The corrugated being slit would probably have been too flexible to go very far, plus I did not want the jetter hose to be able to slide out of the corrugated pipe.
> 
> I doubt you'd be able to get pex very far into a branch line with all those vent 90's you deal with.


Skoro nailed it we don't have the same outfit, I only have the mini general 1000


----------



## V.A Hydro-ooter (Oct 14, 2018)

skoronesa said:


> Tango said:
> 
> 
> > I don't carry corrugated pipe so if it came to that I'd have to cut the 1/4" jetting tube at the machine and use 1/2" or 3/4" pex. It would ruin the crimped end though.
> ...


Close. It was actually a 3/8" hose. I was jetting the 4" main through a 3" test tee. It was in a pretty cramped utility room so I was limited on options for retrieval. 

I got my 3/16" hose stuck the other day from going through too many bends. That one was relatively easy since I just sent the 5/8" sectional cable after it and was able to pull out both together.


----------



## dhal22 (Jul 30, 2010)

Toli said:


> No guts no glory, right?
> 
> I’ve wrapped 1/2 hose around the bucket on a mini to pull it out.


Me too, and it worked. :vs_OMG:


----------



## powellmatthew76 (Sep 11, 2019)

I know your pain on that. I've had the jetter get stuck so many times man, it helps of you leave pressure on about 300 psi, twist and pull back. I've spent days working on that and am hesitant to use it everytime 

Sent from my SM-J737V using Tapatalk


----------



## Venomthirst (Jun 20, 2018)

sometimes when a sewer hose goes into the street tap... the tap isnt directional and it can go the wrong way.. or even the tap itself puts extra resistance on the hose.. 



If your looking for job creation... the two Y's together there should be cleanouts on each one of them if its more than 45 degrees of direction change....


personally I don't like flushing downstream with larger than 1/4" without a manhole..


----------



## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

Venomthirst said:


> personally I don't like flushing downstream with larger than 1/4" without a manhole..





Can you explain what you mean a little more? You don't use larger than a 1/4" jetter without having a manhole downstream?








.


----------



## V.A Hydro-ooter (Oct 14, 2018)

Venomthirst said:


> sometimes when a sewer hose goes into the street tap... the tap isnt directional and it can go the wrong way.. or even the tap itself puts extra resistance on the hose..
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 That's what I told the plumber who referred me. Unfortunately the wyes are under the HVAC unit so he doubts the homeowners will want to do it. 

They still needed more time with the jetter but I told him if I kept going he would probably owe me for a full day based on how difficult it was to retrieve the hose.

I didn't go past the tap so I didn't get stuck in the county's line. I checked the manholes but the closest one downhill was too far to reach with my 3/8" hose. That one is only 150 feet long. I have had to run my hose all the way to the manhole, for retrieval, twice before. This one was much more difficult than those jobs.

Do you get good cast iron de-scaling with a 1/4" hose and nozzle? I've found it faster and easier with the 1/2" hose than the 3/8" due to less pressure loss and higher volume. I only use the 1/2" if there's an outside cleanout.


----------



## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

V.A Hydro-ooter said:


> Do you get good cast iron de-scaling with a 1/4" hose and nozzle? I've found it faster and easier with the 1/2" hose than the 3/8" due to less pressure loss and higher volume. I only use the 1/2" if there's an outside cleanout.





I find the 1/4" does a pretty good job in both cast and galv, and that's hooked to the general mini-jetter. Hooking a 1/4" hose to a real jetter and I am sure it would do even better. But if you have the bigger hose I would just stick with that.






.


----------



## Venomthirst (Jun 20, 2018)

skoronesa said:


> Can you explain what you mean a little more? You don't use larger than a 1/4" jetter without having a manhole downstream?
> .


 

Sorry, my minds foggy got lots on the go...


If I'm using a jetter working from a cleanout inside... I don't like to use jetter with anything larger than 1/4".... its too hard to twist and maneuver the jet with a 3/8" hose....


yes you use a lot more pressure, but your can twist your way out of hang ups... or twist it through bends much easier... also smaller hose less weight, less resistance... 



Guy on youtube smashing 1/2" hose through 3" pipe that's insane to me.. even 3/8 seems like effort



Jetter inside = bad time quick... we have a lot of finished basements and to me its not worth destroying someones house if I can help it..


for me 3/8" and up either outside cleanouts... or Manhole.. Sometimes I've had to keep going to next downstream manhole to get hose out because it wouldn't come back..


and generally as a rule... 3/8 is for 6" and up and ill use 1/4 for straight 2",3",4" and 6" from house to road... If its pretty straight, and I got it clear and can see what pipe looks like.. ill use 3/8" from basement with warthog trying not to go into street..


a trick to keep your hose down in the pipe so you don't fly out of holes in pipe is run a short nipple on your hose.. 3" works... keeps the hose on the ground... with large hose larger nipple... that being said.. sometimes it can get caught on things got to use judgement here..


if there is a hole in the pipe 90 percent the hose will find it... Ive had my hose go over top of badly broken pipe... only to re-enter sewer after bad spot....


Im not some super human jetter master, just what I have learned over last 10 years running jetter almost daily... The real jetter master I know has been doing it like this since 80's he doesn't know everything either but hes a damn good mentor


----------



## Venomthirst (Jun 20, 2018)

V.A Hydro-ooter said:


> That's what I told the plumber who referred me. Unfortunately the wyes are under the HVAC unit so he doubts the homeowners will want to do it.
> 
> They still needed more time with the jetter but I told him if I kept going he would probably owe me for a full day based on how difficult it was to retrieve the hose.
> 
> ...



sorry I missed this before my last post..... descaling wise... it all depends what your using... I find a "Flushing" nozzle works best like all back 5 back, or 6 back... followed up with a rotating nozzle.. If those wyes were all cast Its gonna be hard probably no matter what when its like that just tons of friction there.. the way i see it is if I have to do 20 passes... but its a lot easier to pull back the hose ill do that, because let the machine do the work not you.. arms hurt enough from yanking cables all day, let alone the jetter



but yea it does a fair job in the 4" even with the 1/4"... Our machines are I think 12gpm... then 18gpm ,and 20 gpm.. 



so your loosing pressure but the volume makes up for it.. you don't need that much volume and a 5gpm machine would probably do just as good may take a bit longer



We don't really have lots of cast iron mains in the ground here though.. like sometimes it'll be cast for a bit in ground but always goes to clay.. 



there are some that are all cast... but usually larger like 6" and ill use a 3/8" wart hog nice and slow.. and it does decent..


If it's in the ground outside here its mostly Clay, Transite(A.C), Concrete, PVC, Cast in that order... very rarely orange burg( once personally, my cousins house go figure)... and extremely old street mains are brick; tear drop.. I've also seen a square brick lateral to main before once... on the oldest street in city..


1/2" is for manhole to manhole imo.. thats on the 18gpm, and the 20gpm


----------



## txdraindoctor (Aug 14, 2020)

*The cursed house from hell*



V.A Hydro-ooter said:


> I had a tough one today. Went to hydro jet a main sewer line that is 115 feet long. It is cast iron underground but I accessed it from a PVC cleanout. Everything was going well until it came time to pull the hose out.
> 
> I pulled as hard as I could and even got help from the plumber who referred me. I tried running the pulse valve, put dish soap down the line, tried pulling it out with the jetter off. It would not budge at all.
> 
> ...


The cursed house from hell
OK so a little over a year ago, one of longtime customers calls me on a Saturday or Sunday night cant remember which. their entire home is backing up and sewer is overflowing out of the showers. so i get ready and head their way, and low and behold they werent kidding, literally ****e everywhere all overthis expensive imported wood flooring. anyways i called out a water extraction company and a pumper truck yes water extraction and pumper truck. the entire right side of home was tied in off of a branch line 15ft under the slab straight ahead from the cleanout in backyard . and the only bathroom not affected was the master with was also straight ahead from the cleaount. so running it from cleanout wouldnt work had to pull toilet that was also affected nearest the combo that connected the branch to main. but couldnt do it with pumping down the system below finish slab level. finally able to pull to toilet, ran about 15 ft and cleared line. as i am retrieving the cable all i could hear was water sloshing inside the drainline. and not a single echo one. im thinking on one hand $$$ one the other this isnt gonna be good news for them. especially since they just recently purchased the home less than a year ago. and i thinking damnit i told them before signing to perform a thorough inspection not just one the realtors get. so i go immediately grab my camera, and not 20% or 50% or 75% but 100% completely full and holding water major belly in the line. the entire length even afteri hit the combo on the end of the branch, and turned into the main heading out to the cleanout. same thing 100 full. so i showed the customerswhat i had found so far, they automatically knew it was expensive, the house they sold we had done the same type of work on that home as well. i didnt have to say a word or even give a price they just said when can you start. i told them let me finish running the camera, i wanted to make sure i knew everything that was needing fixed before sitting down to talk. so i go furthest bathroom on that branch pull that toilet, and it was fine for the first 30-35 ft then i hit water which was around 20ft before the powder room toilet where i ran cable from
long story short they needed 80ft tunnel. move forward a year this was around when covid19 began to hit and they were locking down and doing stay at home. they had heir parents staying with them, so my tech went unstopped the line said it was grease the stopped up that side of the house again. then come 2 more stoppages come after than each time worse and worse. everyone keeps telling they are pouring grease down the sink. im thinking since when does a 2" line with some grease stop up a 4" completely and cause it to overflow again. im thinking ive never seen or heard of that but everyone says the same thing. ran camera in mainline found minute traces of grease but not enough to constitute running the jetter. well the week before last, it happened again, this time i went out, originally thinking that maybe since there were more people staying there, maybe it was someone flushing items that should be. and to my dismay, big ass chunks and i mean bright white solid blocks of grease in the mainline with yep you guess it catching tissue paper and eventually catching enough to block system. determined that the kitchen line was tied in near the center where the major belly was. so that line hadnt flowed properly since it was built, oh what i failed to mention that the plumbers did not sleeve the piping running through the beams, which allowed the concrete to push down on the main causing the belly. anyways so since the kitchen line never flowed porperly it slowly allowed grease to cool of rapidly because the belly caused a domino effect where water was holding in the kitchen also. and since the issue had been fixed, now the kitchen is flowing properly, and has starting break the grease buildup apart and and now its dumping into the main. now here lies the issue and why i call it THE CURSED HOUSE FROM HELL we have ran 2 different cable machines with grease cutter heads, however if i ever met the dumbass who did the rough inn the first thing that would come to my mind is to stuff him inside the tunnel as we backfilledit, but i love my freedom to much to go to jail and lose my freedom over an idiot like him. anyways, instead of stubbing up below the window directly under the sink location, and doing a rolling offset to go around the window with the vent. instead they stub up like 6ft away, then arm over. which in return truly limits our options as far as the size of of cable and type of head. had it been directly under sink even though the .55 cable ofmy spartan 300 technically is big for 2" but had they stubbed up below the sink you could easily slighly bend it enough to make the turn and go down. however the way it is, cant control the end enough all it does is dead head against the san t. and the only cable flexible enough dont have a head bid enough to truly do it justice, been there already and still dumps grease chunks. now i to the point where you guys since you heard the word grease have been screaming jetter jetter. yep been there also. but the 1/2 3000 psi jetter hose is also to damn stiff it dead head in the san t also. cant get it to turn and drop. then the 3/8 1500-2000 psi jetter hose is limber enough to drop down into the san t but no matter what we have tried it wont turn the 90 just below the slab. its not ridged enough its actually too damn limber. cant cut hole in wall to access it that way i would have to pull cabinets other side there's brick, and a custom brick not everyday acme brick. and yep thought of using the vent also but guess what, no vent about the kitchen its a 2 story home and the vent comes up 25-30ft at the rear of home. the only other option ive been able to think of, is something that is a complete pain in the ass for those who have had to do it before. run you machine all the way out to the cleanout, pull it out, tape jetter hose to it. and manually pull it back through the system. however i would have to hit 3 different branches to do that. the cleanout is 4" deep, im not sure if my mind isnt letting me to think clearly enough because of how piss i am at how much time we already wasted on something that technically isnt under warranty and has nothing to with our work. however the customerpaid me fixfix their system and its still isnt fix, and they know it has nothing to do with our work. i just cant allow this home to keep backing up.
im all ears to someone who has faced the same situation as far as getting that jetter in there main that had a different solution that isnt coming to my mind. i do know mac had mentioned something about a sectional machine, but ive never even heard of one much less seen one. must be an easier way that im just blocking itout and not allowingto enter my brain. hell maybe its the sunup to sundown hours and over night ours ive been working. if anyone has another way that has worked for them. i would appreciate yall sending me a text message. 936-524-6353. i gottaget this done so i can move onto the next fire i gotta put out


----------



## chonkie (Jul 31, 2014)

Hey txdraindoctor, I enjoy the fact that you are being active on the site. A little piece of advice though, it would be easier to read your posts if you would break them up into paragraphs.


----------



## dhal22 (Jul 30, 2010)

chonkie said:


> Hey txdraindoctor, I enjoy the fact that you are being active on the site. A little piece of advice though, it would be easier to read your posts if you would break them up into paragraphs.


Probably a great story but with no paragraphs I simply didn't read it.


----------



## txdraindoctor (Aug 14, 2020)

I wish we could post short videos, I’m trying to find out what is causing my central air to shake itself to death. It’s vibrating so violently that it actually rupture the gas flex, grant it, whoever did install used a cheap POS. But still shouldn’t have ruptured the flex. Gas leak was so bad you could smell it outside as well as Nextdoor. Counting my blessings my family and I lived to tell about it


----------



## txdraindoctor (Aug 14, 2020)

Whole Family Sound asleep, I guess having wake up all hours of the night to use restroom isn’t so bad in this case. Anyways as you can see, ruptured flex and the dang is shaking it’s screws and from panels off 
Never knew that was possible. Then again not my line of work


----------



## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

txdraindoctor said:


> Whole Family Sound asleep, I guess having wake up all hours of the night to use restroom isn’t so bad in this case. Anyways as you can see, ruptured flex and the dang is shaking it’s screws and from panels off
> Never knew that was possible. Then again not my line of work






Needs a new blower. 


.


----------

