# Frustrating eeling calls



## canuck92 (Apr 1, 2016)

Late afternoon got a call at hospital/nursing home. Very old building. " laundry tub plugged"
Figured id be in an out in quicker then bad sex.

Carried in my trusty k50 tripod, only to realize i have 1 head for it ( dont leave equiptment in shop their vulchers) so i get set up, 1-1/2 copper drain tossed on my only head left skinny long pigtail, after a couple cables i noticed its going up the vent, pull back try again, repaeat ×10, try no head same thing. Moved a wash machine went down a standpipe gangtrap fed all cables, no luck tub still plugged, sent my apprentice to find another guy in the city with a drop 90 head 8 blocks away, get it try it still no luck.
Nowhere else near by to eel from and im pissed in a hurry gunna be late for an appointment after work...wheverever after work actaully is. 8 years later still dont know what time after work actually starts. 
Anyways so in the process of eeling this trap arm an up the vent 50 times i noticed some small peices of iron comming back.

Might sound like a long shot but heres my take. This is an institutional laundry room, the chemicls that get dumped down this tub is plentyfull, im guessing parts of this drain are rotted out and theres a chunk of metle stuck in the throat of the tee wye which is why my cable keeps going up.
So by this time its 345 and i got to be across town for 4 so i told the guy ill be back tomorow ill bring the flex shaft an if that doesnt get it im bustin a hole in the block wall.

This was due, iv been in a good groove for a year ish things always working out. 
This past week thats come to a hult.

Iv noticed that..ya get a good groove going and the work just fixes itself when you wink at it, life is good.
Then one day, a month of nothing but s*hit happens at work to the point were you say " why the f*ck do i still do this " not quite at that point again lol but been there.


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

canuck92 said:


> Iv noticed that..ya get a good groove going and the work just fixes itself when you wink at it, life is good.
> Then one day, a month of nothing but s*hit happens at work to the point were you say " why the f*ck do i still do this " not quite at that point again lol but been there.





Tell me about it. My first day back from my foot injury was last wednesday. Going up a hill my check engine light comes on and she starts running rough. Turns out spark plug broke in the cylinder and took out the exhaust valve and scored up the cylinder, no compression in that cylinder.



Now I'm stuck working from a duct van and of course I never have everything I need for a job. I really want my old van back asap, needs a new engine.




.


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## Venomthirst (Jun 20, 2018)

IMO you only need one head the cable itself... Cut the end of a junk cable off and bend that sucker into a J and that'll clear any drain rusty corroded galvi that a 100 years old with non directional t's or cross fitting...

Feed the cable by hand to the t... And jam it in there. 

I don't like using heads I've had then come off too many times.. 

I also kinda wiggle the cable in rotate cable by hand to get it to go down the t.. Usually the t is where its plugged and
The more you go up the vent the more scale you knock down..

Some are a lot harder than others... All else fails pop a whole cut the vent call it a day


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## Tango (Jan 13, 2018)

Venomthirst said:


> IMO you only need one head the cable itself... Cut the end of a junk cable off and bend that sucker into a J and that'll clear any drain rusty corroded galvi that a 100 years old with non directional t's or cross fitting...
> 
> Feed the cable by hand to the t... And jam it in there.
> 
> ...



Sadly no more "Thanks for the useful post" This one deserves it!


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## Venomthirst (Jun 20, 2018)

Now... most branch lines have soft blockages... basins, bathtubs, kitchens the blockages are soaps, grease, fats, oils .. hair and vegetable cellulose the cable will grab those the only benefit with a cutter is fit there is roots in a line or hard objects bones or plastics ... drop-heads break off way too easily... also on a back to back sink usually there is one side that is a lot easier to get it to drop than the other.. even if they are exactly the same setup... if your struggling might be worth the effort to put pipes back together, and try it from the other side

I find if cable is new and isn't bent it wont even go through a t without serious effort... what I've done in past is if you like your 5/8" end on the end of your cable then get the straight auger that is about 6" long and bend it in half so it gives you a better chance of feeding it into a t or double ty or whatever..

if you use a drum machine i do the same thing and it cleans the pipe way better with a bend at the end... building traps exactly the same as hitting a back to back.... feed it to the trap rotate drum and push it in... switch to reverse and it will go 90 percent of time without a trap leader.... if it keeps going up trap leader... if you cant get it to go... its probably loaded with rocks and maybe a jetter is your best option...

back to back bath tubs are a real pain and there is a item made by general that is a double drop head and then and only then will i use that... it has to be welded on the cable... all else fails smash a hole, cut the vent snake it from there... process of elimination.... 

Snaking is my thing.. I'm not the best, nor will I ever be but just a few things ive learned over the years to get the stupid drain clear so you can get home before midnight on a Friday..

There is a guy at work been doing drain service since the 70's this guy is a wizard I've learned so much from him not even funny..


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