# Stupid drain access



## Debo22 (Feb 15, 2015)

Floor sink stoppage with air conditioner condensation drains. I wasn’t going to remove all the crap on the desk to get it out of the way. No room for the Spartan 100, hit it with the SuperVee. I set up a piece of pvc to give the cable a little rigidity and had the Vee on it’s back.


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## canuck92 (Apr 1, 2016)

Debo22 said:


> Floor sink stoppage with air conditioner condensation drains. I wasn’t going to remove all the crap on the desk to get it out of the way. No room for the Spartan 100, hit it with the SuperVee. I set up a piece of pvc to give the cable a little rigidity and had the Vee on it’s back.


Reading that gives me flashbacks having to lay stomach down on a mcdonalds floor squeezing as much as i can under a french fry machin to eel a f.f.d
Worst calls ever


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## ShtRnsdownhill (Jan 13, 2016)

you need to tell the customer to clear out the crap and give access to the drain or you cant work....or there will be a charge for you to move the crap out of the way...


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## MACPLUMB777 (Jun 18, 2008)

When I worked with my foster Dad's Drain Cleaning Co.back in the early 80's
We used a 2'X 1" piece of pipe with a 45 & a short PVC nipple lay on side 
and slide under turn upright then run snake though it no laying on floor !
if you need a longer piece just glue on a extra piece :biggrin:
Good for up to 13/32" cables, use 3/4" for 1/4" or 5/16"


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## Socalplumber (Jul 22, 2020)

I have been using the dm138 by dura cable lately and really like it , I use the combo machine with 13/32 in the 3/8 drum and 1/4” with the guide tube , thing is light and strong


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## txdraindoctor (Aug 14, 2020)

*The cursed house from hell*



Debo22 said:


> Floor sink stoppage with air conditioner condensation drains. I wasn’t going to remove all the crap on the desk to get it out of the way. No room for the Spartan 100, hit it with the SuperVee. I set up a piece of pvc to give the cable a little rigidity and had the Vee on it’s back.


Default 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


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## txdraindoctor (Aug 14, 2020)

*gallo*



Debo22 said:


> Floor sink stoppage with air conditioner condensation drains. I wasn’t going to remove all the crap on the desk to get it out of the way. No room for the Spartan 100, hit it with the SuperVee. I set up a piece of pvc to give the cable a little rigidity and had the Vee on it’s back.


thehell with fighting it, i would of used a piece of 3/4 pex piping shoved all the down to the trap. and pulled the trigger on my gallo gun ive actually found where someone installed the condesate halfway up a wall behing a bathroom mirror. ::vs_mad:


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