Why experience is needed to clean drains! Long post.
I’m constantly saying how important it is to have experience before cleaning on your own. Thankfully I had back up with me, but with tools I don’t carry, still a one man issue. Drain cleaning is not only dangerous to your customer’s property, you’re equipment and your physical well being. Here is another perfect example of what can happen.
Today was a bad day. I was riding with my Master and had loaded my machines on the truck.
First job went well, the second one, not so much. Got a text from one of my landlords yesterday for a main line at one of his duplex rentals. I’ve cabled this line probably a half dozen times over the years, always putting the full 100’ because sometimes it would open around 80’. Good size tree in the front yard usually just tree roots in the clay tile and a few minor misalignment. No special concerns or conditions. If the line goes straight from the clean out to the city, my guess would be 70-80’, plus any turn or drop.
I get there and go in to test it out and make sure it is the main and not just a kitchen/laundry/floor drain line. Ran everything, no back up. Basement floor is dry and littered with tp from previous back ups. It’s been probably three years since the last time I cabled it so I decided to run it anyway.
Hit some roots, some separations, but couldn’t get past 80-90’ so I start to pull my cable back to see if I have to clean my cutter. Felt normal for about 10’ or so. Then it bound up, hard! The old forward and reverse trick didn’t work. So I brought it closer and closer to the breaking point. SNAP! Cable failed in the drum! I haven’t had that happen to me in over 8 years. So after a few colorful words I go upstairs to tell the tenant that I have to go back to the shop to get a different machine and will be back in about 45 minutes to an hour.
Go out to the truck, put the ramp up and close the back. Get into the truck and tell my Master we have to go back to the shop to get the camera from my truck.
My cable is stuck in the line in a very strange way. I’ve never seen this before in 12 or so years, or my Master in 35 years.
I’ve been stuck many times. Most of the time I can get my cable out by working the machine, but sometimes you grab a 6” root ball and just can’t knock it off when coming back into the 4”. I’ve used a car jack or a come along in those situations. I was starting to think I was going to have to come back tomorrow after trying to work the cable while watching with my camera in the line. (I don’t recommend this, and only do it when absolutely necessary!) That didn’t work.
In a last ditch effort I pulled as hard as I could and my Master grabbed the cable in front of me and pulled as hard as he could and it finally released and shot back past my camera lense, was probably the fifth try. My camera and cable started coming back at the same time by just pulling the cable. Great! That means they’re wound around each other from when the tension of the cable released when we got it unstuck. F)$%! I got stuck three more times including getting both the cutter and camera head out of the clean out. Wish I got picture of that, but it wasn’t my top priority at the moment. I just reached elbow deep and after a few minutes of wiggling and got it out.
Once we got the camera rod and cable untwisted I sent the, thankfully undamaged, camera back down the line to find out what the F caused this.
Come to find out this line actually leads directly into a city manhole. I’ve unknowingly cabled into them before as well as septic tanks, and have had a much easier time getting them out then today. Didn’t get a picture from above either, but here’s the view from the inside.
On a side note: there was a 2’ pvc repair out in the yard. WTF? Dig down and not put in a clean out?!?! My landlord said he’s never had a dig there, so it was before his time.
After that I get a call from a college housing management company for a floor drain. I let him know my main line machine is down and ask the usual questions. So we stop by. It was the main. Belly just outside the house. Three years ago We replaced the underground in the house, so it’s been a known issue. Tried the blow bag, not happy. Pushed my camera down the line, broke the soft blockage up and punched holes in all the root balls. Ran two washer loads. Didn’t back up, but not good enough for me.
Ordering a new cable tonight. Only have one job tomorrow, so I’m going to rip my machine apart and try to get the massive kinks out best I can. I have couplings, just no welder. Been looking for a good used one for quite some time.
Apparently I’m not smart enough to post pictures between paragraphs.
Today was a bad day. I was riding with my Master and had loaded my machines on the truck.
First job went well, the second one, not so much. Got a text from one of my landlords yesterday for a main line at one of his duplex rentals. I’ve cabled this line probably a half dozen times over the years, always putting the full 100’ because sometimes it would open around 80’. Good size tree in the front yard usually just tree roots in the clay tile and a few minor misalignment. No special concerns or conditions. If the line goes straight from the clean out to the city, my guess would be 70-80’, plus any turn or drop.
I get there and go in to test it out and make sure it is the main and not just a kitchen/laundry/floor drain line. Ran everything, no back up. Basement floor is dry and littered with tp from previous back ups. It’s been probably three years since the last time I cabled it so I decided to run it anyway.
Hit some roots, some separations, but couldn’t get past 80-90’ so I start to pull my cable back to see if I have to clean my cutter. Felt normal for about 10’ or so. Then it bound up, hard! The old forward and reverse trick didn’t work. So I brought it closer and closer to the breaking point. SNAP! Cable failed in the drum! I haven’t had that happen to me in over 8 years. So after a few colorful words I go upstairs to tell the tenant that I have to go back to the shop to get a different machine and will be back in about 45 minutes to an hour.
Go out to the truck, put the ramp up and close the back. Get into the truck and tell my Master we have to go back to the shop to get the camera from my truck.
My cable is stuck in the line in a very strange way. I’ve never seen this before in 12 or so years, or my Master in 35 years.
I’ve been stuck many times. Most of the time I can get my cable out by working the machine, but sometimes you grab a 6” root ball and just can’t knock it off when coming back into the 4”. I’ve used a car jack or a come along in those situations. I was starting to think I was going to have to come back tomorrow after trying to work the cable while watching with my camera in the line. (I don’t recommend this, and only do it when absolutely necessary!) That didn’t work.
In a last ditch effort I pulled as hard as I could and my Master grabbed the cable in front of me and pulled as hard as he could and it finally released and shot back past my camera lense, was probably the fifth try. My camera and cable started coming back at the same time by just pulling the cable. Great! That means they’re wound around each other from when the tension of the cable released when we got it unstuck. F)$%! I got stuck three more times including getting both the cutter and camera head out of the clean out. Wish I got picture of that, but it wasn’t my top priority at the moment. I just reached elbow deep and after a few minutes of wiggling and got it out.
Once we got the camera rod and cable untwisted I sent the, thankfully undamaged, camera back down the line to find out what the F caused this.
Come to find out this line actually leads directly into a city manhole. I’ve unknowingly cabled into them before as well as septic tanks, and have had a much easier time getting them out then today. Didn’t get a picture from above either, but here’s the view from the inside.
On a side note: there was a 2’ pvc repair out in the yard. WTF? Dig down and not put in a clean out?!?! My landlord said he’s never had a dig there, so it was before his time.
After that I get a call from a college housing management company for a floor drain. I let him know my main line machine is down and ask the usual questions. So we stop by. It was the main. Belly just outside the house. Three years ago We replaced the underground in the house, so it’s been a known issue. Tried the blow bag, not happy. Pushed my camera down the line, broke the soft blockage up and punched holes in all the root balls. Ran two washer loads. Didn’t back up, but not good enough for me.
Ordering a new cable tonight. Only have one job tomorrow, so I’m going to rip my machine apart and try to get the massive kinks out best I can. I have couplings, just no welder. Been looking for a good used one for quite some time.
Apparently I’m not smart enough to post pictures between paragraphs.
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