UKC

Can anyone offer advice…

I have a very slow draining bathroom sink. The u bend is clear so the blockage occurs after an L bend which leads across the bathroom floor to the main outlet to sewage.

Trouble is I can’t get the hand held snake I’ve bought past the L bend.

Would a drill mounted one do the job? And if so which type…

There appear to be sleeved units or what looks like a long spring.

Any thoughts on which might be better, or any other suggestions.

Cheers.

I'll ask the dumb question.

Is the reason you can't get it past the 90deg bend because it's the bend that's blocked? Just thought I'd get it out of the way.

Mr Muscle drain cleaner, or similar. God only knows what’s in it, but it certainly works. 

I bought a drain snake some time ago, as we have plenty of sinks in apartments and they all get blocked once in a while. But I soon came to the conclusion that the most effective remedy almost always is not a drain snake and is not even chemicals. Rather, I've yet to encounter a blockage that can't be freed by 'assertive' use of a good old fashioned plunger and a plentiful supply of elbow grease!

Just make sure you block up any overflow outlet first.

Another option is shoving a hosepipe up the pipe from the outside. Worked for me in the past. 

Possible I suppose but there doesn’t seem to be any debris on the end of the snake when I pull it out. I suspect it is further along as there is a long (about 2m) of low incline pipe before it reaches the main sewage line….

Could work, but I fear for the shonky plumbing in this place… don’t want to rupture anything!

Used about 6 bottles of Mr Muscle (consecutively) at this point …

Yes. That's always my worry with aggressive use of a plunger.

Is it possible to disconnect the L bend?

That is underneath vinyl and a large piece of floor board… not sure how I’d get this up and back down again looking relatively neat.

Could be the nuclear option though!

Often easier to repair a ceiling than a floor....

I’d be in big trouble if I started ripping apart the ceiling 😂

Really just after people who have had experience with the drill mounted drain snakes… anyone used one?

Cheers.

I cant say that I've used a drill-powered one - but my thoughts would be that if the pipe is plastic, a drill-powered one is likely to solve your problem by making an extra hole in the pipe.

I have most luck with a troublesome kitchen pipe with plungers, boiling water and a snake from the outside

Assuming that you have removed the U bend and are going at this as straight as possible.  a nasty rat tail of hair is the likely culprit.  

This.

There are drain cleaning people with powerful vacuum systems but you should only need that if the blockage is something that should never be there, like a piece of copper or plastic pipe dropped down when the bathroom was being fitted or similar large indestructible object.

You can get from B&Q drain cleaner that is more powerful than Mr Muscle 

I had a garden flat with a pretty long run (over a small fall) to the kitchen sink. No matter how careful I was about straining, the pipes got clogged a couple of times. 

The first time I used one-shot (now hard to get hold of unless you're trade, due to it being acid and the sort a wrong-un might throw in someone's face). The second time this failed so I got a snake and it worked really well. 

I see you climb a bit in the peak. If you're near Sheffield, fire me a message and you're welcome to borrow it. They're the sort of thing you don't want to buy as you might only ever use it once!

Google 'air plunger' - gun shaped plunger that you pressurise with a pump and then stick the plunging cup over or down the offending drain. It fires a shot of compressed air down the drain.  Various types available on amazon for about 10-20 quid, honestly the best thing I've ever used to unblock sinks/toilets.

When we moved into house had a particularly stubborn blockage (due to previous owners terrible plumbing). Tried a snake, various chemicals, normal plungers, etc. Was about to rip the pipes out and start again when I got hold of one of these. Sorted it in about a minute.

I guess there is a possible risk it could push apart 'push fit' waste pipes, but doesnt appear to have happened when I've used it. 

I use a simple plunger and hot soapy water, works on rotting toothpaste-hair gunk and the fatty-foodscraps that regularly block the kitchen sink.

Sodium hydroxide works a charm. Best avoided if you think you might still end up having to clear it manually though!

jk

Not a drill mounted one, but I've used one that is manually 'cranked'. It often takes quite a bit of twisting, pushing and bending to get the angle necessary to push the snake round the bend though. Needed it as my kitchen drain had a 12ft uphill stretch of pipe (about 9" rise), then turns a 90deg bend and flows another 10ft with no fall into the bathroom waste pipe! Blockages were unavoidable!

Also, beware 'Dynorod' who my landlord got in to clear the blockage once, and all they did was fill the sink and use a plunger to force the water back up into my washing machine drum. They then declared it fixed and left!

Did anyone else see this thread title and wonder if the OP was discussing going for a tinkle?

Where's Num Num when you need him?

I used a non-branded equivalent. It does the job surprisingly well. Combination of detergent and sodium hydroxide if I recall correctly. Strong stuff.

I've used soda crystals - pour some boiling water down first then use the crystals and leave overnight. Flush out in the morning. Cheap enough and works on the crud that builds up in my coffee flask as well.

Thanks for the offer. Sadly my climbing activities are rather infrequent currently. Very kind of you all the same.

Yikes, sounds like a nightmare to deal with…

It was! Eventually the pipe developed a leak at a joint mid-length so my landlord had to replace it. The best we could manage was to run it the whole 22ft with no fall (but no rise either), otherwise it would have involved lifting the floor (and units) of the kitchen, lounge, hallway and bathroom to reroute the pipe! Whoever did the original plumbing was a complete cowboy - I found one copper elbow where the only thing holding it to the pipework on one end was the crust of limescale, it appeared they'd never applied solder to the joint!

I have used soda crystals heaped into the plug hole washed down with boiling water. Repeat a few times seems to clear grease very well - but it won't shift hair if that's the cause of the blockage

That's because it's useless. 

Caustic soda granuals is the king now that you can no longer easily buy acid. 

I use about 2 lts of hot water in a 5 ltr jug, add the granuals, normally about 4 or 5 times the amount recommended on the container. Give it a stir at arms length to break the crust that forms and the jug will start to boil over with the reaction. Once it stops boiling and spitting pour the lot down the blocked drain.

It's not failed me yet but for God's sake wear PPE, if you splash yourself it will hurt like hell. 

I try not to do this because the day it does fail you have a pipe full of pure evil to deal with.

Soda crystals and hot water at the first sign of slow draining is usually a winner.

Will give your suggestions a try - soda crystals first then the caustic soda….

Have you had a go at it from the outside (drain) end? Sorted my woes in the past that way. 

my god. I’m on UKC talking about drains. Someone kill me. 

A while back I had a similar problem sink. Ended up clearing it with a combination of a manually cranked snake from above (after removing the trap) and from the drain end, with a special Karcher drain cleaning attachment for a power washer:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pressure-Washer-Cleaning-Rotating-Karcher/dp/B09MQ... 

Took a while but it's worth going slow and steady.