Please HELP!! I don't know what to do.

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blackivory69

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Let me start from the very beginning but I'll make it short. I had a clogged main line. I know because the water on all the sink, tub, and toilet will not go down. Ok. I have a 3" clean-out on the side of my house so I said, "Ok no problem". So I went to Home Depot and rented a 100' - 5/8" snake. This snake has 2 tips. One is a heart shape and the other one is a 2-fingered claw. Now, I first used the heart shape tip. And it went trough with no problem. I used probably 95 feet of the snake. Ok, I said. Now I changed the tip and used the CLAW. I had a hard time inserting it but I was determined to do it. So finally after maybe 30 min or so, it went trough. OK, cool. I used probably 95-97 feet of the snake. So I reversed the rotation and started retrieving the snake. I was pulling it slowly while it continue rotating. When I pulled everything, I was shock when I saw the end of the line with OUT the CLAW. Yes the drain is cleared, I guess for now. So my questions are; Now what? What's should I do? Is is possible that claw will be washed away to the city line? What are the problems I'm facing in the near future? What's the best solution to retrieve this claw? Or should I worry about it. Please, please help. I don't know what to do. I'll appreciate any help and thank you in advance. Here my email>>>> aldesad@verizon.net
 

Doherty Plumbing

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Let me start from the very beginning but I'll make it short. I had a clogged main line. I know because the water on all the sink, tub, and toilet will not go down. Ok. I have a 3" clean-out on the side of my house so I said, "Ok no problem". So I went to Home Depot and rented a 100' - 5/8" snake. This snake has 2 tips. One is a heart shape and the other one is a 2-fingered claw. Now, I first used the heart shape tip. And it went trough with no problem. I used probably 95 feet of the snake. Ok, I said. Now I changed the tip and used the CLAW. I had a hard time inserting it but I was determined to do it. So finally after maybe 30 min or so, it went trough. OK, cool. I used probably 95-97 feet of the snake. So I reversed the rotation and started retrieving the snake. I was pulling it slowly while it continue rotating. When I pulled everything, I was shock when I saw the end of the line with OUT the CLAW. Yes the drain is cleared, I guess for now. So my questions are; Now what? What's should I do? Is is possible that claw will be washed away to the city line? What are the problems I'm facing in the near future? What's the best solution to retrieve this claw? Or should I worry about it. Please, please help. I don't know what to do. I'll appreciate any help and thank you in advance. Here my email>>>> aldesad@verizon.net

It's pretty unlikely it's gonna get washed out to the main line but it def possible!

Your best bet, in my opinion, would be to get a camera and locate exactly where it is, dig it up and retrieve it by cutting out the section of pipe. I wouldn't suggest you "forget about it" because it something that has a big potential to give you troubles. You could also try and auger it out to the city main. But again this would require a camera.
 

Gary Swart

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Well, the drain may or may not be totally cleared. The good news it is working now, the bad new may come later if it clogs again. As far as the end of the snake, I doubt that it will wash out of the line, but it won't cause any problems just laying in the bottom of the pipe somewhere. You may have to pay for the damage to the snake at HD. If you perused the forum's archives on Drain Cleaning, you will find that most advise is to hire this done by a professional with a professional sized auger and with the experience to do the job safely. Happily, you were not injured and perhaps even got the drain cleared. Often however, the snakes that are available to the DIYer are not large enough to do the job, and those that are large enough are very dangerous in the hands of an inexperienced novice. I'd say that if you don't have any more clogging issues, good for you, you got away with one. If you do have more clogging, consider a professional.
 

hj

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The claw is NOT lying on the bottom of the pipe somewhere. It is obstructing a large portion of the bottom of the pipe and that is where your sewage is flowing. It is a "CLAW" so it will catch and hold stuff flowing past it. There are two important questions to answer.
1. Why did the claw come off the cable? and
2. WHAT was in the pipe to make it come off?
At this stage you really need a camera inspection so see where the claw is, and what it impacted to come loose, or break off. One thing you can be fairly certain about is that it did not likely COMPLETELY remove the stoppage and then broke off.
 
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