Unable to negotiate pipe bend with my auger. Keeps looping in the pipe.

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kufan64

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I'll try and keep this brief while giving you all the important details. My double kitchen sink is completely clogged on both sides. It won't drain at all. Unfortunately, whoever installed the plumbing completely half-assed it:

20140618_125854.jpg

Everything you see has been cemented together, so I decided to cut into the pipe and get an auger into it to try and clear the clog:

20140618_130155 (shopped).jpg

I can get the auger to make it through the very first T-pipe and go down, but when I hit the second corner, the auger refuses to turn and instead just goes back up the wrong side of the pipe. I've done my best to illustrate the problem:

20140618_144541 (shopped).jpg

This is what the drain pipe looks like in the crawlspace underneath the kitchen sink:

20140618_143708 (shopped).jpg

This is roughly my method for trying to make the turn according to sources that I've found online:
1) When I hit the bend, back up the auger ~1" and lock the auger ~6" from the pipe opening
2) Rotate the drum one revolution
3) Begin slowly pushing the auger further into the pipe while rotating the drum (I've tried rotating at different speeds)
4) Once it goes in, unlock the auger to give myself ~6" more slack and lock it again
5) repeat step 3

At this point I take a look in the pipe and can see that it didn't actually turn the corner, it just gets bunched up in the pipe as pictured above. Continuing to push the auger into the pipe just cause it to keep looping back and forth in that section of the pipe. I'm no plumber, so can someone explain to me what I'm doing wrong here. I believe the drain pipe in 2" and the drain auger that I am using is 1/4". Specifically, this one: BrassCraft 1/4in x 20ft Pistol Grip Drum Auger. Do I just need to get a thicker auger?
 
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Terry

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Under that wrapping, you may have a santee on it's back in the crawl. That should be a wye fitting.

Sometimes to get a snake like that to drop down, you can bend the end of the wire.
I would remove the water pressure fittings under the kitchen sink and use kitchen waste fittings.
Also, is that white PVC for your water lines instead of approved CPVC, which is off white and approved for indoor use.
PVC is not approved for indoor use for supply water.

sink_dw.jpg


Where is your p-trap? Added after Reach4 posted.
It must smell awful working at your kitchen sink.
 
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Reach4

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Additionally, when you put the pipes back under the sink, you need to add a P-trap.
 

kufan64

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Thanks for the advice. I tried bending the end of the wire like you suggested, but still no luck getting any further. Thanks for the advice about the water lines as well. Like I said, the guys who installed everything originally did a really awful job: no P-trap, no pipe access for maintenance, apparently using the wrong kind of pipes for the water lines... I could keep complaining. Do you have any other suggestions for how to get further in the pipe? Would a thicker auger help? I will deal with the rest of the issues in turn.
 

hj

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If your snake is so flexible that it can make a "U" turn in the pipe, then it would probably also be useless to unplug the stoppage even if you did get it to go the right way.
 

Cacher_Chick

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In the time you have spent trying to clear it, I would have cut out the piping in your pictures and replaced it, using the correct fittings.
PVC is cheap, and time is valuable.
 

hj

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quote; So I was right, I need a thicker auger?

You need one made with better metal, not a piece of spaghetti. Why is the drain line wrapped with insulation? Drain lines do NOT freeze, unless a faucet is dripping or the line is clogged, and if EITHER of these two occur, insulation will NOT prevent freezing.
 
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Tom Sawyer

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The 1st thing you need to do is cut that mess out from under the sink. Cut it so that you have about 1-1/2" of the 1-1/2" pipe still left sticking out of the reducing coupling. doing that will give you better access with your snake. After you get the line cleared, then you can replace that mess with a proper P trap and sink waste fittings.
 

MACPLUMB

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This is a prime example of why a Home owner / Handyman should not be let loose with PVC and a can of Glue ! !

That is so wrong those are all pressure 90's under the floor if you look close and I bet that is a straight tee in the line also
 
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Tom Sawyer

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And then it drops down and hits a San tee on its back lol, I amend my 1st post. Cut it ALL out and start over. Anyone want to guess whether there's a vent either lol
 

MACPLUMB

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There is a vent going up into the wall that is where the snake doubles up,
just don't know if it goes though roof ?
 

hj

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quote; You can tell by the short radius of the bends if you look close

The insulation "deforms" the degree of radius. But since a pressure elbow does NOT have a "radius", they basically make a square corner, these COULD be short radius drainage elbows. NO WAY TO TELL without removing the insulation.
 

MACPLUMB

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Yes tom i would agree the point of my posts,

hj in this work you have to something of sherlock homes i deduce because that is what is in the under sink picture and the fact that who ever did this left out a p trap !
 

Reach4

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If re-doing the crawlspace pipes, I think adding a cleanout there, over a place that you could put a bucket, would be a good idea too. Imagine how having that would have helped deal with your current clog. Of course new correct lines would be much less likely to clog.
 
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