Drain Line (Snake) Advice

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ilya

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I have on 2 occassions rented a big machine. The second time it wrapped around my arm, scaring the hell out of me. Not me, not any more.
 

Whaler Paul

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It can be a good practice to do a video look of your line before auguring the blockage out. You may be able to see the extent of the problem before subjecting yourself to the risks of a cable wrapping up. A year ago, a local 'rooter' company offered a special of a cleanout and video scoping for $99 and I couldn't pass that up, especially since they agreed to give me a CD with a copy of the video. The results showed that there were several major root intrusions in my 4" concrete pipe line. The video record was made after the tech had drained the line with his auger...an approximate 2" root cutter on a 1/2" snake line (apparently this company typically uses 1/2" snakes for all the techs, and I would agree with others on this blog that a 3/4 " line is much safer, at least for DIY folks). Although the tech successfully drained the line the video showed that there was only a 1" to 1.5" 'hole' in the root mass, at the bottom of the pipe. I attributed that to the smallish size of the root auger. I could see that my clogging problem would return in due time. The video was done with one of the high end models ($3k- $5k) and showed distances from the cleanout. I used that information to later dig down to the sewer line and replace a 3' segment of the cement pipe with ABS. The root I found in that effort was amazing. It was a 2.5"- 3" diameter of very hard root at it's origin tapering to almost 4' long of thinner root filaments. There was no way that any root cutter would have removed the hard base root- it was as solid as a branch of wood; short of physically removing it, I would have continued to have to clear future clogs.
Since there were additional root intrusions to work on, I decided to get a video drain 'scope' so I could identify and monitor root problems. There are many 'sewer scopes' available from $20 -$350 -$700 -to $5000. I opted for a $350- model that had an integral display, recording media, and a narrow 100 foot fiberglass line. I have just started using it and I am very pleased with it. It does not have a distance display, so I have to put labeled tape on the snake when I have the camera next to the root. After I pull the camera line out, I then measure from the camera head to the tape to get an accurate distance to the obstruction (in case I need to dig). This aspect is a little clumsy, but I feel it is actually more accurate than the much more expensive models that display length based on storage spool rotation or cable pulled from the spool (but not necessairly fed down the drain).
I experimented with ***carefully*** feeding down the camera line into the 4"drain cleanout that already had the metal snake and root cutter in it (turned off). I kept the camera ***carefully*** back from the cutter head (which I could see on the video) and was able to see when the cutter head was aligned with the root. At that point it is best to retrieve the camera before starting up the root cutter (metal snake), although it seemed to work ok if I had the camera back a foot from the cutter head. There is possible damage to the video fiberglass rod if it gets 'whacked' by the steel root snake near the opening to the cleanout, as the steel snake rotates. I was able to hold the video cable out of the way, but for a $350 replacement cost, it is probably wise to remove the camera before turning on the root cutter snake.
After running the cutter for a while back and forth over the narrow area of the root , I reinserted the camera (leaving the cutter in place) and viewed how much of the root was left and if the cutter needed to be repositioned slightly. It's a valuable advantage to be able to see light or medium roots that do not offer much resistance to the drive motor (thus making them difficult to know when there is a root there). It is also a nice advantage to be able to view your sewer pipe periodically for new growth.
Other notes: Copper Sulphate worked great on my roots...apparently killing most of them.. but the 'dead' roots remain and are still a possible obstruction; thus the need for a video camera and auguring to get them out.
 
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