How to use a closet auger on a plugged toilet

[Redwood]

Personally I would call the drain cleaning company and complain! The drain cleaning guy hosed you! He needs to learn that Toto Drakes do not clog! I have pulled many toothbrushes out of toilets with my General 3' Closet Auger with a drop head. There is no reason for a telescoping auger. 3' will go through any toilet and if the problem is in the line the auger will not be used to clear it.

Phone charger stuck in toilet.
This needs to be pushed out the way it came in.

 

[Dunbar Plumbing]

Personally I would call the drain cleaning company and complain! The drain cleaning guy hosed you! He needs to learn that Toto Drakes do not clog! I have pulled many toothbrushes out of toilets with my General 3' Closet Auger with a drop head. There is no reason for a telescoping auger. 3' will go through any toilet and if the problem is in the line the auger will not be used to clear it.

Okay Redwood,


Explain to me how every time I've opened a drain that eliminated pulling a toilet and I "did" open that drain due to toilet paper/solids.....


they never called me back....because I removed the obstruction. ???


Pulling a toilet is a bigger charge, I'm not about to bounce a charge on someone if I can do it without unnecessary additional work. That creates a situation with finding a bad closet flange, dealing with a bad angle stop, possibility of causing tank to bowl bolts to leak. I don't want that excess responsibility when all I'm called out to do is unclog a toilet drain.

If your statement is true...

I've opened hundreds of toilet clogs incorrectly....and not one person has called me back stating the clog is back. It's because I did remove it.

How so...

teach me

 

[Sponsor]

 

[rgwb]

I don't blame the Drain Guy for not finding the toothbrush - I understand how easy it would be for an auger to miss it - but he *insisted* that there was NO WAY anything could get by his super-duper, almighty auger, and that therefore the problem must either be a defective toilet or a defective flapper. So since he was an "expert," it was he who planted my seeds of unbelief in the Gods of the Drake. Only by my own sheer stubbornness and reading of this forum was I increasingly sure that some mysterious object was lodged in the bowels of the toilet, and not a defect in the toilet itself, and I was going to be dam*ed if it was going to get the best of me. I'm just glad I didn't pay him anything more to actually pull the toilet and accomplish the job I managed to do myself.

SO, I do humbly bow once again to the power and mighty flushing force of the Drake, and repent of my previous doubt. And I have learned to do my own research and not just rely on the opinion of one dude with a closet auger.

RGWB

 

[Redwood]

Okay Redwood,


Explain to me how every time I've opened a drain that eliminated pulling a toilet and I "did" open that drain due to toilet paper/solids.....


they never called me back....because I removed the obstruction. ???


Pulling a toilet is a bigger charge, I'm not about to bounce a charge on someone if I can do it without unnecessary additional work. That creates a situation with finding a bad closet flange, dealing with a bad angle stop, possibility of causing tank to bowl bolts to leak. I don't want that excess responsibility when all I'm called out to do is unclog a toilet drain.

If your statement is true...

I've opened hundreds of toilet clogs incorrectly....and not one person has called me back stating the clog is back. It's because I did remove it.

How so...

teach me

A 3' closet auger will reach all the way through any toilet made. If the clog is further out than 3' it is in the line. If its in the line and there is not a cleanout to allow access to hit the clog the toilet will be pulled and I'll snake the line using proper equipment.

Go ahead take your chances on punching a 1 1/2" hole through a clog in a 3" or, 4" pipe. I'll pull the toilet and run the line. If there are problems such as a bad stop valve or, flange I'll fix those as well.

 

[Richrc1131]

Problem with clogged toilet

The 2nd floor toilet at my house was recently clogged. I plungged it, snaked it, and let a chemical sit in it over night. While the water will eventually go down, the power in the flush is greatly decreased.
The shower and sink share the drain and they don't have any problems.

Any ideas?

 

[Jadnashua]

There's likely something caught in the trap of the toilet. Could be a comb, toothbrush, pen, pencil, toy, etc. Chemicals rarely help. A toilet auger sometimes can catch the thing, but not always. Sometimes the only way to get rid of it is to pull the toilet off and go at it from the bottom.

 

[DaveNJ]

I was just about to post a similar thread - I tried a 3' toilet augur - no good. Tried a 6' augur - same thing, no good. The toilet in the bathroom next to it flushes just fine, so I don't think it's the stack. Do those CO2 plungers work at all?

 

[Redwood]

I use a 3' General closet auger with a drop head. It has a hook on it that does a pretty good job of catching things that are caught in toilets...

 

[bh20653]

Toilet clogged after relative visted.

Had a relative use the toilet and she clogged it claims that she didn't do anything that would have caused a clog. She is 16 so I don't know if embarrassment is keeping the truth from coming out or not. Tried the plunger with no luck. Went to Lowes and got a snake, found some resistance and pushed through and the water level started to slowly drop. Went back to plunging and after some work it seemed fixed.

The next day it was clogged again, after my wife used it for number one so just a few sheets of TP clogged it. We had to leave for vacation so I hoped if it sat for a few (5) days that the clog would break down over time and be fixed when I got back. No such luck broke out the snake and plunger and got it working again, or so I thought. That afternoon it was clogged again by a small amount of poo and TP. It was a 2 year old that clogged it and I saw what went down because I had to help, and it was very little. Did the pulnger and snake again and had no luck. I then tried hot water and soap and was once again confident it was fixed. However a small amount of TP clogged the toilet again. I have tried the snake, plunger, hot water, and dish soap with no luck.

I am down to a few options.
1) I have pushed the blockage past where the snake can reach it, which is 15-20 feet. However that would put the blockage into the main pipe that most of the house uses before it goes into the sewer. When the water leaves the toilet it drops down about 1 foot into a 90 and is connected into the main sewer line that the house uses to exit the basement. The bathroom sink connects into that 1 foot section and I have had no backups with the sink. If the main pipe was clogged I would think other things would back up in the house. That is a fairly large 3 or 4 inch pipe and I would think clogging that would be hard, but I would like to hear if others agree.

2) Something is wrong with the toilet. The toilet seems good to me, but the only thing I know to check to make sure the flapper stays up long enough for water to leave the holding tank. That seems good.

3) I have a 2 and 4 year old and something other than toilet paper and waste is causing the problem. I have asked them but if the 2 year old put a car in there I am doubtful I would be told about it.

4) Something I am completely missing.

I would welcome any comments or help with this. It is Friday night so I don't want to call a plumber on weekend rates. Luckily we have another toilet so we can wait till Monday but I would love to fix this without calling a professional.

 

[Terry]

We use a closet auger with the large 1-3/8" end on it.
Smaller cables can go right by the obstruction and not move it.

This is the plunger we like.
Leave a littel bit of water in the bowl, and use short quick strokes untill the water starts to vibrate,
Then lift up slightly.
Hopefully, it lifts the mass up so it can get another run at it.

You can also pour a five gallon bucket of water into the bowl.​

 

[bh20653]

So if I had the GI Joe in my toilet and used a bigger auger to push him though am I going to just push the problem into the main sewer line or since that is a larger pipe will it be ok? I am starting to think after reading this post there may be a car in there somewhere, so even if I could push the car through do I really want to?

Thanks.

 

[hj]

Or you can wash it off and put it back in the holder. Then just "happen" to mention it a few days later.

 

[SacCity]

Okay Redwood,


Explain to me how every time I've opened a drain that eliminated pulling a toilet and I "did" open that drain due to toilet paper/solids.....


they never called me back....because I removed the obstruction. ???


Pulling a toilet is a bigger charge, I'm not about to bounce a charge on someone if I can do it without unnecessary additional work. That creates a situation with finding a bad closet flange, dealing with a bad angle stop, possibility of causing tank to bowl bolts to leak. I don't want that excess responsibility when all I'm called out to do is unclog a toilet drain.

If your statement is true...

I've opened hundreds of toilet clogs incorrectly....and not one person has called me back stating the clog is back. It's because I did remove it.

How so...teach me

I've done a number of augers as well, if I pull a bockage then I won't pull the toilet, but if I clear without pulling anything back then I'm going to pull the toilet and inspect.
I charge an hour minimum so cost to the client is the same, risk is my guarrenty. I stand behind my work and will keep coming back until hell frezzes over.
The last few were q-tips and wiquker from the laundry hamper, so much for forcing teen agers to clean the bathroom.
Michael

 

[juror58]

Toilet Clogging Problem

I had a 16" ADA height, elongated bowl, 1.6 gpf Drake for about five years. I loved it. It never clogged (and I can clog one pretty good). Last April we had to pull it for some minor renovations, and when I tightened it back down I broke it. ["SUNNUVA B!!!!!"]

The replacement Drake is also a 1.6 gpf, two-piece, elongated bowl, ADA height (only now 17.25" high). I have two problems with it.

First, it has a disturbing tendency to clog. This one has clogged more in the last six months than the old one did in the previous five years. Secondly, I can't find plunger to seal the hole to effectively "plunge" it when it does clog.

Has anyone else noticed this clogging tendency with the newer Drakes? And what works to unclog it when it does?

Thanks

This is what we use, Terry Love

 

[Gary Swart]

I would bet a sizable amount that there is a foreign object wedged in the trap. Could be any number of things that would catch paper and cause a clog. The only things that should be flushed in a toilet either come out of the human body or toilet paper, and the toilet paper should have a low or no rag content. Young kids often flush toys or toothbrushes, but there is no end to possibilities. Sometimes a toilet auger can get them out, but often the toilet has to be removed and the problem approached from the underside.

 

[Jadnashua]

Contrary to the instructions on most boxes, it's better to put the wax on the flange, then set the toilet over it rather than the other way. Regardless, the wax may have shifted and is partically plugging the hole, or, someone dropped something in the toilet and didn't tell you. Also, make sure that the hose is pointed down the overflow tube properly and attached with the clip. If the bowl doesn't fill properly, it won't flush properly.

 

[Terry]

The closet auger wouldn't push through, so I pulled the bowl and removed these broken eyeglasses from the outlet of the bowl. They were preventing paper from flushing past them.

I then reset the bowl. The caulking at the bottom will dry clear in the morning. The bowl cleaner came in handy when I was finished too.

The Minions was from somebody else's job. I'm wondering if a power snake did that, or since it was not fixable, did he just break to bowl to see why the snake wouldn't pass through.

And of course, there is always that small child looking for Nemo. Or maybe the child just wanted to let Nemo swim in the bowl.

 

[hj]

I am sorry to tell you this, but I have NEVER had to pull a toilet which had a toothbrush, comb, or any other "long' item it it, because they cannot make the first turn in the trap way, so I have ALWAYS removed them with the closet auger, (used properly, of course).

 

[Terry]

Pull any forks out hj?
I have a customer with a son that loves flushing forks. I'm out there often.

 

[Terry]

Someone lost a tooth brush in the rental property.
I found this in the lav drain p-trap when I was replacing the faucet.

And a little bit of hair in the tub drain.

And I did use a closet auger yesterday on a toilet that was plugged. A real handy tool to have.