Typically, pipe clogging problems most often occur in older pipelines. Modern metal-plastic sewer communications will almost never become clogged in compliance with sanitary standards and safety rules. Nevertheless, it is possible to clean the pipeline in a few minutes, it will take two people, but if you want, you can manage it yourself. Consider the types of plumbing cables, instructions for use, useful tips.
Plumbing cable and its types
A plumbing cable is a steel or composite cable of medium stiffness. It is designed for through pipe cleaning. The design of each species is slightly different.
Spring loaded
An elastic, compressible cable can gently clean a clogged pipe without damage or jam.
Pros:
- perfectly copes with powder plugs, eliminates hair and hair;
- can be used by just one person;
- does not require a lot of physical strength.
Minuses:
- relatively weak power;
- there is a moment of inertia;
- More space is needed for easy cleaning.
In order to eliminate pollution as quickly and efficiently as possible, it is recommended to push the spring, rotating in a spiral and reciprocating motion, so that the spring is compressed and pulls the dirt along. The best option is to pull the spring, having pre-emphasized the foot in the bathroom door jamb. If the cable springs, then all the dirt will be outside, so you need to lay a newspaper.
REFERENCE! If you tighten the spring strongly, then after exiting the pipe, it will begin to spin and may damage objects nearby.
Spring-loaded
It looks like a normal cable, but at the end there is a handle for rotation. To operate such an aggregate, at least two people are needed - one pushes, the other twists. The plus is that you can go through a difficult area without significant effort.
Pros:
- solid power;
- elimination of any kind of pollution;
- high mobility.
Minuses:
- small contact area;
- an assistant is needed for cleaning.
As a rule, one of the partners is located near the entrance to the pipe, making reciprocating movements, and the other stands behind and rotates the handle. So, the cable enters the pipe in a spiral and scrapes all the dirt from the walls.
With a core
Such a cable is more durable and useful even when only one person needs to clean the pipe. Such a cable will require physical strength, since efficiency and speed directly depend on pressure.
Pros:
- high rigidity;
- simplicity of the cleaning principle;
- high mobility.
Minuses:
- physical strength is required;
- will not help against hair, threads, similar to stretching objects.
If two people can clean, the process will go much faster, because the force directed in one direction is summed up.
Electric
An industrial option that is used by professionals for quick cleaning. It looks like a vacuum cleaner, only a cable instead of a hose. Dimensions allow you to carry such a device without difficulty. The motor that starts the rotation works almost silently.
Nozzles on a cable: types and application
Nozzles are needed in order to eliminate various types of pollution. They come in this form:
- hook. Helps to clean the pipe from hair and threads, pieces of fabric. Such nozzles will be able to pull foreign objects out;
- peak. It helps with “cork” pollution, because such a nozzle will be able to break through the cork, and later the water will wash the pipe. If handled improperly, such a nozzle may damage the pipe itself;
- combined nozzle.It has the shape of a mace tip and can handle any foreign objects in the pipe. Damaging her walls is more difficult, but the effectiveness is much less.
Any nozzle can be used in any situation, it all depends on the geometry of the pipe and the skill of the cleaner.
Step-by-step algorithm for clearing a blockage in pipes with a plumbing cable
Consider a situation in which two people do the cleaning, as this is the easiest and fastest way to deal with pollution.
- Clear the workplace of unnecessary objects. Any garbage or household items will constrain action and slow down the process. In addition, when removed from the pipe, the cable may damage the plumbing.
- Place a rag under the pipe so that it does not flood the floor during removal. There can be much more water in a glass than it seems.
- Gently, rotate the pipe out of the glass.
- Determine exactly where the water stupor occurs, and it is better to spend time and clean it in both directions.
- Slowly insert the cable into the pipe and twist in the desired direction. The first 10-20 cm are very delicate, since the plastic pipe has thin walls and can easily be damaged.
- After the cable entered the pipe and started moving, you need to go all the way to the stop.
- At the point of contact, steps 1-3 must be completed.
- Then one of the partners should take the opposite end.
- Thus, the cable was threaded through the pipeline. Ordinary pulling movements can remove almost any dirt and forget about the problem.
- If it is not possible to open the second glass, it is recommended to take a spiral cable and repeat steps 1-6 several times, starting from the beginning. Each time more and more garbage should come out of the pipe.
- All of these procedures can be done alone, but it is much more complicated.
Nuances and tips for use
Now let's talk about skill and improvisation. But this is what distinguishes an amateur from a professional. Pros can adapt to the situation and find unusual solutions. One method does not work - take the other, but it doesn’t matter that it is forbidden by the rules.
Professional Tips:
- Use different nozzles in the same situation. Sometimes objects that are difficult to imagine even in the kitchen get into the pipeline. If after cleaning the water is weak, there is still a problem in the pipe.
- Do not push beyond the norm if the nozzle suddenly rests and goes badly. Most likely, this is a pipe joint, and excessive pressure on it will only worsen the situation. To be sure of the correct motion vector, use the spiral input method, because it is most difficult for them to get on the joint.
- Do not use a rigid cable for one-way places (for those that you cannot access from the other end). If you break a pipe or cause an accident, the leak will be very difficult to repair, so it’s best to use gentle methods or consult a professional.
- A homemade cable can be made from a conventional television cable of the USSR model. Such wires are distinguished by a large amount of copper inside. They are fairly stiff but flexible, which is great for cleaning.
- Flush the pipe more often. After each approach, it is recommended that an average amount of water be passed through the pipe to eliminate fine dirt. It is possible that after “breaking through the dam” the dirt will be washed off with a stream of water and will not have to be cleaned a second time.
- It is only possible to use a spring cable, because the moment of compression and inertia can play a trick on the cleaner and leave it without teeth. Therefore, before starting the procedure, you need to take care of personal protective equipment.
What are pipes clogged with?
No less interesting rating, which will plunge readers into shock:
- Washing powder. Almost all powders do not dissolve well in cold water, and even more so if it is winter outside, and the pipe passes through different temperature sectors. According to statistics, every winter 30% of apartments use services for cleaning pipes from washing powder.It clogs up in places of accumulation of dirt, at bends, joints with cast-iron pipes of the sample of the 90s.
- Leftover food. Even if the remnants of food are sent to the trash, and there is a filter on the drain, they still fall into the pipe. Moreover, food has the ability to absorb water and swell, which increases its danger to the pipeline.
- Hair. Actual problem not only for the bathroom, but also for the kitchen. Of course, there are fewer of them in the water supply, but in a few years you can get a solid lump of hair from there, which will be the size of an average washcloth.
- Mud. This refers to soil or clay. All the dirt that people wash off their shoes settles safely on the walls.
- Pieces of clothing. Buttons, threads, down, feathers from pillows, fur from collars. Not a lot, but in a few years such a combined ball will surely accumulate.
- Cosmetics. Actual for women. Most cosmetics are poorly soluble in water, so sooner or later it becomes clogged.
- Trans fats. Contained in baked goods, convenience foods, fast food, margarine. If you do not comply with the disposal conditions, a huge viscous fatty layer is formed in the pipe, which will be difficult to remove even with a cable.
