Plumbing question: Cleanout plug removal
 

The most dreaded part of Home ownership...a backed up main drain. I'm under the house and trying to remove a 3 1/2" cleanout plug. After using a torch and alot of tugging on a very large wrench I've managed to pretty much break the head off. How do I remove the whole plug now? Seems it's made of brass or similar. Do I take a chisel to it? This sucks!

Help!

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What does "pretty much break the head off" mean?

Is the head broken off, or weakened?

Chisel. Break away as much as you can, or cut a slot like a screw and use the chisel to 'push' it around.

It's most of the way off....the fun stuff is leaking though it into a spackle bucket as we speak..... There's no way it'll take any torque. It'll probbaly fall off but I'm waiting for the leaking to stop before I go further.

I think the threads are as close to welded together as it get's...likely 30 years worth. I dont think the slot deal will work. Can I just chishel it in half and peel out? This has to happen all the time.....

Yes, if the drain pipe is cast iron, be careful it's pretty brittle and won't take much of a hammer hit to crack. You may be able to get a PVC replacement plug to take it's place, if so, then that's what I'd do. If you need to replace with a brass plug, then I'd use teflon pipe tape on the threads to ease removal next time.

You can also use a rubber expansion plug. Can find them at places like Lowes, Home Depot, etc.

That will work--be careful regarding thread damage to the pipe itself.

I feel for you--the summer after purchasing my house I had a similar problem--sewer plugged--it turned out a section of the terra-cota line had fractured completely, I ended up spending 2 weeks digging up a 40' section which was about 3-4' deep and replacing it with PVC. By myself, with a shovel...:(

Thanks guys....I'll try to be logical when I resume. Right now I'm swapping buckets as they fill. Figures the stoppage is near the end of the house. I actually attempted to clear it last night with a rented power snake after removing one of the toilets. Long story short I lost both the tips. This is not going to be pretty.

Luckily the pipe outside the house is 2 years old and PVC, so no roots or collapse.

BTW, one of the treasures I did manage to pull up was a nylon Luffa thingy. My wife claims the dog must've somehow been involved. Uh huh. She uses the toilets like garbage disposals.

Reminds me of having to unplug the head on my boat after a trip with several females. Apparently they misunderstood the rule of the only thing that goes in the head is what comes out of you...

Rick.

You are dangerously close to TMI.

Just when you think it couldn't get any worse, tell her we all here know about the Lufa.

BTDT, bud. No matter how it comes out (pardon the pun) it won't be pretty.

Have a good weekend.

Actually, they took you literally. Those things DID come out of them. They are designed to plug the flow, and they did their job, even in your marine head.

The rule actually is

"Nothing goes in the head unless you have eaten it first."

That narrows it down, even for the females.

Good point. I was most likely intoxicated when I told them.
And yes, those hundreds of highly absorbant fibers entagle themselves around a macerator impeller like a mass of little pythons....

Agreed, this will not be pretty....uhg.
I mentioned my discovery to a couple of local buds and they both went into their own stories. They both ended up getting more pissed than me...lol

Thanks for the encouragement my friends. Back to the buckets....

It all washes off.
Eventually.
DON"T BITE YOUR NAILS!
:eek:
:D

Never did bite the nails...heh heh. Actually I think I'm lucky that the plug didn't come out. Seems the hole in the plug is being sealed with "paper" so the result is a managable stream. I may be here for a while schleping buckets but it beat's 50' of 4" pipe emptying out at once. Where's my boots....

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This has been a Public Service Announcement from your friends here at PPBBS-OT... ;)

Randy

Rick,

My grandfather was a plumber....don't panic. Just take a chisel and whack the plug. It should bend in and you can just pull out the pieces. The plug is brass and should be going into cast iron. You should be able to pull/coax/pick any remaining brass pieces out of the cast iron threads. As Kurt say, they have expandable rubber replacements at home stores....or just buy a pvc type replacement plug, coat the threads with teflon paste or teflon tape after wire brushing the female threads nice and clean on the cast iron pipe. Once you get this plug off, what are your plans to clear up your drain problems. Is this a sink line or waste line?

Steve

Steve, I did the chisel and hammer deal and was able to peel it out. I let the fluid (I wish it was just fluid) drain out to the level of the opening....it's a 4" waste line.

I just got back from HD with a 50' power snake. I figure I'll just run it in a straight line to the obstruction. I'm worried about the spring type retrieval tip that came off the snake when I tried last night. Hope a can get it.
Wish me luck.

Right about now is when I'd call Roto-Rooter or similar. Let them fish out the steel part.

Plumbing is the one home reoair that I gladly pay to have someone else fix for me.

When I turn off the electrical power, the electrons left in the line don't spill out, down my arm and onto the carpet.

Two rules of plumbing I live by:

Never overtighten or put your fingers in you mouth:p


I would have tried to back the plug out with an air chisel.


KT

You have to watch the tip you use. Maybe you can get your old bit out with the springy looking extractor tip. If you get the old one out, don't waste your time with the springy thing anymore, use the triangle shaped one with the serrated edges. It may take multiple shots at whatever is in there, but is should eventually punch through. When you're done, make sure you run a hose through it to be certain it's clean, I don't think you want to be doing this again.

When it rains, it pours. 9PM last night the drains in our house stopped draining; yep clogged somewhere in the main. Luckily, no solids to deal with, and the clean-out is hidden in the front lawn so no buckets either.

Tried running the (running) hose down the for about 20' before it wouldn't go any farther and got a tiny bit of flow. Step 2; filled the pipes up to the brim of the clean-out, placed the plunger on there, shclukka, shclukka, when the plunger sucked itself inside-out on a downstroke I was golden (so to speak). Ran the hose on full down the pipe for about 5 min to be sure I had free flow, patted myself on the back, went to bed.

Well guys.....It's done. I used the snake till about 10:30 and retrieved everything but the bits. I hope it doesn't clog because of those but so far so good.
The bit I used looked like a crab claw...two flat serrated blades coming together like closed fingers. The arrowhead bit was next up if needed.
Now to get my wife to stop putting things down there that don't belong. I'm not too happy with her right now.

Thanks for the support and good stories.

Last time our main line clogged (happens every 4-5 years or so), Roto Rooter guy asked if there were any women living in the house. Told him wife and teenage daughter. He told me "the drain will clog every few years because....just get used to it."

Rick,

Hopefully, those lost blades didn't get hung up any any vegetation that many times finds its way into and through the joints of the waste line. Alot of issues such as yours have to do with items that shouldn't be in the lines and getting hung up on vegetation. Keep in mind that many, many items that are marketed as biodegradeable, such as baby-wipes and tampons, take an EXTREMELY long time to disinegrate. The only things that should be going through waste lines is waste and toilet paper. Even Kleenex doesn't biodegrade as effciently as toilet paper.

Steve

I'm with ya Steve. No vegetation though, the line from my house to the plant is 2 or three years old. Our neighborhood was the last in the town to switch from septic to city.
Actually this is the 3rd time thi shas happened in 11 years. So there is an interval developing. Between my wife and daughter I'm sure this isn't the last.

BTW a big contributor to clogging is Washing machine lint. I wonder if I can make a filter with some off the shelf parts (seems to be a mesh bag inside a poly carbonate housing). This unit starts at $140! Any ideas? http://www.septicprotector.com/productinfo.htm

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Last year I got tired of messing with a 20 or 50' 3.8" snake and went to harbor freight.
They had a 100' 1/2" snake with foot switch and the whole nine yards, around $150. works like a charm although it's one of those tools I hope I never need again.

I was looking at their catalog and they gave a 50' jobber for around $189. 100' for $150 would be quite the deal.

I've found that the HF on-line catalog is quite a bit different than the in store prices.

Some times they even have two brocures or flyers in the store that have different prices on some items.

I had watched the snake for some time and it finally came on sale and they dropped the price, I jumped on it.