Whether you need a drain cleaning job done or want to know more about what goes on behind the scenes, here are five of the most common misconceptions surrounding drainage work.
Drain Cleaning’s 5 Biggest Misconceptions
1) Drain Cleaning Is Dirty Work
Some people believe that it’s a dirty and unsavory task with which one doesn’t associate himself. Drain cleaning is not necessarily dirty work if you wear rubber gloves and pay attention to any grime that could get on your clothes. That being said, cleaning drains is not the least grimy of tasks out there.
2) All Sewers Are Connected To Homes’ Toilets Or Drains
This misconception might be because there are many different types of sewers in different areas around your neighborhood. This also means they may not all connect directly into your home toilet or drain. So, your drain or toilet problem could be located solely in your house’s plumbing.
3) The Situation Is Always Clear-Cut
Although clear-cut cases exist, like when standing water has caused an issue with structural damage, most issues related to plumbing arise from unknown factors such as tree roots and clogged pipes where no damage was visible beforehand. Fortunately, these issues are usually easily found by an experienced plumber.
4) Someone Else Will Have To Fix My Pipe Problems For Me
Sometimes problems can’t wait for someone else. Sometimes those who live further away have bigger priorities than dealing with smaller pipe dilemmas. So, you’ll end up having to take care of these yourself if you don’t act quickly enough when faced with something troubling.
But most people hire professionals due to their expertise in solving any type of situation. For other people in larger cities, rather than just hiring locally they will send for a professional known best for fixing drains.
5) It Is Always The Worst-Case Scenario
Most clogged drains are due to debris and material that has become stuck and built up over time. This is usually an easy fix with the right drain cleaner and tools. Just a little time and elbow grease is enough to solve the problem. Most clogged drains are not due to larger pipe or sewage system issues.
Common Solutions To Drain Cleaning Issues
Wear The Right Rubber Gloves
When using snake-style drain cleaning equipment, you should always wear rubber gloves to protect yourself from the dangers of sewage. While it is true that plumbers and drain cleaners should constantly be conscious that they and their equipment may come into touch with human waste and take proper precautions, one of them is not running a cable-type drain cleaning machine while wearing just rubber gloves.
Rubber gloves have the disadvantage of being pinched and stuck in the revolving coils of a drain cleaning wire, causing serious injury to the operator. When using drain cleaning equipment, it is suggested that users wear heavy-duty two-ply leather gloves or something similar. Thick leather gloves won’t get trapped in the coils of a snake or cable, and they can protect your hands from unforeseen twists or loops that may happen in the blink of an eye.
Wear rubber gloves below the leather gloves if you wish to take proper hygienic measures against sewage. This technique provides you with two degrees of security!
Cable Drain Cleaning Devices
When utilizing a power feed device to retract the cable, you should place drain cleaning equipment in reverse. A power feed and guide tube are included in most current drum design cable drain cleaning devices. This apparatus makes feeding and retracting the cable considerably simpler, as well as protecting the operator.
Every drain cleaning equipment on the market features a power cable feed that enables the operator to simply switch from forward to neutral to reverse while the drum and cable continue to spin ahead. This characteristic is critical for the machine’s smooth and efficient functioning. Bad things happen when the operator reverses the electric motor and spins the drum and cord in the other way!
The majority of drain cleaning businesses coil their drum-style wire in a ‘left hand coiled’ orientation. These cables are nothing more than a series of long, thin springs. They have a solid inner core occasionally, like General’s Flexicore Cables, and sometimes they don’t.
However, whether under torque or in motion, they all have a ‘direction’ to the outer coil that influences their performance and capabilities, and the drums, distributor tubes, and power feeds that house and feed these cables are constructed with these capabilities in mind. When you reverse the motor while retracting the wire, the chances of kinking, tangling, or weakening the cable rise dramatically.
The only time an operator should reverse a machine’s motor and the drum is if a cutter becomes stuck in an obstacle, and even then, it should only be for a few seconds. Keep the machine in advance while the power supply is in reverse to avoid future problems!
Using High-Pressure Water Jets
When using a high-pressure water jet to clear drains, hot water is preferable to cold water. While it is true that hot water dissolves oil more quickly than cold water, the difference is negligible under high pressure. In most cases, the extra expense and effort are not worth it in real-world scenarios.
Adding hot water pumps and heating tanks to your jet routine increases the cost of the unit while also doubling the amount of work you have to perform on the job. High-pressure cold water can complete the task virtually as quickly as high-pressure hot water, but at a fraction of the cost and effort. As a result, cold water is the way to go in a world where time is money!
PSI For Drain Cleaning Jets
Water drain cleaning jetters with a pressure of 4000 psi operate better than jetters with a pressure of 3000 psi. More and more drain cleaning jetters with 4000 psi have been on the market in recent years, claiming to offer more power and efficacy. These statements, however, are untrue, according to our study. Pressure and flow rate are crucial aspects to consider while cleaning a drain.
The psi, or pounds per square inch, is required to expel foreign material such as grease and sludge from the pipe. The jetting method is similar to spray cleaning in that it requires a particular level of pressure (psi) to scour the interior of the pipe. Further increases in pressure, however, do not result in considerable improvements in cleaning action beyond roughly 2,500 psi.
The gallons per minute flow rate, or GPM, becomes more important after that. Increasing the flow rate of a jet from 4 to 5.5 GPM, for example, almost doubles the machine’s drain cleaning speed, regardless of whether the pressure is 3000 or 4000. So, when you purchase a high-pressure water jet, pay attention to the flow rate and don’t be tricked by marketing campaigns disguised as science!
Getting Accustomed To New Drain Cleaning Tools
One of the most common misunderstandings we get from first-time general pipe cleaning clients is misjudging the Flexicore Cable’s first feel. If a consumer is accustomed to another brand of drain cleaner and then gets a General machine or cable for the first time, they often contact a plumber to complain about a malfunctioning cable.
It seems soft, weak, and not firm enough to battle its way past severe obstacles down the drain, according to them, when compared to the cables they are accustomed to. Despite the fact that their worries are unwarranted, Flexicore has a looser feel than other cables on the market due to the way it is designed.
However, new consumers should be assured that when subjected to torque, the Flexicore stiffens and strengthens, providing them with clog-busting power when they need it most. “It changes from a noodle to a steel rod in the blink of an eye when you strike the obstacle!” said one client. First impressions might be deceiving when it comes to General’s revolutionary Flexicore Cable!
The “drain cleaner tool” is a device that is used to remove clogs from drains. There are many misconceptions about the drain cleaner, including how often it should be used and how it works.
Connected to your kitchen drain is the garbage disposal, which may be the source of your problem. Find out more in Causes Of A Leaky Garbage Disposal.
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