Stuck cable tales.

[wrongler]

So yesterday morning I got a call that someone had a plugged toilet. Got there and it flushed but it was really slow.I got out the auger and thought I'd try it once and possibly get lucky. Nope. Walked around a bit and checked drains. Tub gurgled with lav draining so o brought out the 1500 and had at it.Got in about four feet and could not get through the line. Switched heads and eventually broke through but could not pull back out.So last night, we dug it up with the trencher. This morning, I got back to fix it and there was a 4" ABS cleanout standpipe concreted on top of a 2.5 inch hole in CI. Clay to the city main. Yep, that is where the cable was hung up. And yep, there were tons of roots growing it there.I got them taken care of but not without getting soaked in sewer water. What would people do without us?.

[appletondrain]

they would poop in a bucket.

[All Clear Sewer]

I see that 3 to 4 times a day around here. RR even dose it on orangeburg :scratchhead:
What Clowns they are..... :killingme:

I just cleaned a 6" clay line that had a 2.5" hole in the top with a stand pipe....lol... It now has a 4" hole :D

[stxrus]

they would poop in a bucket.


... and love every minute of it :D

steve

[JERRYMAC]

they would poop in a bucket.


HEY IS'NT THAT WHAT THEY USED TO DO ! !

BEFORE SANATARY SEWERS ?

[Herk]

HEY IS'NT THAT WHAT THEY USED TO DO ! !

BEFORE SANATARY SEWERS ?

I think it was called a "chamber pot" and it had a lid. Most people would light a lamp and use the "little house" out back.

[Tyman]

I have been stuck before and it is a horrible feeling. The only one I had to go after was when the K-3800 would not come back. Needless to say that has always stuck with me and that is why I will only use sectionals outside of the home. In a house I will use a drum, no problem.

I'm glad you recovered the cable.

[NorthernIllinoisPlumber]

I had a cable just break. Nothing was hung up on it either. Just got old I guess. Boss really tried to pin the accident on me though. An apprentice and myself spent 8 hours digging 7ft down in a crawl that was only 3ft. using buckets no less. Thats why when I was looking for equipment, I promosed myself I would not buy used cable...never know how its been treated.

[westcoastplumber]

This was my latest one:


9th picture down, on the far right!

http://www.wcplumbing.biz/index_files/Plumbing_Projects_Los_Angeles.htm

had to dig that one!!:p

The thing coming out of the back is the cable :) I cut the cast iron that way and just pulled it out, located where I got stuck with my camera. :)

[HouseOfAtlas]

I got my cable stuck today (5/16") in a lav drain and ended up borrowing a fellow worker's drill to get it out. Why do drain guys need drills, right? :D Plus, he helped me pull it back as I used my gloves to clean off the cable as it came out of the drain so it wouldn't splatter all over. I'll end up giving him $10 when I see him next week for his 10 minutes of help (I rarely carry cash on me).

It's a good thing it got stuck when all my cable was in the drain or else I would of either had to cut the cable or pull the rest of the cable out of the K39 and put the drill on the end of the cable. I had a few splats on the wall, but after taking it out about 5 feet, I was able to put it back in the K39 and it came back on its own. Weird.

Friday is honestly my unluckiest day so I think I got it stuck in the main stack somehow since I had hair on the end of my cable when I took it out and it drains awesome now. I guess I'll find out in a few days if I broke a hole through a pipe. When the walls were demo'ed, I didn't see any lead, so I can't believe I went through the pipe.

Anyways, that was my first really big scare so far :o

[drainman881999]

I got my cable stuck today (5/16") in a lav drain and ended up borrowing a fellow worker's drill to get it out. Why do drain guys need drills, right? :D Plus, he helped me pull it back as I used my gloves to clean off the cable as it came out of the drain so it wouldn't splatter all over. I'll end up giving him $10 when I see him next week for his 10 minutes of help (I rarely carry cash on me).

It's a good thing it got stuck when all my cable was in the drain or else I would of either had to cut the cable or pull the rest of the cable out of the K39 and put the drill on the end of the cable. I had a few splats on the wall, but after taking it out about 5 feet, I was able to put it back in the K39 and it came back on its own. Weird.

Friday is honestly my unluckiest day so I think I got it stuck in the main stack somehow since I had hair on the end of my cable when I took it out and it drains awesome now. I guess I'll find out in a few days if I broke a hole through a pipe. When the walls were demo'ed, I didn't see any lead, so I can't believe I went through the pipe.

Anyways, that was my first really big scare so far :o
Glad you got the cable back. How many feet did you have in ?

[HouseOfAtlas]

Glad you got the cable back. How many feet did you have in ?

Thank you :)

I had the whole 25 foot section in. The reason I went the whole length is because I thought that maybe it went all the way to the basement before it tied in to the main stack. Those old steel 45s like to clog up, which is what I found in the basement and it looked to be either the lav drain or the shower.

I might of gone up the vent pipe, but like I mentioned in my previous post, I saw the other guys put in a PVC sanitary tee and Friday is my unluckiest day. I might just have to take Fridays off now :cool:

[drainman881999]

Thank you :)

I had the whole 25 foot section in. The reason I went the whole length is because I thought that maybe it went all the way to the basement before it tied in to the main stack. Those old steel 45s like to clog up, which is what I found in the basement and it looked to be either the lav drain or the shower.

I might of gone up the vent pipe, but like I mentioned in my previous post, I saw the other guys put in a PVC sanitary tee and Friday is my unluckiest day. I might just have to take Fridays off now :cool:

That would only make you work on sunday's.Next evereone will expect you to charge no overtime,and so forth and so on.Ask plumber Rick,Having to work while on a vacation,jeese;but hey ---by doing so making allplumbers/drain techs from this forum look good.Thanks Rick.

[HouseOfAtlas]

I'll take working on Sunday over Friday anytime :)

It seems like the jobs that go totally wrong are always on Friday for me. Bummer :(

[Jay Mpls]

Some years ago I was going through a bathtub line...felt it drop into the main and went to pull it back.Came out all of the 1' I had into the main and no more.I spun,tugged curse,reverse foreward....finally dumped some liquid soap in the thing and my cable grudgingly started it's way back out!Get the end out and unwrap the LARGEST pair of panties I had ever seen.H.o. came running ,hearing my burst of laughter..Thankfully they were not anyone's that lived there!

I lost a 3/4" cable last may when I blew through a fitting.The pipe was the thinwall stuff instead of schedule 40 pvc.Finally got paid for the drain cleaning and cable when everyone saw what was going on.I had the dig crew put in a 2 way c.o. in the yard.Buried back, it kind of looks like a septic access!

[PLUMBER RICK]

hoa/ carl. if you can track down an older k-38/39 with a key less chuck, you'll be good to go;)

there have been times i needed to hook up a cordless drill or just use my snake with chuck to pull it out. the chuck allows you to grip it anywhere on the cable and allow the rest into the drum.

also the chuck drill will get you through any miserable clog or trap.

you need 1 back up snake just for the tuff jobs;)

rick.

[DUNBAR]

22 years ago, was called out to a restaurant, one toilet right at the counter of all places in this restaurant and it was clogged.

I asked since the toilet was old if he wanted to replace it. He confirmed this and 22 years ago I was extremely green in this profession.


I go and bust the base because I wasn't going to fight the old bolts, they were solid rusted.

I remove the toilet, it's full of floating corn kernels. :eek:


I had a sectional and started running it in, 3 sections, 4, hit an obstruction.


I start pushing hard, really hard because it was sort of springy, not counting what a sectional cable is like.

I could tell I could keep pushing as it looked like I was going to make it.

The bad thing was that I didn't know the exact location of the septic tank, we knew it was at the back of the building but no exact location.

Well, here's the really bad part:


I did this job bare handed, because the gloves didn't fit my large hands. The owner looked at me in disbelief, seeing how dirty my hands were, knowing how nasty 1.25" cable was before I started. I simply couldn't do anything any other way. Jersey gloves were dangerous as they would grab, my plastic gloves were suicide....so I just went with the flow.


NO flow whatsoever because once I broke through that hard spot, I went an added another section of cable......and then the cable binds up, won't let me pull back.


NOT GOOD.

I'll just put it out there for the record,


80-120,000 pound tractor trailers were pulled around the back of this building which was a gravel pathway. They kept filling that back edge of the hillside and making the lot larger for parking for the restaurant.

The owner of this property owned the gas station next door, and also owned many pieces of large equipment.

THE RESULT:


One of those big trac-hoes was brought in, the top of the septic tank to parking lot was 18'.


Orangeberg pipe was crushed the last 3 feet into the tank.

I didn't get in the pit, I just directed and handed pipe and fittings but when the guy cut the orangeberg back far enough to put a new pipe connection on,


An 8' log of corn/crap/everything! shot out of the pipe and filled the ditch. He puked, I nearly puked watching it and he had to get back down in the hole to tie a chain to the cable I still had in the line from the piping to the tank.

When the trac-hoe pulled the cable it destroyed it because it was doubled up inside the tank. The rest I salvaged as I told the guy to disconnect it so I could pull it back.

I believe I destroyed 2 cables, 30'.

So knowing the condition of the piping to the septic tank, it was guaranteed I was getting paid but between the two junked cables, the owner played a dirty trick on me and told me that I shouldn't of smashed the base on the old toilet because "it was still good" and didn't feel like paying for the new one. What?

I took it laying down even though he told me to buy a new one. ????


I think the bill was like $440 and I had almost 30 hours in it. Toilet was under a $100 back then and I don't think my hourly was $24/hour just working for myself in the late 80's.

That vile dirt was embedded into my hands for over a week. Cannot believe my gf at the time stayed with me through all that. :lol:

[gtmerkley]

I got my cable stuck today (5/16") in a lav drain and ended up borrowing a fellow worker's drill to get it out. Why do drain guys need drills, right? :D Plus, he helped me pull it back as I used my gloves to clean off the cable as it came out of the drain so it wouldn't splatter all over. I'll end up giving him $10 when I see him next week for his 10 minutes of help (I rarely carry cash on me).

It's a good thing it got stuck when all my cable was in the drain or else I would of either had to cut the cable or pull the rest of the cable out of the K39 and put the drill on the end of the cable. I had a few splats on the wall, but after taking it out about 5 feet, I was able to put it back in the K39 and it came back on its own. Weird.

Friday is honestly my unluckiest day so I think I got it stuck in the main stack somehow since I had hair on the end of my cable when I took it out and it drains awesome now. I guess I'll find out in a few days if I broke a hole through a pipe. When the walls were demo'ed, I didn't see any lead, so I can't believe I went through the pipe.

Anyways, that was my first really big scare so far :o
Friday was always my bad luck day too. I came back to the shop one Friday because I did not have enough line for the job and found my Dad laying dead by his truck dressed in his uniform. After that the truck would never start on a Friday even if I forgot what day it was. So I quiet working on Friday for 5 years but now I work without any problems on Friday except I miss getting pop's input on the business I guess that is one reason I am hear.