How to Unplug a Bathtub Drain Using a Snake or Drum Auger
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- Опубликовано: 29 июл 2017
- Don't worry, since doing this video I've cleaned my bathroom and it sparkles. Re-caulked, everything.
This video shows you how to use a drum auger/snake to clean the pipes in your house. The basic technique applies to all the pipes in your house.
I don't recommend using Drano or liquid cleaner, because it doesn't work well and just goes into the water supply.
Using a snake doesn't use any chemicals, and you get to pull out whatever hair was blocking your drain instead of forcing it down farther. In my old place, the drains would plug up every two years, and that's with hardly anything going down. Just be careful to not force the snake down, as you don't want to break any pipes.
Thanks. I hope this helps so you never have to use liquid drain cleaner again. 
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Thanks! You're the second person I've watched who showed starting at the top instead of the drain at the bottom of the tub.
It worked! The tip at 4:10 is key... only leave a small amount of wire exposed between the drain hole and your tool, because if you have a long length it flops around and all your force is not being directed down the hole where it belongs. That's what she said.
Anyone else stuck on the first elbow wondering what to do next? Thanks for the help, you're saving DIYers everywhere 👍
That's what I need to know too!
@@birdsong3 @DanBeadle Did you figure it out? I got stuck as well
Same
On my third smoke break just trying to get this thing in
Fawwking stuck at the same elbow!
I was actually able to get a big clump of hair and a tub chain up. The first time I tried it nothing came up and it seemed like the cable was twisted and I was a little rough and plastic was scraping off the drum. This time I went slower and fed the cable through slower and stopped more often to tighten and twist. It worked! Thanks for helping us laymen!
For everyone with a snake who can’t get it to go into the elbow - if you’re going through the top hole you can use a flashlight and look down the bottom drain hole - you should see the end of the snake and be able to use a long screwdriver or whatever you have to push it down the elbow into the next length of pipe:) - thanks for this video it just saved me a big bill !
I really appreciate that because I can ever get a snake down a tub. I can't wait to try again with your advice.
By top hole do you mean the overflow? Cuz man I cannot get this snake down at all it’s freaken hard
Slow & steady for the win!!!!!!! Thank you for making this video. You have no idea how much you've helped me 🙏🏾
You sir have a good dynamic when narrating; like a good professor. Good video👍.
By the way, I did exactly as you sir in the video and got a very good result, in fact I was surprised by the amount of hair/goo that came out on the snake it was like 32" long; and the water goes down nicely plus, I put a strainer, thanks👍!
Thanks, your tutorial on properly snaking saved me $$$, time and additional STRESS!
A well executed tutorial, coupled with your delightful personality. Thank you for you production, helped me and countless others.
Just cleared shower drain, thanks for all the tips. Kept trying several times today, would read everyone's comments and watch the video until I felt I just needed to keep pressure on the pushing. Pulled out what looked like tape?, leaves?, hair and feces!
Wow! I've been dreading this routine every six months unclogging the shower drain. After watching this video I now realize I've been doing it wrong all this time! Going through the over-flow never occurred to me, and now, it was a piece of cake. Thank you, these short and sweet videos are way easier to watch - we don't need to watch twenty minutes of crap to get to the point as in other DIY vids! Cheers.
People complain about my short intro too. I guess I could have chopped it out but I thought I'd give an overview before I started. Thanks for your input.
I used mine in the over flow.... and noticed i hit a wall. looked down and saw the end 4 inches down the drain 😢 , I got trolled. the 1/4 inch auger isn't making a 90"" elbow very well, and stops 4 inches past that, so im at a loss. TNT probably wouldn't even fix my drain.
Saved me $100. Thanks man! I couldn't figure out how to get it around bends
Thanks for the video, after watching yours I saw what I needed to do differently, now my bathtub is draining good. Got my wife off my back!
Haha. Thanks, glad it helped!
Watching this before starting it up... Although my end goal is a bit different as I'm hoping my wife is so ecstatic she puts me on my back. Lol. Thank you for your contribution to the diy communtiy buddy. We'd all be lost without people such as yourself.
It worked! Took a couple of times to get it all (yuk) but the tub drains now. Definitely get the snake with the rotating handle. Tip: when you hear glugging noises at the sink, that means you've got something and should reel it in. Be prepared to be grossed out.
Thank you so much for taking the time to post this.
Thank you. You did a good job explaining and showing how to use an auger. I need one. Now I believe I understand how to use one.
Thanks, glad it helped.
Hi Eric. Thank you for the video..very helpful.
Thank you SO VERY MUCH! My mom and I were able to understand how to snake the bathtub
Totally saved the day!! I just drained my tub, effortlessly thanx to this video!! I'm forever grateful🥰🥰🥰💯🎯
You did it! Great job.
Thank you for this video. I just got Ridgid 25 feet auger and gave up after two tries. It won't go in more than 4 feet, but after watching your video, I went about 15 feet and I couldn't believe how much hair I pulled out. Gross!
I like the way he said, ''Its kind of a messy job, yeah be careful" LOL
Thanks never knew how to use one of these but now thanks to you will maintain and make proper use of mine thanks a lot ....
It worked going down that way! Couldn't get the snake to fit down the main drain. I was plunging the damn thing for hours last night, ripping the skin off my hand. Wish I would've seen this video before that. At least it drains now. Thanks for the video!
Damn this worked for me. You saved me from a plumber.
Thank you for walking/ talking me through it
Thanks. Just got one today. Video helped .
Very helpful, thank you.
Thanks for a great explanation. Got a clogged tub and am going to give this a try.
Rick Johanson ml
Ml
man nailed it... I was already doing the spiny technique. and i thought it would go in further but then when i tried to push nothing so i would stop... Clog gone boom
Thank you for sharing this information helped a lot.
Thanks. You know I thought about removing this video as it never fit my idea for my channel but it does help people so I'm just going to leave it up. Glad it helped.
Nice video. Thanks.
Great video
It WORKS 😂 Disgustingly satisfying! Thanks for the help!
Haha. Nice job. Glad you didn't let the slime get to you!
This worked great! The stuff I pulled out was disgusting. I refuse to use chemicals and the plunger didn't work, but the $20 auger from Lowe's worked great! Thank you!
You're welcome and Good job! Definitely nice to avoid those chemicals which never worked for me and couldn't be good for the water supply.
My plumber ran water while he put an electrical snake in the over flow once all the hair and soap scum went down the drain everything was open I know your method could save someone a lot of money ❤
Very helpful you simplified so even this caveman was able to understand so ty 4 that sir
Thanks man my auger said to turn it counter clock wise but it would only go down 1or 2 feet but when i tried it clockwise like you were doing all 15 feet of it went down and took out the biggest hair ball thanks
Thank you for this video. I just successfully unclogged my shower. I appreciate all the details because that made all the difference. I did use gloves and wipes to clean the cable, then I dried it with Viva paper towels as I pushed it back up.
i know Im randomly asking but does any of you know of a trick to get back into an Instagram account?
I somehow lost the password. I would appreciate any tricks you can offer me!
@Edison Dean instablaster :)
@Ezra Layton Thanks for your reply. I got to the site through google and I'm waiting for the hacking stuff now.
Seems to take a while so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
@Ezra Layton it did the trick and I actually got access to my account again. I'm so happy!
Thank you so much you really help me out !
@Edison Dean No problem :D
Thank you for this video! I cleared my tub ( disgusting what came up) with minimal effort!
You're welcome! Good job.
Second option is putting a plastic bag over the overflow opening, use a plunger on the tub it’s self and it will most likely clear your clog.
I tried the plunger--maybe I gave up too fast? How long does it usually take?
what if you have a floor-type stopper, outside the tub? Can I even get past that stopper using the snake through the bathtub drain?
Thanks a lot ! Worked for me and saved me $$$. I was trying this snake to clear the water stuck in my tub but it wasn't working for me before I watched this video. The key is to push it from the top like shown in the video. You will come across a couple of stops, but just keep on going by rolling the wire whenever you hit a stop. After 2 minutes, the water stuck in the tub starts moving and I knew the clog has been dislodged :)
Can the auger be use too in washer drainage?
Great tutorial
I bought the auger and used it today but I don't know how much of the wire to use. So I just pushed and then stopped when I felt it was enough, I had anxiety about pushing it further like you did. Tub still drains extremely slow... should I push all 25ft down the drain, is that safe or will it get stuck? Where does all 25ft go, I feel like it's gonna go into my neighbor's tub
Very helpful, thank you!
Thank you so much for this video. I found a metal bracket down the drain.. and the gooey stuff too.. I did find that it was getting caught on something when I was trying to pull it out and and it would go the full 15ft, perhaps a pipe or something else? Do you know what else could be down there?
Today is 12/22/19. I have a plugged bath tub for years. I used a plunger to push in and suck out some sludge and i used wet-dry vacuum cleaner to suck out those dirts that came out. Well, it solves the clog for maybe 3 months the it clogs again. Its always a cycle for years until the past 3 weeks my method wont no longer work. I've vacuum it for couple of times for the next 3 days but water will drain too slow. I'm so stressed out and in dont want to waste more $$ to call plumber. I told myself if plumber can do it, so do I. So I search lots of video tips to use an auger although I have a 25ft 1/4" auger but I am having hard time snaking it in. Until i saw this video and i payed attention closely the steps how to do it. Here is the key, on the first 1-1/2ft you inserted the auger, once it reach bottom of the P-trap, you will feel the resistance. At this time, have at least 3" of auger exposed to have a good leverage to spin. Here is what you do next: AS YOU SPIN, GIVE A PRESSURE, REALLY GOOD PRESSURE SO THE AUGER'S TIP WILL FIND ITS WAY OUT FROM THE P-TRAP AND SNAKE IT IN THROUGH HE NEXT TURN OR PIPE ELBOW FITTING. If you feel the bite that the auger has moved in, there you go... it will snake it in freely as you spin. NOTE: DO NOT GET FRUSTRATED IF YOU ARE HAVING HARD TIME SNAKING IN BUT I WILL GUARANTEE YOU IT WILL GO IN NO MATTER WHAT JUST APPLY PRESSURE AS YOU SPIN AND THATS THE KEY STEP. As of this morning 12/22/19, i was able to unclog it with flying colors and from now on, the secret to use the auger id successfully revealed with this video. Thank you Sir for this big help. To all out there still having clog issue will guarantee you that you can do it. Good luck to all and Merry Xmas!!
I fed it a few times.. once I dragged out some hair, but then it just blocked at a certain point.., and I'm a little scared to push it through...
@@Cynthia33c You might just have to call a plumber, and then you can watch and see how they get past that joint. My pipes just happen to be relatively easy.
@@ericrosko p
Thank you
Little bit of an edit at 4:25? I cant get past the elbow joint ... but ill try the angle, maybe that will help. Thanks
You’re gonna poke your eye out with that !😜
Thanks bro
Thank you ❤❤❤❤
Doing this is not for the faint of heart. Congratulate yourself!
@@ericrosko you don’t know how you save my life. My sink and my tub been acting up for days now. I saw your video I brought the snake, picked up in 1hrs I did exactly what you did. My 9y old son said! Good job mommy. Thx to you. God bless you😘😘😘😘😘😘
What kind of SNAKE - - - regular black snake, or is a rattlesnake quicker?
Clean up tip: if the snake and tip come back coated with a really nasty black coating - you can have a bucket with some warm soapy water to rinse it in. You can even use the toilet bowl water in a pinch (easy to flush). Better than handling the black crap - it will get everywhere if you dont rinse off the snake.
Mine gets stuck not very far and no matter what I do I can't get it to go down
What is the advantage of augering from the overflow compared to the drain, if any?
I think you just get a better angle. You just want to be careful not to scratch the metal so a better angle may help.
The drum that a drill can get plug from the back... is it better then this one?
No it will only twist up the cable
thanks
After 18" it wouldn't go any further, I tried locking and rotation the handle, so disappointed
does it matter if you rotate it clockwise or should it be counter-clockwise? thank you
The end of the steel cable is round in a specific way, and I think it makes sense to rotate it in the direction so the cut end rotates so that it will capture hair and move it down the spiral. So kind of like a corkscrew works, so grab whatever is in front of it as you turn the handle. It will depend on how the company make the cable. Hope this makes sense and good luck.
. good presentation , I had a similar issue , and I used a 15 Foot auger , it formed a permanent kink , next step go for the larger and more sturdier auger , and cleaning with a towel for better maintenance is a good tip .
An old 1950's American Standard tub drain so probably a 2 inch trap at bottom with no plug , easy to run cable around if you have the 1960's inch and one half trap with the plug in the bottom you will never get the cable thru the trap
You are correct it's an American Standard and that sounds right!
I believe I have the 1950's 1 1/2 inch p-trap you're talking about. This video should be updated with a flashing warning at the very beginning because your words are so true. "You will NEVER get the cable through this type of p-trap". End of story!
youre a god!
Will it work for tree roots? I'm not sure if that's the problem or not...how can you tell?
The augur I use definitely won't work for tree roots. They have special augers with cutting blades for those, and that is the time when you need to call the plumber. I wouldn't try it myself if that were the problem. This is for cleaning out indoor pipes that probably don't go all the way to the ground.
@@ericrosko yep its either tree roots or the galvanized pipes
@@birdsong3 I watched a plumber use an electric auger to clear my main sewer line of invasive roots. It's a machine you don't want to mess with unless you know what you are doing.
Tried doing this, pulled up a little hair but not enough to make a difference.
What worried me was the overflow drainpipe itself was starting to come loose from the tub. So I stopped myself right there...gonna have to call a plumber. One thing that makes me angrier than not being able to fix something myself is making it worse by me trying
that's what I'm afraid of. And if I screw up real bad and mess up other apartments I have to pay for that (living in a co-op)
I'm albino too brother be proud brother
What if mine doesn't have the drum part? It's just a long metal twist thing, which is hard to twist without it flipping up in your face. It'd make a funny prank though. 🤔 Painful but funny.
Once you hit your 1st clog and grab it, I would pull the augur out and clean it. Otherwise if you continue you will be pushing that clog further down the pipe...... Just a though.
Mine only went about a foot before it hit something but nothing came up when I rotated it. It got stuck on a piece of metal so I had to rip it out. Now the stopper won't fit cause the hole is too big.
will it work on tree roots
No, this is a small auger for indoor pipes and the biggest thing it should get through is probably a hair clog. Every 5 years or so we pay a plumber to use a big industrial auger with a cutting head to clear out roots getting into the 3.5" to 4" outdoor cement pipe connecting to the city's sewer pipe. That job is way past my comfort zone and they have very expensive gear to do it.
Where we can buy this
umm, Lowes or Home Depot like he said. Or virtually any other hardware store.
@@grittynitty Amazon
Lowes
1. Don't too much at a time. It's hard to get off. 2. Dang It Stinks .. so have air freshener or sumfin...sheesh ... wooooh
Tried many times, this not working.
What is the name of this machine?
It's often called a "snake", but the official term in drum auger.
What if the snake won't move ?
I don't know, sorry.
I tried it. A small amount of goo came out. At some point I must have done a something horribly wrong.
Drain empties ok, but ever time hot water goes ⬇omg the smell of the sewer gas is overwhelming. I have no basement so now it be at least a 20k job to fix that pipe. I'm thinking when this house was built they used metal. Who knows what they used back then. Not me.
i don't know what plumber you have that uses that little drum job...the electric machine gets 35 ft cable and spinns through turns easier. .plus they can charge for machine use..
You're right, the person I learned this from was the handyman, so he didn't have one of the big machines. In the case of my apartment the shorter length is long enough since it's a small apartment. If you are in a house with long pipes I can see where you might need something longer. Thanks for the comment.
Thomas Broking WG VCS SNCC dz CTV's the other office cannot be much to see my phone
Okay if you’ve only got an S - traps connected to your waste, if you’ve got a P-trap or a bottle trap when it’s game over ..
Why not go directly into drain?
My thinking was that the drain has a sharper angle than going down the supper overflow outlet. However, I don't think it matters since the cable needs to bend at a 90% angle again to go down the pipe. Going down the overflow also prevents any scratching on the chrome drain fitting which is probably the best reason.
@@ericrosko thanks, the reason I asked was because we only have the drain, since it's a walk in shower. But I tried the auger in the drain but had no luck, bit the auger got tangled so bad it would recoil back into the drum. Calling plumber tomorrow.
You need to stop shaving your legs in the tub!! Haha
probably some pipes down there...for sure.
Most of time it's not an easy fix with manual auger , you will need sometimes an electric machine with bigger wire in diameter to be able to pass a P-trap and break through the clog.Moe The Plumber
@Houston Bolin Agreed. He's a plumber. He wants people to use him haha
I know that you need to make a living, but frankly, a plumber charge more than a doctor.
Great video on clearing a bathtub drain., however you missed 3 important steps. Step 1: Duty flows down hill. Step 2: Don't bite your fingernails. Step 3: Payday is on Friday.
Step 4: Never eat the last bite of your sandwich.
.
lime will dissolve it without problem at all
Why is to old.
Why are you not wearing latex gloves !!!!
Kitchen sink
I know that it's your house, but use gloves.
Why do people who make these how to videos feel compelled to rattle on and on. All I want to know is how to use a plumbers snake. Get on with it!!!
Just use the slider bar to advance or set the running speed faster.
It's as if anyone can upload how-to videos on RUclips or something...weird.
Doesn’t ANYONE wear gloves?????
gloves get dirty...then u have to clean them or throw away ! !
Amateur
The first two and a half minutes of this video are a waste of you just talking and not showing how to use the auger which is supposed to be the whole point of the video.
good video but the start should have been 1:40 in, intro not needed.
When I stick my drum auger through the top hole it comes right out of my drain. When I stick the auger in the drain it comes out of my top hole.
Thank you
You did it! :-)