Unclogging a Kitchen Sink Using a Drain Snake

I've been in this situation when I was first learning to use my plumber's snake / auger. I have found that there are two cases where I will get into this situation, and perhaps knowing about them can help you get past it.

1.) Symptom: I reached a junction in the pipe and can go no further, but when I turn the snake I get sudden bursts of movement, followed by it being hard to turn again. Cause: This was caused by my snake doubling back on itself, and the bursts of movement are caused by having built up enough pressure for the whole mess of cable to flip over in the pipe. This seems to happen when you reach a point of resistance while feeding the snake into the pipe and then push through it. Prevention: Never push through resistance with a coil-based snake. In this case, the cure I've found is to pull it back out of the pipe so it's not doubled up anymore. Then, feed it into the pipe, stopping when you find resistance and rotating it many, many times. The screw-shaped tip should drill through/walk over whatever is in its way if you continue gently pushing it forward while turning the snake. The idea is to let the tip of the cable screw its way over or through anything in its way, with only the least pushing. Every 40 turns of the cable I would push it a little to see if it was past the blockage.

2.) Symptom: My snake is not going any deeper and I can't get it to turn unless I pull it violently back out of the pipe a few inches. It keeps getting stuck on something. Cause: Your snake went through the side of your pipe, into some rusted pipe wall, or into some objects your family dropped down the drain. I once dropped a steel inline-skate bearing casing down the drain which was the exact width of the pipe. The plumber tried to snake it out for hours. God only know how he pushed it through to the other side. Prevention: Screens over drain openings help. Not having old rotten pipe or soft plastic pipe helps with not drilling through the side of it. Making sure the sharp tip of your snake it slightly narrower of a loop than the widest part (basically, the sharpened tip shouldn't be scraping the pipe as it slides through). Solution: Walk around your house looking for places you have a puddle on the floor and replace the broken pipe.

These tips came from my years of clearing clogs as an amatuer, and I hope it's slightly helpful. It's gotten a lot easier with practice and having a good snake and not one with an S shaped crank.

So what was the tip for Tim...and for Armando ? I am having the same problem!!!ARGH!!!

".. at over 8 feet I seem to have hit another elbow. While applying presure to the line I have spun clockwise, and counter clockwise over and over but the line will feed no more.."



So what can i do if I followed the above tip, but found myself in Tim's predicament?

".. at over 8 feet I seem to have hit another elbow. While applying presure to the line I have spun clockwise, and counter clockwise over and over but the line will feed no more.."

Tim, so what did you do next? I'm in the same predicament.

I seem to have blockage further down the line. I sent the auger into the line and hit the first elbow at about 6 inches, got by that and at about 2 feet hit another elbow. This was hard for me to get past but finally did, at over 8 feet I seem to have hit another elbow. While applying presure to the line I have spun clockwise, and counter clockwise over and over but the line will feed no more. The auger line is greasy and slimy but has no big chuncks of anything. I guess I could be using the tool wrong. The last time it drained properly was over a week ago but my wife put a lot down the garbage disposal while making a salad. However I have used many different types of drain cleaner including Draino Max, Liquid plumber and still it drains at trickle. I have a disposal and dishwasher on the other side and cant run the dishwasher because the drain water backs up. Bummed!