How do you snake a urinal ( it is not draining properly)

Hi Senseial:

If you don't have an exposed trap on the urinal (most don't) then the first thing to try would be a cone shaped plunger to try and clear the blockage... sounds silly, but works most of the time. Make sure there is plenty of water in the bowl area and plunge... the pull up is as critical as the push down... ;)

If that fails to work you can try to snake the drain using a 1/4" snake with a BULBOUS HEAD (top image) on it... can usually get the snake past the internal trap and into the drain pipe. Be clear that once you get past the trap and into the drain pipe the snake can go vertical up the vent about as often as it goes down the drain. If this seems to be the case, you can use a DROP HEAD (bottom image) on the end of the snake... will, most likely, force the snake to go down the drain.

Finally, if that fails to work, you need to drop the urinal off the wall and snake the drain directly at the wall.

Let us know if you'd like to discuss this more... OK?

MARK

For those hard to navigate traps such as a urinal I carry a 1/4" snake that I can work around any trap going. Just my two cents! Tom