[aaronpaulina]

My sink water will not go down the main drain pipe, I took off the p trap and snaked down the drain line, and the snake went all the way down so I don't know what's wrong there.. I then unscrewed the air valve and the water started coming out of that opening. Any ideas?

[Milo Dolezal]

What is an "air valve " ?

[aaronpaulina]

What is an "air valve " ?

Air admittance valve..

[Milo Dolezal]

Your kitchen drain is blocked. You have to re-snake it with electric snake. Match the size of the cable and cutting knife ( tip on the end of the snake ) with the size of your kitchen drain. Usually, we use 3/8" x 35' snake. Insert it all the way. Repeat several times. Re-assemble drains and run lots of hot water.

You can rent snake from Home Depot for about $40.00 for 4 hours It is wort it.

[aaronpaulina]

Well I started plunging it today to see if that would unclog it and the sink filled with nasty blackish water, and now the main drain pipe cap is leaking air and a little bit of the water when push the plunger.. can I seal that cap from the outside without having to unscrew it?

[Milo Dolezal]

If that Main Cap ( aka Clean Out... ) is leaking on the outside - then the sewer clog is down the pipe from that Cap. You have to clean the sewer through that plug. Remove plug, insert 3/8" snake and snake it several times. Use entire length of the snake. When finished, take garden hose, insert it into the drain and run lots of water through it.

Plunging it through the sink will not accomplish too much, probably nothing. You have no power to push the blockage down the drain.

[aaronpaulina]

It looks like the cap was eaten away from the inside, right before the threading.. so another cap won't screw into it to seal it. I'm going to menards right now to get a longer snake. If this doesn't work I'm going to have to call a plumber. I don't know how you guys deal with this stuff daily without going crazy.

[Milo Dolezal]

You can buy Plastic Cap ( ABS or PVC ). It will be easier for you to screw it back in. Also, wrap its threads with Teflon tape. Clean existing threads inside the wall with steel brush. If hard to get to, use skinny flat screwdriver to remove rust and dirt from inside threaded area.

Snake: rent the proper size snake. It should be an electric snake since you won't accomplish too much by manual, hand, snake. Wear good, thick, leather gloves and don't let snake wrap around your hands !

Home Depot with rental department rents 3/8" x 35' elec. Snake for $40.00 for 1/2 day.

Let us know how you did. Good luck. Milo

[aaronpaulina]

I got a 50 footer, snaked it once and the residual water in the pipe went down far enough so I couldn't see it but then tried flushing it with water.. It clogged up again, I just snaked it a second time and poured drain de-clogging stuff down the pipe, I'm going to wait a little bit before hooking everything back up and trying to flush it again.. this is extremely frustrating.


Well it's not going down and I've snaked it multiple times and used de-clogging liquid. I don't know what else I can do.. I don't have a sump pump or basement as this is a double wide home.. I have no idea how long the tubes are for trailers but 50 feet of snake should have gotten something right? Other than renting the power snake is there anything else I can do?

[Milo Dolezal]

How big is the cutting tip on the end of that snake ? What's the size of the cable ? What does the snake looks like ? Like this ? (photo #1 ) or like this ? (photo #2 )

[aaronpaulina]

1/4" x 50'

[Milo Dolezal]

Wrong size... What happens is that snake goes easily IN but as you pull it OUT the sludge encloses the hole snake just made. You need better tool to clean the drain. Perhaps, time to call Drain Cleaning Co.

[aaronpaulina]

Finally got it to drain. I snaked it one last time and then plunged the hell out of it and it finally went down.

[Milo Dolezal]

That's great... Glad you were able to purge it through... Stop by if you need more help in the future... Milo