Kitchen drain clogged with fat deposits

[Bankrupt]

Hoping someone can give me some advice.

The drain from my kitchen serves the kitchen sink and a standpipe from the dishwasher and washing machine. It runs under an extension so I have no access to it other than through the (solvent welded) u-bend on the standpipe or by removing the u-bend on the sink.

The drain worked fine for two years or so – We’re very careful what we allow down there and have a strainer on the sink drain. What appears to have happened is that fat deposits have slowly built up over time to a point where they restrict flow. This was first evident when the sink drain started bubbling when the washing machine discharged water, indicating that the drain was running full downstram of the sink. It deteriorated over time to the point that the water discharged from the washing machine wasn’t draining fast enough and overflowed from the standpipe !

I removed the sink u-bend and poured some One Shot down the drain. Left it for 10 minutes as the instructions state, then flushed with water. No visible improvement so I repeated. Initially the water from the sink was still draining very slowly, but since I’ve now run the washing machine (hot detergent discharge) the drain is definitely a bit better, albeit I still get some “glug glug” sounds from the standpipe when I drain a full sink.

I’m just wondering what I should do now ? – Should I use more One Shot ? Can it cause any problems to leave One Shot in the drain for longer than the 10 minutes stated on the bottle ? Is the dilution that will occur if you dose One Shot through the sink u-bend a problem ? - I can remove the u-bend and dose it directly down the drain but it’s a nuisance. Much easier to just funnel it down the sink.

Thank you.

 

[ALEC1]

nothing beats decent plumbing that will work pretty well issue free for decades...look at the sewers in London


is this a 4" drain, which it should be if it is underground and inaccessible..?

 

[Bankrupt]

No - The problem is occurring in the 2 inch pipe section of the drain.

 

[ALCPlumbing]

You need a plumber to come and run a sani snake down it. I have a super vee which is basically a drill attached to a drum that has a cable in it. By pushing the cable through the pipe, the drill the makes the cable spin and will clean all the deposits off from the inside of the pipe. It's a great tool and never let's me down.

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

If you do call anyone out, (or have a go with a snake yourself), make them aware you've used chemicals in the pipes. That stuff is lethal in the wrong place, and you only get one pair of eyes.

 

[Bankrupt]

One thing for sure though is that using One Shot has (eventually) improved the situation.

I'm still wondering if using One Shot through the kitchen u-pipe is a problem, or if it needs to get down the drain (to where the fat is) as undiluted as possible which means that you need to remove the sink u-pipe.

 

[St0rmer66]

The chemical will just sit in the sink u-bend for 10mins then get flushed away when you run water down, never getting chance to work on the fat deposits. So yes, you should try it after the sink bend! You may still need a snake type clean but it's worth a shot if you can do it yourself. Worth keeping in mind though that these chemical cleaners are more for cleaning u-bend and traps than pipes though, so if the deposits are in the pipe itself then it will just flow straight past.

 

[HERTS P&D]

Take off the u bend and use a wet vac to suck the blockage out.

Andy

 

[David937]

One thing for sure though is that using One Shot has (eventually) improved the situation.

I'm still wondering if using One Shot through the kitchen u-pipe is a problem, or if it needs to get down the drain (to where the fat is) as undiluted as possible which means that you need to remove the sink u-pipe.

Just FYI, One Shot cleaner is a very strong acid that works best at dissolving human hair, skin remains, paper, tissue and so on. For a kitchen drain, a strong alkali such as caustic soda works better at dissolving grease and fat.

 

[JohnD]

how do you know it is fat? have you scraped part of the blockage out and inspected it?

 

[Bankrupt]

how do you know it is fat? have you scraped part of the blockage out and inspected it?

It's only a partial blockage. It is restricting the rate at which water drains to the point that the drain pressurised slightly at first, then water backed up and came ou the washing machine standpipe. I've had a drain snake down as far as I can get it to go and all that comes out on the spiral at the end of the snake is fat.

 

[JohnD]

washing soda crystals will help clean away grease deposits (they turn fat into soap)

you also need to evict the person who has been tipping grease or cooking fat down the sink.

 

[Agile]

I wonder what the Castle Balti use to clean their drains!

The COSH sheet for One Shot says 91% Sulphuric acid. But that's likely to be the composition and NOT the concentration. ( There is a difference! )

Tony

 

[JohnD]

I wonder what the Castle Balti use to clean their drains!

shovels
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23584833

 

[Bankrupt]

washing soda crystals will help clean away grease deposits (they turn fat into soap)

you also need to evict the person who has been tipping grease or cooking fat down the sink.

Is there not a danger then of your drain being blocked by soap rather than grease ?

Nobody has been tipping grease or cooking oil down the sink.

We've made every effort to stop deleterious material going down the drain, but if you wash dishes in the sink it's inevitable that some grease and fat will go down the drain. It's slowly built up a deposit over the years to the point where it started causing problems. Anyways "One Shot" seems to have sorted the problem out.