A friend just had a stopped up drain turn into a major plumbing project. He mentioned that the Roto Rooter plumber told him that using a chemical drain cleaner (something like Drano) is bad for older pipes and recommended an enzyme type cleaner like their brand called “Pipe-Shield”.
I have been using a chemical drain cleaner in our house which has old plumbing and am worried I may be harming them.
Any thoughts on this?
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Replies
It depends on what the pipe is made out of and what is causing the clog.
Drano is lye or sodium hydroxide. It eats animal matter such as hair. It is very painful to get it in your eye.
Sulfuric acid is another approach. It eats vegetable matter. It eats holes in cotton T-shirts, for instance. It also eats metal. At the spa I worked at, they would dump a quart of it down the drain when it got clogged with hair. The drain pipes were cast iron in sandy soil. It wouldn't always work and I resorted to a plunger like the ones appearing next to the names of the forum moderators. Sand came out. Eventually it was determined that there was no pipe left and the whole thing had to be demolished and replaced with plastic plumbing. No more problems.
Sand, incidentally, is invulnerable to acid or lye. There is a tool called a drain king or a donkey dick which attaches to the end of a hose and sends pulsating blasts of water which sometimes works.
Other than that, you have to resort to the snake. The rule of thumb [one of the three rules of plumbing] is that the clog will be one foot past the end of your snake.
~Peter
Here's a pic of what Draino can do to lead drain pipes over time.
It does the same thing to cast iron, and galvanized.
James DuHamel
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