The best
Chemical Drain Openers:
Reddit reviews
From 3.5 billion Reddit comments
The best of Chemical Drain Openers by number of unique Reddit comments:
Top Reddit reviews mentioning Chemical Drain Openers:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PKNBK24/
Get you some of this. Use hot water, let it sit for a bit and it'll clean the hair out, and break down the rest. It will be little micro beads/pellets. So if you can get as much of that part in the drain then flush it. It may take it about 5-10 minutes to work it way through, especially if there is a good wad.
That's just normal mold. Spray it with moldex or a spray bottle with bleach and water. If that is your AC drain inside the house get some of these. You use I think a quarter of a tablet and do it once a month. If it is that, that's probably from it being clogged and slow dripping over.
That little thingy is not the trap, it's a drain basket meant to catch hair before it gets to the trap. You can't actually remove the trap.
Did he not volunteer to clean the trap for you? You can get a thing like this and shove it down the drain, pull it back and throw ay what hair you get. Do it many times until you don't get much hair. Clean that basket thoroughly and put it back but clean it regularly and you should be good.
As far as you not living there for long, some of the hair in the trap could be from previous residents, maybe when you get it clean it will be good for a long time. Or not... it doesn't take a lot of hair to slow a drain. My wife has long, thick hair and I have to snake out our shower drain every six months or so. If you really hate the cleaning task, maybe brushing your hair before washing it will slow it down so you have to clean less often, but this is just one of life's little chores.
There are chemical drain openers that are good at removing hair. Get the right one (specifically labeled for hair and NOT covered in acid warnings) - after a warm shower, let all the water drain, then pour a cup or so of the drain cleaner in there, go back in an hour or two and run some hot water. Every day for a week might just save you the snaking project, then once a week for maintenance. But then - chemicals...
You'd want to find an old manual battery charger instead of a battery. You could also use a bench power supply. I'd hunt around at garage/estate sales. Here's a video showing a pretty simple e-tank setup.
If you do put a lye bath together, here is some lye you can buy from Amazon if you can't find any locally.
This is what finally solved my drain fly problem: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B005G4STX0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_imm_t1_1-62FbSYCJQTA?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
They came back after the first time so had to use another half-bottle but haven't seen them since.
eta I guess after 2 years you've tried it all though
This is all you ever need. Dont believe me? read the reviews.
I have lots of HVAC experience. Re insulate? That sounds like a scam. Get the tabs that go in the evaporator pan. You can get the from amazon. Just throw 4-6 in the evaporator pan every year and your golden.
SimpleAir Clean Flow HVAC Drain Line Treatment Tabs, 6 Count. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E9V4P02/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_R5xwEb85JH358
Did a 1 lb of lye to 5 gallons of water ratio submersion for 4 hours, scrubbed with 00 steel wool, then vinegar bath overnight, then alternately scrubbed and re-submerge in vinegar for most of the day. The "after shot" is after 1 coat of crisco and a round in the oven at 475 for 1 hour. It's in the oven for another round right now!
​
edit: clarified the lye to water ratio
​
edit 2: here's the lye I used. https://www.amazon.com/Drain-Cleaner-Opener-Sodium-Hydroxide/dp/B001EDBEZM
if you try it out, follow lye precautions, this stuff can burn. seriously.
I use a Sony a6500 and a Canon 100mm 2.8L Macro lens for most of my shots. That focal length makes me not have to make such a huge background or diorama. Occasionally, i’ll use a 50mm, but my 50mm lens just isn’t that great.
The explosions are puffs of air in dirt or sand, sometimes accompanied by smoke. I use one of these things that is designed to unclog drains to stir up the dirt. Or a can of compressed air.
BAAM! BAAMHP Drain Cleaner, 1... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HPMPPWY?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Oh man if that’s what was just sitting there, you’re gonna have more. As a plumber, I’m gonna let you in on my secret weapon for when I don’t want to run a snake. buy some of this.
Follow the directions carefully and wear fucking gloves. It burns like a bastard if you get it on you.
I'm going to guess it is not a golf ball and instead soap, conditioner and rthe like formed on the top of a bunch of hair making it look like a golf ball.
Get one of these. Pull the hair out and keep the hair puller for future use. If it not hair, respond back for additional advice.
No pic, but A/C drain lines are usually 3/4" pvc, so get the appropriate fittings/pipe next time. The drain line is not pressurized so I never use glue on fittings at the unit itself, but will use glue sometimes father down the line. Consider insulating the main drain line as well. It's very rarely done, but that line runs some cold ass water, causing condensation which can drip.
If the emergency drain pan beneath the A/C is filling up, the drain line from your A/C is plugged and you should remedy that issue. All it takes is a shot of compressed air. Feeding slime tablets to the drain line can prevent such plugging. https://www.amazon.com/Nu-Calgon-4296-60-Pan-Treat-Scum-Tablets/dp/B003N5AS60
Not sure if any of this is of any help.
An alarm is a great idea in conjunction with a shut-off switch. More work, though. Look at the pic. That thing wired in to the right of op's overflow problem is a non-functional shutoff switch. On the far right of the emergency drain pan is another shutoff for the emergency drain pan.
Bad shutoff or not, feeding (slime tabs)[https://www.amazon.com/Nu-Calgon-4296-60-Pan-Treat-Scum-Tablets/dp/B003N5AS60] to your system (right into that overflow will do) will prevent the buildup of a blockage. A bottle of 200 only costs like $20 at my local hvac supply shop.
I used to work as an industrial mechanic in a food processing facility. I have spend many MANY hours cleaning out refrigeration systems.
All of this is nasty, but common. Just like ice makers, no one ever thinks to clean the insides.
If you refer this to maintenance, they will probably just half-ass it, and not really do a good job cleaning, so I'm going to give you a 101 on how to do it.
Supplies:
Drip Tray Tablets: https://smile.amazon.com/SimpleAir-Clean-Flow-Drain-Treatment/dp/B00E9V4P02/
Coil Cleaning Foam: https://smile.amazon.com/Nu-Calgon-4171-75-Rinse-Evaporator-Cleaner/dp/B00DM8KQ3I/
DO NOT use bleach or other chemicals to clean the coils... They will corrode the coils, and potentially cause the unit to fail.
Start by spraying the coil-cleaning foam onto the evaporator coil (that's the inside part that gets cold). Follow the instructions, and take measures to keep the cleaner from getting onto your things. It'll foam up and push any schmoo out from between the fins. You CAN rinse it off, but normal operation will create condensation that will rinse it off given a few hours. Toss a tablet in the high-point of the AC pan, right under the coils, and there you are. If you want to do more, wait until the fan is blowing air again, pull out the air filter, and spray a can of Lysol into the intake. This will swirl around inside and kill off anything that is still alive.
Something to note: normal dust and crap in the air, when it collects in the AC, can LOOK pretty terrifying and a lot like mold, but it isn't necessarily.
Not a physical scrubber, but I've used this in drains before that had odor
It's like an orange gel that works down the pipe. I used it when we had some drain flys and this really helped clean the pipes
Get a real plumber.
And it's not shaving that plugs the drain. It's loner hair. You might try these drain snakesi9
Yup; 2 pounds of food grade lye is like $10-$15 (just for reference: Lye), and will last many years. Just be careful and read up on safety to using lye: add lye to water (not the other way around), and wear gloves/glasses.
Apologies for not answering your question directly, but I live with a shower like this (or I used to) and I would suggest trying Thrift. Drain-o or any of the other ones I tried didn't work, but thrift does the trick every time. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E1N07LY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_imm_CCNMJFRHXQ4N19Z2WF4W I'm sure any sodium hydroxide drain cleaner would work similarly. You can actually hear it sizzling the hair away (or at least that's what I imagine it doing) and after the initial treatment I just do about half a cup every 4-6 months.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RMHNHYC?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_AEZ2ANJR3SN9PPSFNA1B
Former plumber, I use this a lot. It’s easy to use and effective. And yes, you will absolutely be grossed out by what you poll out. The longer you can find these the better. 2’ is good 30” would be better. Good luck.
We use vinegar and cleaning tablets on our maintenance visits to clean them out. It will not get rid of the off color inside the line, but it can prevent a clog. Put one of these in there every so often if you’re worried about it.
I see you have a couple nice items. That was your Griswold DO right. It’s so going to be worth buying the lye. food grade Amazon link I buy this one because it’s food grade and the same price as drain cleaner. 2 lbs will make 10 gallons so if you have an old storage container with lid already at home you’re all set. You can keep using the tank over and over, then dumped down the drain when you’re done if you’re not on a septic tank system.
I have this device where you pump it up, then release the air. It works the same way and it was about 15 bucks.
But be wary using it on a clogged sink that has an overflow hole. All sorts of gunk will fly out it. Make sure to tape it up tight. Yes it happened to me and it's disgusting.
This is a katchy, it helped me knock out the annoying adults while I could deal with the longer term infestation issue. My husband was super annoyed they were attracted to his computer screen so I set it up by him during the day and it seemed to help divert them.
To check if you have any drain issues put tape over the drain and see if you catch any overnight. I used this stuff and it sees to work well. FRUIT FLY GOODBYE Gel Drain Treatment | Drain Fly Killer | Fruit Fly Killer | Drain Flies Treatment | Fruit Flies Treatment | Drain Fly & Fruit Fly Eliminator (32 oz) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CVMMDNQ/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_6A5VPGFR2BFKN2SK3QCW?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
If you've got a local hardware store I use something like the link below. Probably the cheapest option.
It's not going to get rid of a solid clog, but if it's hair and junk in the bottom of the p-trap (probably the issue) then this will allow you to remove it (and not just send it further down the pipe to clog it up). I use it about once ever couple of years and get a nice clump of hair out.
I'm sure the other suggestions work, but they probably cost more as well.
I used this one for about a year and a half and never had any problems. (Essential Depot is the brand in case the link doesn't work) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001EDBEZM/ref=cm_sw_r_apanp_e3ccIZkYoAHnv
Correct! Also here
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Oh yeah, big time rip off. Here, let me save you having to deal with that fucking idiot again:
Here's 200 tablets for $25. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003N5AS60/
You can also try adding a condensate Pan treatment like this one.
Nu-Calgon 4296-60 Pan-Treat Scum 200 Tablets https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B003N5AS60/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_D4PF28EEJWH7Q5AGAWRX?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1