Slow tub drain

[stevebass]

First time here, so patience, please.

1930 house. Tub drains very slowly.

Tried small plunger (rag covering overfill pipe, screen removed, water in tub).

Tried auger snake down overflow pipe, but couldn't get it to p=trap. In fact, snake got stick; took 30 minutes to coax it out.

Besides callign a plumber -- what's my next move?

 

[GReynolds929]

Cover the overflow and use a shopvac on the drain. Remove hair and gunk with pliers.

 

[stevebass]

Cover the overflow and use a shopvac on the drain. Remove hair and gunk with pliers.

I used a long, nylon snake (you know, the "as seen on TV" type) in the drain. I could feel it hit and stop at the overflow, and I didn't retrieve any hair or gunk.

I tried your trick and it didn't pull up anything.

 

[stevebass]

I have a 640x480 endoscope and pushed it down into the overflow pipe. I got down to what I think is the trap, but with my limited experience, I don't know for sure. Would you be willing to take a look and advise? Thnx.

 

[GReynolds929]

You may have a drum trap, those are notorious for getting clogged. If you have cast iron or galvanized drains they will corrode on the inside and get rough which will catch things and cause drainage issues. Do you have access to underneath or behind the tub?

 

[stevebass]

You may have a drum trap, those are notorious for getting clogged. If you have cast iron or galvanized drains they will corrode on the inside and get rough which will catch things and cause drainage issues. Do you have access to underneath or behind the tub?

No access behind the tub (it backs up to a stall shower). It's all from below. We have a crawl space, but it's what feels like a 2 mile crawl (actually about 90 ft, one way) from the crawl entrance to the tub.

Definitely cast iron (as is much of the house). If it's a drum trap, or worse, a house trap, I'm $%@# and in for an expensive repair.

I looked at Google images: It's impossible to use an auger snake on a drum trap, right?

One more: When I tried the auger snake, it bumped into something and got caught, and it took lots of turning to get the snake to release. If it is a p-trap, any professional tricks for wiggling the snake into it?

 

[GReynolds929]

Yes drum traps are a good way to get a snake stuck.

 

[Geofd]

Not to complicate things but the 1st thing I do when I get a clogged tub call is I turn on the bathroom faucet, if after running it for a bit the water shows up on the tub I snake from the sink drain and clear it that way

 

[stevebass]

Not to complicate things but the 1st thing I do when I get a clogged tub call is I turn on the bathroom faucet, if after running it for a bit the water shows up on the tub I snake from the sink drain and clear it that way

I love plumbing tricks.

But in our case, the bathroom sink is 6 feet away -- and water never appears when we use the sink 2x day.

 

[Geofd]

I love plumbing tricks.

But in our case, the bathroom sink is 6 feet away -- and water never appears when we use the sink 2x day.ypur tub and sink are probably connected to the same branch, so that's how I test the branch drain,it's not that the tub is clogged it's just shows up there 1st because it's lower than the sink

 

[stevebass]

of course, that makes sense.