Metal Drain Auger

Story time. Months ago, the particle board underlayment in our kitchen floor began to swell and soften---just in spots, at first, along the joints and and near the cabinets. But it spread. The undulations could be felt underfoot, soleful messages that something's not right down there. Some vinyl tiles loosened. "We're splashing too much water from the sink," I guessed. Then we noticed that water was seeping from the cracks between the vinyl tiles even after days of not splashing anything on the floor. "Something is leaking," we realized, with that little feeling of dread and the "oh no" thoughts that come with a realization like that: "How bad is it? Is it going to be something bigger than I can handle myself? What kind of damage is it doing? What's this going to cost? Is the floor rotting? Are we going to punch through and find ourselves standing knee deep in our kitchen?" I grabbed a flashlight and investigated. I got down on the floor and pulled the skirt from the front of the dishwasher and felt around with my bare hand---carefully, avoiding electrical wires. The floor under the left side of the dishwasher was wet, so I presumed the dishwasher was the source of the leak. The machine had a few years on it, and I wasn't interested in searching for parts to repair it. I wasn't too thrilled about shelling out a few hondos for a new one either, but I chose that as the quickest and easiest fix. I found one on sale---a lesser model, a downgrade from the one we were replacing---at a local big box home improvement store. But a few weeks after installing the new dishwasher, the floor was still wet. It's not my favorite thing to do, but I suited up like an astronaut and wriggled into the crawlspace under the kitchen floor to investigate. I shined a light across the top of the concrete block foundation on the side of the house under the kitchen sink. A ten-foot length of the sill of the house was wet along its bottom edge. Stained dark, it looked to have been wet for some time. I couldn't spot an obvious point of entry for the water. After an exterior inspection, I assembled some clues and tried to deduce the source of the problem: A valley of the roof terminated right over the area. I also noted that a drain vent stack poked up through the roof right next to the valley. A wrinkled soffit panel under the eave looked to have taken some water damage. I theorized that water was slowly entering by a leak in the valley or around the vent stack, then making its way down between the wall and exterior brick veneer, and from there soaking into the floor. I rigged safety lines (I always do), set up a ladder, climbed onto the roof, and smeared around a couple of gallons of Henry's roof patch, making sure to spread it generously under the shingle tabs and the flashing around the vent stack. It was a bright, hot day. I remember that. A rainless week or two later, the floor was still wet. Befuddlement and more head scratching ensued. This time we guessed the supply line to the refrigerator's ice maker was the culprit, even though the fridge was on the other side of the kitchen. Maybe the line was leaking and the water was wicking between the subfloor and particle board and finding its way across the kitchen and making its way up and out. We pulled the refrigerator away from the wall and took a look. Dry as a bone. Finally, finally, I began to put things together. The kitchen sink drain exits through the wall behind the sink, takes a left, then makes another turn down to connect to the waste pipe and vent stack via a wye. The wye is located in the wall above the subfloor, so I couldn't see it from the crawlspace. What was happening, I began to think, was a clog in the main drain pipe below the wye was backing waste water up into the vent stack, but not high enough to back all the way into the sink. Waste water was leaking from the joint of the vent onto the sill and into the floor when it was backed up. I disconnected the P-trap under the sink. A lot of water spilled out of the drain pipe sticking out of the wall. Clog confirmed. I already owned a 25-foot hand-cranked drain snake. I returned to the crawlspace to see if I could loosen the drain pipe's cleanout plug to snake the line. The house's plumbing is over fifty years old, and the plug was stuck fast. I returned to the kitchen and tried snaking the line from under the sink, but the snake couldn't make the three turns to get into the main line. "What if I run a snake down from the roof through the vent stack?" I wondered. I knew the drain pipe layout; the snake would only have to make one 45-degree turn instead of three, and there was nothing in the line past that point that could be damaged. But the snake I owned wasn't long enough to do the job. I was already 300-plus dollars into this project with the new dishwasher and roof patching compound. I wasn't too thrilled about spending more money for a longer snake, but I ordered this fifty-footer. Long story longer, I rigged the safety lines again, set up the ladder, and climbed back on the roof. I fed the snake down the mouth of the vent stack, which swallowed it hungrily thanks to some assistance from our good friend gravity. Gravity also added some oomph when I pushed the snake through resistance in the pipe. I first felt some resistance when the head of the snake met the wye and made the turn. Then I felt another spot of resistance. There were no more turns or wyes, so I assume the snake had found the clog. I cranked the drum handle a few times, jogged the line up and down like a plunger, and the resistance gave way. I fed in another few feet of line just to make sure there were no more clogs, then I retracted the snake (eww, grimy). I followed up by pouring a gallon of liquid drain cleaner down the vent stack. After climbing down from the roof, I pulled the full length of snake out of the drum, laid it on the driveway, and sprayed it off with a hose. I left it to dry before pushing it back into the drum. So, here's the review of the snake: It's good. The drum of the snake is metal, and the collar that feeds the snake and holds the thumbscrew is metal too. I noticed complaints in earlier reviews that the collar was plastic and wasn't holding up, so the metal collar must be an upgrade. This snake is not going to chew out any roots, but it will work on typical drain clogs. The included gloves are a bit small, but they're okay. I just used disposable nitrile gloves. The not-so-happy part of all this is I discovered that the drain pipe in the kitchen wall has a leak that still leaks even though the clog has been cleared. So I'll be rerouting the kitchen drain pipe to bypass all that pipe in the wall. The happier ending to this story is that I didn't spend much more than I would have had I called a pro to snake the drain. And the new dishwasher, although a cheaper model than our previous one, outcleans the old one by far. And, judging from the wrinkled eave soffit, the roof probably needed a little patching anyway. And we know there's no leak in the ice maker supply line behind the fridge. And PVC parts to reroute the kitchen sink drain are inexpensive. And I still have a fifty-foot plumbing snake if I need it again.

The gloves are absolutely terrible and do not protect you from anything that comes out of the drain. That said, the actual product works wonders. My tub was backed up, clogged, and wouldn't drain almost at all. I originally used one a cheaper drain insert to try and grab the clog, but nothing was coming up. This thing grabbed something LARGE, rotten, and matted (it was a massive wad of my hair [hopefully]) that was blocking my older pipes. It was easy, quick, and although gross, wildly convenient - and cheaper than calling a plumber to come do the same thing. It's also flexible without being too stiff and the head fit through the little drain flap at the back of the pipe; the the directions are a little funky, but still 10/10. Would highly recommend as a step before getting a plumber.

The drain line from my bathroom sink was backed up, and liquid plumber could not unplug it. I fortunately had previously bought the DrainX Drain Auger Pro months earlier to have it in my tool chest just in case I ever needed it. The DrainX drain auger worked great and was easy to use (see picture 1). They have a number of videos on YouTube that show how to use this tool properly. I would not hesitate to recommend getting one to have around just in case the need ever arises. It certainly is cheaper than calling a plumber. In retrospect I wish I would have bought the next model up. The only criticism I have of this model is that the handle is a little flimsy, otherwise its solidly constructed. I had one small problem using it, when I tightened the thumbscrew that anchors the snake line it sheered the bracket off (see picture 2) (might have been a flaw in metal of that one part). I immediately contacted the company by email and the very next day they had responded, and quickly sent out a replacement part. I really appreciated their customer service and how they stand by their product.

I have used this auger several times since I bought it and it breaks up clogs just fine. It’s also long enough to actually reach clogs. The problem is that the handle is terribly designed and the little screw that you use to secure the line is obnoxious. So getting the line run through the twists and turn of your pipes is a gawdaful exercise in self torture. There is no way to support the drum and hold the thing properly while trying to spin the crank because of the horrible handle. The weight distribution is all wrong and if you try to hold the actual tube instead of the handle, it will wind your gloves or skin right up. I really recommend wearing gloves. There will be a lot of cursing and frustration an possibly even some throwing of tools. You might fix the clog or you might give up after destroying your hands even through a pair of work gloves. If there was an even remotely better designed handheld unit with a line this long, I would suggest that you set your money on fire before buying this one. Sadly, most of the good handheld units stop at 25 feet. I know because I have a wonderful 25 foot snake that is a delight to use, it just doesn’t actually reach anything. So if you really need a long line unit and you don’t have 300 or 400 or more to spend on one of the really nice ones, then bite the bullet and give this one a go. And when you’re calling it names that would make a maintenance man blush, know that I stand with you.

The DrainX Auger worked like a charm completely clearing my drain in just minutes. Its pretty gross but a tone of hair came out. Pics are gross ( sorry) but shows it works so well ! There was a negative review that mentioned a malfunction of the unit but in further reading it became clear that the user was not using it properly. You must read instructions or watch a YouTube video on how to use a snake/auger. The long steel coil is not supposed to wind back in by turning/cranking of the handle! You extend and retract the coil by manually pulling and pushing it in and out. The turning of the crank handle is done only once the steel coil auger is pushed into the drain and the coil is locked into place with the screw to hold it once it hits a blockage - then you crank the handle and push the whole DrainX unit at the same time. The cranking of the handle spins the locked steel auger and the added pressure digs into the blockage .

Not a heavy duty drain auger, tightening nut has broken on its second use only. A little disappointed in product quality.

It's nice for its money. Not so easy to use as fully automatic electric versions, but it's doing its work nice!

It was able to reach the clog in my drain that was beyond 25 feet. It is great for 1 1/2 inch pipe perhaps up to 2 inch diameter. The crank handle shaft came apart on the second use. I was able to make a new crank handle shaft since the original could not be repaired. Still gave it 5 stars since it reached the clog. Feed the coil about 8 inch at a time. Works great

It really unclogged the clogged kitchen sink. But keep in mind these: After your job is finished, remember to wash the snake with high pressure water and also spray WD40 to the metal parts so that it will not get rusted and you can use it later as well.