HELP!!! How to clear the clogged toilet...

[Lemur]

High pressure hose. Fun, fun fun all the way.

I'm picturing the backsplash. And flinching.

[Ja'chyra]

Should we mention cherry bombs?

Clear the blockage and redecorate.

[A Nerd]

Should we mention cherry bombs?

Dropping a 'bomb' down the toilet is how we got this problem in the first place!

[Hosakawa Tito]

Does your apartment have it's own septic tank/leach field system or is it connected to a city sewer line? Are the pipes cast iron *bad news* or plastic?

Septic tanks should be cleaned every 3-5 years for optimal performance. Old systems using cast iron pipe clog easily over time because the inside of the pipe is very rough with stalactite-like projections of cast-iron that snag toilet paper & other solid matter that eventually narrows and clogs the pipe. If the plumbing snake doesn't work you probably have more than a simple clog problem, and fixing it will probably be more involved than you can accomplish by yourself. The expression "up 's creek without a paddle" springs to mind. I wouldn't pay the landlord a cent to fix his sewer problem, that's his responsibility. You might want to start looking for another place to rent.

Playing alchemist and combining caustic chemicals with no knowledge of what you are doing can lead to serious injury or death, don't do it.

[Gregoshi]

Okay, about dozen bits of advice, half of them lethal.

One bit of clogged toiletric knowledge I learned a few years ago that helped my plunging success tremendously, was that the force of a pull is much more effective than a push. A push just jams things up more. Make sure there is enough water in the bowl to cover the plunger head. A few plunges to establish a good suction seal and then a quick, sharp pull of the plunger should start loosening up the clog. You may have to do this several times, but it will eventually come. My son was a toilet clogging champion when he was young. His "fecal matter" was of "impossible" size for one his age, so I had many plunger workout sessions.

Good luck Cute Wolf. May the Force be with you.

[InsaneApache]

Okay, about dozen bits of advice, half of them lethal.

Indeedy.



Having some experience of water treatment I can confirm that mixing sodium hypochlorite with other chemicals, especially bases, is not a good idea.

[Cute Wolf]

Ok... so last night, I do the coathanger trick (with an old metal coathanger)...
and unscrew the toilet bowl, to get acess directly to the pipe hole without the toilet bowl interfering... (gosh! I still don't believe I've done that last night)

put the coathanger to poke the "fecal maters that clogged in" (thanks God, the chemichal stinks I pour yesterday still covers much)..... and guess what that I found.... a small... rat feet.... and tail segments

so... THAT DAMN STUPID RAT DIES IN MY TOILET PIPE!!!

you know... after learn about that, I immediatlely opened the sodium hydroxide and sodium hypochlorite, pour all of them into the hole, and immediately add some hot water on top of it.... a thick fumes immediately occur, and I quickly wash myself, lock the bathroom door, wash myself again in the backyard, took some clothes, and go to my neighbour's house....

this afternoon, looks like the problem is gone, but chlorine smells still linger on the air... so this night, looks like I can't sleep in my house as well....

Does your apartment have it's own septic tank/leach field system or is it connected to a city sewer line? Are the pipes cast iron *bad news* or plastic?

Septic tanks should be cleaned every 3-5 years for optimal performance. Old systems using cast iron pipe clog easily over time because the inside of the pipe is very rough with stalactite-like projections of cast-iron that snag toilet paper & other solid matter that eventually narrows and clogs the pipe. If the plumbing snake doesn't work you probably have more than a simple clog problem, and fixing it will probably be more involved than you can accomplish by yourself. The expression "up 's creek without a paddle" springs to mind. I wouldn't pay the landlord a cent to fix his sewer problem, that's his responsibility. You might want to start looking for another place to rent.

Playing alchemist and combining caustic chemicals with no knowledge of what you are doing can lead to serious injury or death, don't do it.

It wasn't apartment, it was small, one story ground bound house... and "city sewer line"? I don't knew if such network is exist in Indonesia , maybe in Jakarta we had, but what we have here is normal septic tank lies somewhere under the house...

and that was my own fault actually, forgot to either close the toilet lid, or the bathroom door and got a rat plug itself inside the pipe...

PS : I'm chemistry student myself

Okay, about dozen bits of advice, half of them lethal. .

Yeah.... I found it the hard way... and use a very - very potentially lethal way to solve that (Sodium Hydroxide + Hypochlorite + hot water = very basic (in chemistry sense) corrosive oxidizing liquid + fumes of Chlorine, gas weapon in WW I)... if not because that damn rat...

[Fragony]

You didn't even kill the rat before you ate it? That's animal cruelty

[pevergreen]

You didn't even kill the rat before you ate it? That's animal cruelty

[naut]

NOOOOOOOOOO! Frags!

[Cute Wolf]

You didn't even kill the rat before you ate it? That's animal cruelty

maybe when I drunk?

Seriously now, I rarely seen rats in my house, but that proves I should cleaning my house again...

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

Hot water softens up your brown chocolate in the bowl!

[Gregoshi]

I'm glad nothing bad came from your chemical "experiment". I do wonder about the condition of the clog? Any status update on that? I'd hate to think you nearly killed yourself for nothing.

[Fragony]

I'm glad nothing bad came from your chemical "experiment". I do wonder about the condition of the clog? Any status update on that? I'd hate to think you nearly killed yourself for nothing.

We call it stuuksoda here, reacts with water, gets really hot we use it to clean rusted machine parts. It won't do anything to a bowl or industrial pipes, it's perfectly safe if you use COLD water Cute Wolf.

[Tellos Athenaios]

sodium hipochlorite and sodium hydroxide

Ehrm Fragony I think you missed the part about mixing those two. That's essentially bleach in salt form with lye and he dissolved both in hot water. It produces chlorine gas, and lot's of it. It goes only a bit faster if you use hot water rather than cold water, but the reaction is aggressive enough to warm up the bowl a lot once it gets going.

[Cute Wolf]

now, I was in at local mall, sipping cola and eating fried chickens... trying to forgot all the mess who await me at home, but the situatiion is clear, the toilet was allready unclogged... and the chlorine gas is still on the air...

[Ironside]

Ehrm Fragony I think you missed the part about mixing those two. That's essentially bleach in salt form with lye and he dissolved both in hot water. It produces chlorine gas, and lot's of it. It goes only a bit faster if you use hot water rather than cold water, but the reaction is aggressive enough to warm up the bowl a lot once it gets going.

Mixing those is safe (while replacing sodium hydroxide with an acid is not). Sodium hipochlorite creates poisonous clorine compounds reacting with urine and some other organic substances though.

[InsaneApache]

Again years ago, in a former life, I had the job of changing the chlorine gas bottles. One day the lead washer split and I got, what they call a 'belt'. It felt like I had been kicked in the chest by a horse. That taught me not to take shortcuts and not wear the respirator.

Cleaned my teeth a treat though.

[rory_20_uk]

now, I was in at local mall, sipping cola and eating fried chickens... trying to forgot all the mess who await me at home, but the situatiion is clear, the toilet was allready unclogged... and the chlorine gas is still on the air...

Wet some towels / paper. Chlorine quickly dissolves and is heavier than air. You might end up with things soaked with concentrated hydrochloric acid though... You might want to start off with an alkaline solution to alleviate this.

[InsaneApache]

Sunlight is good as well.

I should have cottoned on to the water as well.

Doh!

[Gregoshi]

That clogged toilet is starting to look like a minor problem.

[Tellos Athenaios]

Mixing those is safe (while replacing sodium hydroxide with an acid is not). Sodium hipochlorite creates poisonous clorine compounds reacting with urine and some other organic substances though.

EDIT: Noted. Though neither salt will be pure and contain traces of their `active' parts in water, which given HCO- being so unstable is a risky thing to play with.

[Hosakawa Tito]

At least the rat had the decency to die before you sat down to take care of business. Nothing more vicious than a trapped rat with only your dangling family jewels between it and freedom...oh, I'm gonna have a nightmare tonight.

[InsaneApache]

[CountArach]

To the surprise of practically no one, this thread is closed.