Drain Jetting From Kärcher

[Brad93]

Well, we’ve had endless drain issues at home. Due to neighbours putting wet wipes down their drains.

We’ve had three sets of rods down there, lost one set.

Decided to order a drain jetting kit, 50 meters long off eBay for £150 that fits our Kärcher HDS.

But it’s not pulling itself down the drain. It’s as if the forward facing nozzle is stronger than the three pointing backwards.

Pulling our hair out now. We’re gonna end up digging the main sewer up at this rate. All because of the neighbours!!

Any pointers? This is what I ordered.

I’ve also tried it in a bit of 3” pipe laying flat on the ground with no joy.

 

[Pete.]

Can you remove the forward facing jet, or fit a smaller one?

 

[Brad93]

Can you remove the forward facing jet, or fit a smaller one?

Unfortunately no, all the 4 jets are integrated in one nozzle.

 

[brightspark]

that's a bit odd I borrowed one for the karcher and it worked well

Can you remove the forward facing jet, or fit a smaller one?

it needs the forward one to blast the crap loose and the backward ones clear it away I borrowed one for daughters drains for the karcher and it worked fine pulling its self in

 

[brightspark]

cant you use the rods with a screw claw on the end to pull the crap loose then use the karcher

 

[Pete.]

Yeah I know how they work, (previously) qualified water jetter. If the front jet is too strong it won't pull itself forward. I never did drains, just concrete jetting, but I've seen people jetting drains and they were working quite hard pumping the jetting hose by hand through obstructions.

 

[brightspark]

only other thing to try is strap the jet hose to the rods and shove them up by hand last resort

 

[Pete.]

That's what I'd be doing. Then all of the mess I dragged out would be dumped on the perpetrator's lawn.

 

[wyn]

The law changed on the ownership of sewers a while back.

The bit you are trying to clear might actually be the local water suppliers problem.

 

[brightspark]

The law changed on the ownership of sewers a while back.

The bit you are trying to clear might actually be the local water suppliers problem.

that's correct environment agency may be responsible for them if its a shared main sewer drain on your property . worth ringing up to find out if you cant clear it

 

[julianf]

I'm (almost) certain you know what you're doing, but...

Generally, as soon as the wast streams from multiple properties merge, the responsibility changes away from the land owner to the water board.

I guess different areas may be different, but it's certainly like that where we live.

I know this with certainty as I have waste streams merging on our ground. Before they merge, the drain is my call, after the junction is south west water, even though we own the land.

 

[julianf]

And by the time I hit send, you have other people telling you the same! : )

 

[Brad93]

Unfortunately I told my dad this, he carried on with the rods, then lost them down the drain.
Hence now we need to get them out before we involve the sewer company or environmental health.

 

[roofman]

Those drain clearing nozzles only work correctly if off a commercial power washer especially if its a heavy hose...the small hobby Karcher and home stuff just don't have the grunt to pull a long length of hose and push the blockage at the same time.

 

[carbon]

Does the nozzle have any markings on it as it may be the wrong size for your machine. Or when this is running is it operating at the correct pressure if your machine has a pressure gauge

 

[knighty]

the nozzles fitted to it will be too large for your pump, so you're not making enough flow/pressure for them

take the end off and get a one matched to your pump?


EDIT: oops other people said the same thing posting quicker than me!



is there any flow at all or non? those drain nozzles are ok but not awesome... if you've got a little bit of flow wash a thin twin/string/whatever down - sometimes have to tie a plastic bag on the end so it'll be carried away

once it's out the other end tie it to a rope and pull that down, tir a big knot in the ripe and use that to sift it.... even better if you have enough rope to tie the ends back together so it;s a big hoop through the drain.... keep making the knot bigger and keep pulling it through

works great for stubborn stuff - I've had bits of broken pallet wood etc. washed down drains here, they stick on the corners and other stuff builds up on it.... rope with a knot in it is the only way I've ever shifted them! :-)

 

[brightspark]

try one of these that's what you need a retrievable screw https://www.google.co.uk/search?sou...0j0i10j0i13i5i30j0i22i10i30j33i21.-UgeavCGs78

 

[julianf]

I guess there's a tiny chance that one of those usb endoscopes, on the end of another set of rods might enable you to recover the first set.

If you think this might work, theyre about a tenner on eBay from China. Obviously you can't wait that long, so you may be able to find a UK seller, or, if you can't, let me know and I'll mail you mine.

The picture quality is rubbish on them, and depth of field is poor too, but they're waterproof and have got me through some drain issues in the past.

 

[Bullet2012]

@Brad93
Is that a genuine Kaercher accessory pipe ? Mine has 4 rear facing and one forward, works fine but as @brightspark has suggested maybe using the rods to assist will be better.

 

[garethp]

@Brad93
Is that a genuine Kaercher accessory pipe ? Mine has 4 rear facing and one forward, works fine but as @brightspark has suggested maybe using the rods to assist will be better.

Same as I was thinking especially with it being from Ebay

We found out at work today that the cheap fireblankets someone bought off the web are fakes and are made of nylon!!