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If you’ve experienced a blocked drain in your home or workplace before then you know calling a professional, such as the team at O’Shea Plumbing, is the best and quickest way to fix the problem. Below we’ve put together a list of the equipment that our plumbers use to fix drain blockages.
HAND PLUNGERS – Depending on the situation, these may be the first thing used to attempt to clear blockages in toilets, basins, sinks, laundry troughs, for localised blockages. At O’Shea Plumbing, we don’t use chemicals to clear blockages as some of them are ineffective or others are hazardous and dangerous.
TOILET CLOSET AUGER – Some plumbers use these to clear blockages in toilets where it is a localised blockage.
SMALL CABLE DRAIN CLEANING MACHINES – These machines are good for clearing waste pipes. A waste pipe is the connection pipe between basins, sinks, baths, showers etc. and the sewerage drain. A cable is driven down the pipe with different cutters attached to clear the blockage.
PLUMBERS PLUNGER – Plumbers either make these themselves, or buy them ready-made and use them to attempt to clear localised blockages in disconnector gullies or boundary traps.
SMALL WATER, HYDRO JET – Some plumbers use these to clear blockages in sewers and stormwater drains. At O’Shea Plumbing we find these inadequate for clearing serious tree roots out of drains, so we only use these machine for clearing waste pipes. Different size hoses and nozzles, with forward and back jets (depending on the job), are fed into the pipe to clear the blockage. These are particularly effective on blockages caused by grease.
CABLE DRAIN CLEANING MACHINES – A reliable machine, Ridgid 1500, that’s great for clearing tree roots and other blockages from sewerage and stormwater drains. Sections of cable are joined together, different cutter heads are attached, and the cables are fed into the drain to clear the blockage.
At O’Shea Plumbing we start off with a small-sized cutter head and work towards attempting to get a full-sized cutter through the drain to completely clear the drain. This will always depend on the amount of tree root in the drain, and if the drain is broken. In these cases it may be the best option to replace, or reline, some or all of the drain.
DRAIN CAMERA – The cable with a self-levelling camera head are fed into the drain. These are used to inspect the drain so decisions can be made as to the best course of action to clear, repair, replace or reline the drain are made.
NAVITRACK – This Ridgid Navitrack is a very valuable piece of equipment. It allows the plumber to track and locate a sonde that is in the drain camera head. This gives the plumber the exact location and depth of the drain and if applicable the defect in the drain.
TRUCK / TRAILER MOUNT WATER HYDRO WATER JET MACHINES – These machines are great for clearing tree root and grease blockages from drains. These machines have the correct water volume and water pressure to do the job. The machine is generally left in the street when in use. A hose is fed into the property where it is joined to a smaller hose reel. The hose from this reel – with either nozzles with forward and rear or attachments such as a Warthog nozzle – are very effective in clearing drains.
ROOTX – This is a great product that plumbers can put down the drain after tree roots have been cleared, to inhibit the tree roots from growing back into the drain. This product must be installed either immediately after the tree root has been removed or approximately 6 to 8 weeks later once the tree roots start to regrow. RootX is environmentally friendly and does not damage the tree/s.
If you’re experiencing a blocked drain, contact the professionals at O’Shea Plumbing in Mount Waverley VIC, Wantirna VIC, Bentleigh VIC, and Bundoora VIC. We’ll come running!