Flushing Out Urinal Drains
Cast-Iron Cutting
Cleaning Drain-Cleaning Cables

Urinal Drains

When I remove a urinal from the wall to snake the drain, there is seldom a hose bib in the restroom and I like to wash out the drain when I’m finished. So I took an old flush valve, removed the supply nipple and reduced it down to a hose bib. Then I connect it to the urinal supply stop and attach a short hose to the hose bib. Now it’s easy to flush out the drain and test the urinal gasket for leaks (after the urinal is hung on the wall but before reconnecting the flush valve). You can also use this method for toilets.

Charlie Pankow
Florida Plumbers & Backflow
Fort Myers, Fla.

Cast-Iron Cutting

When cutting cast iron for repairs, you may not be able to get a chain snap around the pipe or find that it crushes instead of snapping it. Instead, I use an angle grinder with a diamond-tip masonry blade. You can cut the pipe faster with the diamond blade than with a cast-iron blade on a reciprocating saw, and with a lot less vibration. If the pipe is in a tight spot, you can cut a slot around most of the pipe and gently break it the rest of the way.

Paul Schneider
Mark Schneider Plumbing
Sussex, Wis.

Cleaning Drain-Cleaning Cables

Since I am usually in a hurry to get my equipment back to the truck after a job, I don’t get to clean my small drain-cleaning cables until I get back to the shop. One day I decided to wash the cables and put them around the bottom of the washing machine I have in the shop to launder uniforms and rags. I added laundry detergent and a little degreaser. After washing, I oil them and am ready to go again. They even smell good!

Jim Mancuso
After Five Plumbing
Spartanburg, S.C. 

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