bizarre clog (and draining)

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from the looks of that plumbing job, [[[ugly]]] i would say no fall on the trap arm from the tee to the trap
 
frodo said:
i would say no fall on the trap arm from the tee to the trap
Click to expand...

<Fall> meaning not enough downhill slope? And just less enough than the right hand sink (which flows)?

and/or, I keep forgetting this, since the drain did flow properly for at least a few years, whatever "natural build-up" (but not clog) there might be is enough to bring the lack of "fall" into play?

I'm still wondering if there's some peculiar hydro-dynamic factor involved since the plunge routine (see earlier post for video link) allows quite nice flow once started.

thanks!
 
Sometimes there is enough play (not enough support) in the pipes for it to sag a bit over time. And sometimes there is a little play in the tailpiece connection, when - if not snugged up - with the trap can cause the slope to be less.
And yes, a little bit of sludge deposit on the bottom of the pipe can cause a bit of a dam, but I would think the snake should break that up.
 
There are 3 configurations of 1/4" snakes, strait, strait bulb head and drop bulb head and your difficulty in "clearing" any obstruction may well be from one of the first two, which respond to directional feed.
 
So after all that over-analysis Occam's Razor rises again.

I didn't want to tye anything else until I'd removed the screw-on drain cap (it wasn't removable by hand). Finally got an over-large pair of channel locks and using a rubber sheet grabbed edges of the cover with the locks and very carefully squeezed and turned. Once off there it was, the most common clog situation: a clot of snot & hair wrapped around the drain vents. Cleared it and all is good.

Still amazed that that clot (which was no where near completely blocking the drain) could slow the flow so much & have the bizarre ability to jet evac when plunged.

thanks for all the ideas. They did help understanding and double-checks on the field installation.
 
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