Have you ever heard of a plumbers snake? Most likely this sounds like a very foreign object to you. In fact, once you see one, you will probably still not recognize it. This type of tool used to only be used by professional residential or commercial plumbers, but today you can purchase one at any hardware store. These are great if you happen to get clogged drains frequently due to almost anything. There are a few different types of plumber snakes though. Here is a quick overview of the types that are available to you.
Plumbers snakes can be hand or power cranked. Most likely if you are looking to purchase one you will want to get a hand powered one. These are quite easy to use, but are usually used for shorter and smaller pipes. These will be perfect for almost any drain in your home though. They are powered by you spinning a portion on the top of the handle and is easy to push through pipes. A power cranked snake is technically easier to use than the hand powered one, but can cause damage to pipes. If you do decide to get a powered one you should make sure to never crank it too fast because it will strip the pipes. Although, this type of plumber snake can handle any size pipe you may have.
Besides there being hand powered and powered cranked snakes, there are also multiple types of heads available for them. The most common head is a simple piston shaped one. This type of head will simply push the blockage to a wider part of the draining system. Sadly though, these are not always the most effective. Another type is the screw or coil head. It will screw itself into whatever is blocking your drain and then you can easily pull the blockage out and dispose of it. These are great if you have children that like flushing large amounts of paper down the toilets. The last type of head available is a cutting head. These should generally only be used by professional residential plumbers though because they are used on much larger drainage systems. This type will literally cut through whatever is blocking your drain and then be pushed out.
Lastly, you will want to make sure that you purchase the correct size head for your drains. If you purchase one too large then it will not fit down the pipe, but if you purchase one too small then it will move around too much in the pipe and not remove your clog. If you have any questions about plumbers snake or would like a professional Chicago plumber to help you feel free to contact us at your earliest convenience.
