Soil pipe deposit.

[Bob Minchin]

In our bathroom, the loo is against an internal wall and discharges into
a near horizontal 110mm soil pipe run (2.5degree fall) about 2.5 metres
long before joining the top of a vertical soil stack via a bend fitted
with an inspection/rodding point.

I had a quick look in the other day (for the first time) and saw that
the bottom of the horizontal pipe has about 20mm thick deposit, not
soft, shit like stuff but a hard crusty layer which I can chip away, a
bit like a weak mortar bed.
Clearly any lack of smoothness in this run will slow down the flow and
allow it to build up.
I seem to recall reading about self cleaning velocities in pipes
carrying mixed liquids and solids and it sounds logical.

I got a 1m steel rod and hammer to it but that was as far as I could reach.

We do have fairly hard water so is this likely to be some form of
horizontal stalactite / stalagmite being formed over the 30 years since
installation?

Having chipped it away, I can't provide a photo of course. DOH!

I wonder about fitting a temporary plug where it joins the stack and
pouring brick acid down the loo to dissolve the rest over night>

Any thoughts?

TIA

Bob

PS It is not a viable proposition to re-plumb to get rid of the
horizontal run and it still works after 30 years

[RayL12]

From my experience of washing my potholing gear in the bath, yes, it
is like to be calcium based. Hard as rock! The plumber said he had never
seen the likes of it before in all his experiences and wondered what it
was. And, I now knowing why the U-bend was blocked, didn't explain it to
him.

Besides, 'hard as shit' has credibility.

As an aside, there was a few places where people would spike an object
into a mountain stream in order to calcite it. I believe it didn't take
too long. In my early months of pot-holing I wore a heavy wool jumper.
This would aften stiffen up if left too long in the drying process.

[The Natural Philosopher]

> I wonder about fitting a temporary plug where it joins the stack and
> pouring brick acid down the loo to dissolve the rest over night>

And the erst. Did this once years ago. Probably spent more time and acid
than a new toilet would have cost me

It does work. Acid, chip, flush, acid, chip,flush...




--
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the state, and about the manipulation of people under the guise of a
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you live neither in Joseph Stalin’s Communist era, nor in the Orwellian
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Vaclav Klaus

[harry]

Lime. Mechanical action/turbulence causes it to be deposited.
Chip it out & then clean the pan regularly with Harpic or similar.

When I removed the WC from my present house, the outlet pipe was half filled (a D shape0 with lime.

[Phil L]

If you are content with taking the pipe off to apply a bung, take the 2.5m
length in the back garden and give it a good hiding with a hammer.

If it still won't come off, insert the pipe with the calcium deposit at the
top, leaving the bottom clear and smooth

[Bob Minchin]

If I did the plug trick, it would mean feeding an inflatable bung in
through the inspection hole and then inflating it. There is no access to
take the end off.

Rotating the pipe is an interesting idea. Thanks. Whilst I cant get to
the ends of the pipe, I should be able to rotate it in the push fit
fittings with a decent strap wrench.

[GB]

On 11/07/2016 14:05, Bob Minchin wrote:

> PS It is not a viable proposition to re-plumb to get rid of the
> horizontal run and it still works after 30 years

I've lost the plot here. The toilet runs away okay and has done so for
30 years. So, why are you bothering?

You can get Harpic in a black bottle that has extra acid in it. We use
that, and our toilets are nice and clean. I imagine our pipes have
marginally less scale too.

[Bob Minchin]

Our toilet is also squeaky clean but the pipe isn't.
It is called preventative maintenance

[tabb...@gmail.com]

On Monday, 11 July 2016 20:00:27 UTC+1, Bob Minchin wrote:
> Phil L wrote:
> > Bob Minchin wrote:

8><

> >> In our bathroom, the loo is against an internal wall and discharges

> >> I had a quick look in the other day (for the first time) and saw that
> >> the bottom of the horizontal pipe has about 20mm thick deposit, not
> >> soft, shit like stuff but a hard crusty layer which I can chip away, a
> >> bit like a weak mortar bed.

> > If you are content with taking the pipe off to apply a bung, take the 2.5m
> > length in the back garden and give it a good hiding with a hammer.
> >
> > If it still won't come off, insert the pipe with the calcium deposit at the
> > top, leaving the bottom clear and smooth

> Rotating the pipe is an interesting idea. Thanks. Whilst I cant get to
> the ends of the pipe, I should be able to rotate it in the push fit
> fittings with a decent strap wrench.

I don't see rotation achieving anything.


NT

[GB]

My point is that you do not really know:
a) Whether the scale layer is increasing, and
b) If so, how long it will take to cause a problem.

[GB]

On 11/07/2016 20:52, tabb...@gmail.com wrote:

> I don't see rotation achieving anything.

Leaks. :)

[Phil L]

The rough deposits will be at the top of the pipe, allowing the turds to
slide past effortlessly

[Phil L]

I tend to agree.
If the deposits are visible here, the chances are they are all along the
drains lower down - removing this 2.5m of scale is irrelevent in the grand
scheme

[GB]

On 11/07/2016 21:15, Phil L wrote:

>> My point is that you do not really know:
>> a) Whether the scale layer is increasing, and
>> b) If so, how long it will take to cause a problem.
>
> I tend to agree.
> If the deposits are visible here, the chances are they are all along the
> drains lower down - removing this 2.5m of scale is irrelevent in the grand
> scheme
>
>

I have seen scale in the bottom of my house's drain. It's a couple of
cm, so same as the OP. My house was built 70 years ago. What is more, I
don't think the scale has increased significantly whilst I have been
here - 19 years.

Maybe some equilibrium is reached, so the water and other stuff scours
away a bit of the scale? Limescale is in fact slightly soluble.

[RayL12]

If it is a PVC pipe, small sharp shocks may bring it undone?

[tabb...@gmail.com]

On Monday, 11 July 2016 21:13:54 UTC+1, Phil L wrote:

They already do, and new deposit will soon form. It's pointless.


NT

[harry]

There is only so much lime in the water.
Once it's all knocked out, that's it.
The scale will get less the further from the source.

[tabb...@gmail.com]

On Tuesday, 12 July 2016 09:20:15 UTC+1, harry wrote:

> There is only so much lime in the water.
> Once it's all knocked out, that's it.
> The scale will get less the further from the source.

Of course, but over what distance does that occur? 10 metres or 100 miles?


NT

[Andrew]

It isn't scale. It's because arsewipe tradesmen washed their cementy
trowels, or tools used for quick setting filler and other stuff down the
drains, kitchen sink or the toilet.

It's what they do.