If you have a sink that drains slowly or doesn't drain at all you can try this before calling a plumber.
First you must loosen the P-Trap and remove from the wall drain. Most drains are 1 1/2" pipe. Get your hose pipe and push it into the wall drain pipe until it stops. Then get an old towel or dish rag and stuff it completely around the hose pipe and into the wall drain pipe. Keep pushing the rag in around the hose pipe using a screwdriver.
When you have the rag pushed in securely around the hose pipe it won't let water back up and run back out the drain pipe. Hold the rag with your hands and have someone turn the hose water on full blast. If water can't back out of the drain pipe then it must be forced down the drain to unclog it.
Let the water run for a bit to force the clog loose and wash it on down the drain. Sometimes there may be a need to screw a cap on the wall drain and take your hose pipe up on the roof and push it down the vent pipe for the drain your are working on and repeat this procedure in the drain pipe. With the wall drain capped off then the forced water will work through the vent pipe also.
This procedure works and I have used it many times. An old school plumber friend of mine showed me how to do this. The philosophy of it is, that drain water is just a gravity pull downwards in the drain pipe and can clog up. But the hose pipe water has force behind it and if the water can't back out of the pipe then it is forced down the drain, along with the clog.
Things To Remember:
Stuff the rag in the pipe good and tight so the water can't back out.
Have someone with you to turn the hose water on and off for you.
If you have a problem with leakage just bend the hose and stop the water.
If your doorbell has stopped working you can normally find the problem in one of the following areas.
The doorbell button.
The doorbell transformer.
The doorbell chime.
The actual low voltage wiring.
Most times it is either the transformer or button. Unless there is no high voltage power to the transformer itself.
Have someone press the front door button and listen closely at the doorbell chime to see if you hear anything like a hum or a buzz when the button is pressed. Sometimes the plungers in the chime stick. If you hear any type of action at the chime then most likely the transformer is not the problem. If you do hear a hum or buzz at the chime then go to the next step.
Open the chime by removing the cover. You will see the plungers that move up and down. See if they move freely. Try a drop or two of light oil on the plungers and then have someone press the doorbell button and watch the plungers. If it tries to move but doesn't ring the chime then a new chime kit should fix the problem. If you do not see or hear anything happening at the chime when the button is pressed then go to the next step.
Check the button first by backing out the 2 screws and carefully pulling the doorbell button out away from the wall where you can see the two wires that hook to it. Take a pair of needle nose pliers and touch both screws on the button with the pliers to short them together. If you hear the doorbell ring then your problem is the button. If you don't hear it ring, leave the button as is for now and go to the doorbell chime. Take the cover off and locate the wires that hook to the chime. There, it should say transformer, front, and rear. Take your meter and see if you read any voltage where the wires hook to the chime. Hold one meter lead on the doorbell transformer screw and the other meter lead on the front door screw while someone presses the front button. If you do read 16 volts when the button is pressed then the problem is in the chime. If you don't read voltage then go to the next step.
Locating the transformer that feeds the doorbell system can be tricky sometimes but fairly easy to spot if you know what to look for. If it's not behind the chime then a trip into the attic, the basement or under the floor is next. While in the attic you want to head for two area's, where your chime is located below and where your front door button would be. Feel around for the small wires that should be coming from the front door to the chime and the wires coming from the chime will lead you to the transformer.
Most doorbell systems run off of 16 volts so once you find the transformer you want to check the two screws where the wires hook up with your voltage meter to see if the transformer is putting out the right voltage. If not, there is your problem. If it is putting out 16 volts then here is where you need a helper for the next step.
On the doorbell transformer there should be two wires hooked to it and then there should be two wires that are hooked together. Undo the two wires that are hooked together. One should head towards the front door and the other should head to the chime. Take your meter and touch one lead to the screw on the transformer that goes to the chime and touch your other lead to the wire
that you undid coming from the front button and have someone press the front doorbell button. If you read voltage when the button is pressed then the wire is bad from the transformer to the chime. If no voltage is read the wire to the button is bad.
It may sound confusing but it is fairly simple if you think about the process of how it works. For the chime to ring it needs a positive and a negative from the transformer. A two wire cable goes from the chime to the transformer. One of those wires hooks to the transformer screw and sends a negative to the chime.
A 2 wire cable then goes from the doorbell transformer to the front button. One of those wires hooks to the positive on the transformer and sends the positive to one side of the button. When the button is pressed it sends the positive through the button and back to the chime to ring the bell. That is why two are hooked to the transformer and two are hooked together to complete the path from the button to the chime.
Things To Remember:
Check for any tripped breakers or blown fuses that could be feeding the transformer.
If you have to check the high voltage side of the transformer be very careful. If you don't feel comfortable with it have an Electrician check it for you.
When spending any time in an attic during hot weather be aware of the dangers of heat related illnesses and come down if you get too hot.
