[QUOTE=kladner;467512][URL]http://amp.miamiherald.com/entertainment/ent-columns-blogs/jose-lambiet/article172067617.html[/URL][/QUOTE]

[quote]The Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office declined to identify the inmate, who was on trustee status and authorized to leave the jail for work.

Burchfield’s husband is a major conservative causes attorney and a partner at King & Spalding in Atlanta. The firm had a $500,000 contract with Congress to defend the Defense of Marriage Act, although they resigned from the case after being criticized by gay rights groups. Soon after, they were dropped by the National Rifle Association, also a client.

Burchfield is also a long-standing member of the Republican National Lawyers Association and was the chairman of Crossroads GPS, a Republican advocacy group founded by Karl Rove.[/quote]Obviously, the Mrs. wanted to have sex with a better class of guy. And 30 years younger to boot!

[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;467516]Obviously, the Mrs. wanted to have sex with a better class of guy. And 30 years younger to boot![/QUOTE]
ROFL!

Manchester’s hilarious attempt at reinventing London’s Oyster Card
 

[url]https://medium.com/@sushilnash/a-beginners-guide-to-using-my-get-me-there-manchester-s-hilarious-attempt-at-reinventing-london-s-70a6d1dde246[/url]

I got some liquid drain opener to unclog a drain (two drains, actually -- water put down the higher drain eventually starts backing out the lower drain. The water then drains, very but slowly.) I traced the plumbing to the junction where the drains meet. It's a reasonably long run to the junction from the lower drain, so I got a big bottle, 80 ounces.

The instructions say, "Pour 1/5 of the bottle (2 cups) slowly down the drain. Use 1/2 of the bottle for a total clog."

How are you supposed to determine when you've poured the correct amount? I am leery of using a measuring cup for caustic gel.

This seems a great addition to the Annals of Unhelpful Instructions...

Meanwhile, I poured part of the bottle down the drain and waited, then ran water. Results were unsatisfactory, so I poured the rest of the bottle down the drain, and decided to wait longer...

Leaving it overnight can help.

We have a 10 metre long wire spring, which is very useful for clearing blocked pipes once you have learned how to work it around bends in the plumbing.

[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;468613]How are you supposed to determine when you've poured the correct amount? I am leery of using a measuring cup for caustic gel.[/QUOTE]

weight it ? if it's homogenous with roughly equal density then you can weigh it and do roughly 1/5 of the weight.

[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;468613]I got some liquid drain opener to unclog a drain (two drains, actually -- water put down the higher drain eventually starts backing out the lower drain. The water then drains, very but slowly.) I traced the plumbing to the junction where the drains meet. It's a reasonably long run to the junction from the lower drain, so I got a big bottle, 80 ounces.

The instructions say, "Pour 1/5 of the bottle (2 cups) slowly down the drain. Use 1/2 of the bottle for a total clog."

How are you supposed to determine when you've poured the correct amount? I am leery of using a measuring cup for caustic gel.[/QUOTE]I don't think you need to be so accurate with measuring things. Just pour some down until us "feels" like the right amount.

[QUOTE=retina;468623]I don't think you need to be so accurate with measuring things. Just pour some down until us "feels" like the right amount.[/QUOTE]No, I don't think great accuracy is necessary, nor trying to achieve it even desirable. With caustic drain openers, you want to minimize the chances of a spill.

So, I think the instructions have to be viewed as guidelines, to give a rough idea of how much of the stuff you actually need to clear your average clog. But I suppose it's possible the companies could use their impracticable instructions as a handy dodge to avoid liability if someone had problems. "Prove you used it according to package directions!" (This idea is not original to me. I read a fictional description of a company using this dodge for an insecticide that failed to kill insects (a nest of wasps), in [u]The Shining[/u].)

Well, the first bottle of drain opener I put down the lower (bathtub) drain didn't get the job done, but there was enough improvement that I decided to get more and try again. The other drain was for a double sink, and one sink has a Disposall-type appliance, whose output appeared to be backing up into the bathtub, so I wanted to clear any crud out of that drain. But I did NOT want to put drain opener through the Disposall. Luckily, double-checking under the sink showed the Disposall drained into the drainpipe for the other sink, so I simply put a whole bottle (80 ounces) of liquid drain opener down the other sink drain and waited an hour, then ran hot water down both the sink and the tub.

Clog dissolved, problem solved!

In my experience Drano-style declogging agents are a huge waste of money - I just use a shot of bleach, let sit for an hour or so, supplement with some mechanical agitation (e.g. coathanger), repeat as necessary. AFAICT bleach won't corrode pipes, waste disposals and such.

[QUOTE=ewmayer;468688]In my experience Drano-style declogging agents are a huge waste of money - I just use a shot of bleach, let sit for an hour or so, supplement with some mechanical agitation (e.g. coathanger), repeat as necessary. AFAICT bleach won't corrode pipes, waste disposals and such.[/QUOTE]Hmm. Chemically speaking, laundry bleach is pretty close.

Checking MSDS's I see that, in fact, the liquid drain openers have a shockingly low percentage of lye (sodium hydroxide), < 2.5% -- little more than in laundry bleach. The concentration of sodium hypochlorite is similar. The only significant differences are the jelly-like consistency, and the sodium silicate added to the drain openers as a corrosion inhibitor.

BTW, in some MSDS's I looked at, they didn't give percentages of lye or sodium hypochlorite. They were "trade secrets."

So I'd say the liquid drain openers are overpriced, but still way less than calling a professional (plumber or rooter service).

I'll definitely keep laundry bleach in mind as a substitute for liquid drain opener!

My first method of choice in unclogging a drain is the plunger. If the clog is near the drain, that usually works. You do NOT use drain opener in a toilet. If you've got a clogged toilet and the plunger doesn't work, use a snake if you can; otherwise, call a professional.

The clog I had to deal with was [i]way[/i] too far down the pipes for a coat hanger to reach. The length of pipe from one of the pipes to the clog was probably longer than most pipe snakes.

Back when I was a kid, crystal Drano was what we kept around the house. The MSDS says 30 to 60 percent lye (sodium hydroxide). Pure lye used to be available in hardware stores too. I haven't seen that in quite a while.