Cockpit drainage is clogged!

[DangerousPirate]

Hello boaters,
I noticed water in my cockpit doesnt properly flow away. I didnt think much of it because even though slowly it always did go down the pipes in the end. But now, with all the extra time, I tried to tackle it and bought a plunger, but even though I got stinky brown water up I never unclogged it, no matter how hard I pumped (its also directly in the corner so it is hard to access, too). After this having failed I ran some hot water through it, then I used drainage cleaner and hot water. My last resort was the plumber snake but not matter how hard I ended up twisting, and twisting, and twisting. It just didnt seem to grip anything. It is like there is something solid in there that blocks it.

As a result an endoscope cam has been bought and pushed down to see, but because of the brown water and difficulty to twist it properly I could barely make out anything. Here is a screenshot I took with said cam.


It is the best shot I could get.

Do you have any idea what I can do about this?

Many thanks

 

[Poignard]

At the risk of insulting you, is the cockpit drain seacock open?

 

[V1701]

Assuming seacock open, close it and remove the pipe, clean out as necessary. Now for the scary part - have an appropriate sized wooden bung at the ready, open seacock, poke around a bit which will hopefully clear any blockage at the sea cock. Close seacock, replace pipe, open seacock. That's what I'd do anyway...

 

[DangerousPirate]

Ok, problem solved. As I was waiting for replies I got a little frustrated and got a fishing hook, bent it a little and put it on a thick wire, shoved it down until I felt resistance and jacked it back and forth, and when I pulled up I had a little piece of wood with some gunk around it. I dont know why I didnt grip anything with the plumber snake but there we go.

Thank you two for your answers, if this wouldnt have worked I would have tried V1701s method and dismantle the entire thing. Dunno why it didnt occur to me to try that.

 

[Refueler]

Be careful now if you have had Drain Cleaner down there ... make sure you wash off everything thoroughly after use and YOUR HANDS etc.

Unfortunately - Drain Cleaner can in fact harden up a blockage ... its fine with cooking oil etc. but I've seen it act like a hardening catalyst !!

There's a thread on here about my problem with 90 degree sharp elbow joiners in my cockpit drains which cause blockage. The Drain Snake is only way I can unblock ... and I leave it in the worst one !!

 

[DangerousPirate]

Oh, that doesnt sound too good! Guess Ill get the hose and flush everthing out now when theres still daylight.

 

[William_H]

Re use of enderscope type camera. They are truly wonderful and cheap but as you found (and I did too) it is very difficult to discern just what you are looking at. I got one to check halyards inside the mast. I could not make sense of the pictures at all. They are not the panacea we might hope for. ol'will

 

[Refueler]

Re use of enderscope type camera. They are truly wonderful and cheap but as you found (and I did too) it is very difficult to discern just what you are looking at. I got one to check halyards inside the mast. I could not make sense of the pictures at all. They are not the panacea we might hope for. ol'will

I have one as well and agree ... its not easy to sort out what image you see ....

 

[duncan99210]

I have one as well and agree ... its not easy to sort out what image you see ....

Guess that’s why the guys who do colonoscopies get paid so well....

 

[FlyingGoose]

I used a dinghy pump , to unblock two large drains , just make a tight seal and push down , whoosh it all came out.

 

[DangerousPirate]

Guess that’s why the guys who do colonoscopies get paid so well....

Theyre doctors though, and their decision is more than just looking at something. It means to also know what theyre seeing.

The picture quality itself is not an issue for them.

Friend of mine has a very good one he uses for all kinds of things, and it is a very high resolution. Obviously he paid way more than 9 quid for it though haha.

 

[rogerthebodger]

Theyre doctors though, and their decision is more than just looking at something. It means to also know what theyre seeing.

The picture quality itself is not an issue for them.

Friend of mine has a very good one he uses for all kinds of things, and it is a very high resolution. Obviously he paid way more than 9 quid for it though haha.

My Urologist scope has a laser so he can burn out any nasties he my find.

That may have been useful to you to clear your blockage.

 

[johnalison]

My Urologist scope has a laser so he can burn out any nasties he my find.

That may have been useful to you to clear your blockage.

I recently saw a Japanese programme about their development of an AI programme that could be used with colonoscopies and enormously increased the detection of lesions, especially those that were not raised. Whether it could be re-programmed to detect cockpit drain fatbergs I have no idea, but it sounded very important. My own polyp was 2.5cm across, and so hard to miss.

One of my cockpit drains blocked last year. One problem was that it joined the drain from the scuppers at a right-angle junction and couldn't easily be rodded. In the end, shoving a length of plastic tube similar to that in the water system and moving it around in a rough manner cleared it, but I expect the solution will depend on each installation.