# DIY (Very) Simple budget Drain Camera



## Khufudude (Nov 11, 2015)

Thanks for all the advice so far guys! So, I need to get a look at whats going on (just to the p-trap outlet) in my tile shower stall. New house/new shower. Looks awesome, drains slow  (quick shower = standing water)

Basic (~5) remedies to no avail.   Enter Plumber... Snake (motor pistol auger) cant get past the p-trap (2" PVC). It was "shining" the end (bulb went in 'rusty' came out 'shiny').

Whew..Still there? You're awesome : So whats down there: Caulk? Concrete? Jimmy Hoffa? I gotta know! <2 ft. away and I am NOT renting a pro drain camera! I bought a CHEAP ($22) 10ft endoscope camera...plugs in to my phone, works good. The cable is flimsy like a phone charger cable. No rigidity. I gotta get something 'semi-rigid' to tape that sucker to to guide it. Any Ideas? Thx in advance!


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## nealtw (Nov 11, 2015)

Khufudude said:


> Thanks for all the advice so far guys! So, I need to get a look at whats going on (just to the p-trap outlet) in my tile shower stall. New house/new shower. Looks awesome, drains slow  (quick shower = standing water)
> 
> Basic (~5) remedies to no avail.   Enter Plumber... Snake (motor pistol auger) cant get past the p-trap (2" PVC). It was "shining" the end (bulb went in 'rusty' came out 'shiny').
> 
> Whew..Still there? You're awesome : So whats down there: Caulk? Concrete? Jimmy Hoffa? I gotta know! <2 ft. away and I am NOT renting a pro drain camera! I bought a CHEAP ($22) 10ft endoscope camera...plugs in to my phone, works good. The cable is flimsy like a phone charger cable. No rigidity. I gotta get something 'semi-rigid' to tape that sucker to to guide it. Any Ideas? Thx in advance!



If this is the same house as the painted tile, can we assume it is new to you and not a new house. No access from below?
Not sure if you see what's there will help, have you made sure the vent is clear?


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## Khufudude (Nov 11, 2015)

Yep, sorry I didn't specify. 1950's block house with newly remodeled (gutted) master bath. was a tub, now a tile shower. The 2" pvc most likely connects to old 1.5" galvanized "Somewhere." All other drains in house are Ok (including sink & toilet in this room).


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## nealtw (Nov 11, 2015)

What is below this shower?


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## frodo (Nov 11, 2015)

tape that flaccid camera to a 3/8''  poly plastic pipe

ice make line from hardware store   shove it down there to have a look see


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## havasu (Nov 11, 2015)

I'd recommend an fishtape, used to run wire in conduit. Just enough rigidity but still flexible to go through the bends.


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## Khufudude (Nov 12, 2015)

Update: think I got to the root of the problem. To answer about the house (as best I can): It's a 1 story house and one side (851 sq ft.), including this bath, is a garage coversion so that side of the house is 1 step down from the rest. I wanna show these (2) pics in case it helps in Any way find a sugg. short of digging up all this nice tile work.
during remodel:





after:





So I tried out several of the materials you guys suggested. For brevity, A fun but unnecessary picture of them lined up is here if you are curious: http://i.imgur.com/wWPFKMj.jpg 
I ended up using some 16 Ga. Annealed Wire: Here's the Finished contraption: 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




I got Pretty clear video footage of some definite obstructions. I'm ~95% sure its roots. Would love if someone can confirm (I have 0% exp. with this issue).
I edited 2 short clips (0:24 & 1:25 long). I feel I might be abusing etiquette w/ too many photos & links already. maybe I could get some feedback on that. The clips are on youtube and I can def link them if appropriate. Thanks!


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## nealtw (Nov 12, 2015)

We like photos and videos, post them whgere ever you can.
It looks like the floor was dug up for the new shower so any repair should find themselves outside the shower area.


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## Khufudude (Nov 12, 2015)

Ok thanks, cool. 
This is the short (24 sec) clip:
https://youtu.be/jqTlxWO0fjc
Longer (1:25) clip is here: (by 0:13 you can already see blockage)
https://youtu.be/DS35wrB92OQ
The camera shoots in 480p, but the vid. quality is still below average . If there is blockage there (just ~18" down <from center shower drain>/in the p trap bend) there could be some (or a ton  )  more down the line.


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## Khufudude (Nov 12, 2015)

nealtw said:


> It looks like the floor was dug up for the new shower so any repair should find themselves outside the shower area.



It was. and I know they moved the location of the drain. (Here is the old bathtub, if you can see...notice the diff. drain locations) 




But I was told (indirectly) that they didn't test the plumbing 'below'/beyond where they started/connected at.


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## nealtw (Nov 12, 2015)

Note the placement of the trap in this video and who ever did this also just trusted it was vented properly. Hopefully this is attached to the sewer not just a floor drain.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxCtzcAbd9U[/ame]


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## slownsteady (Nov 13, 2015)

from the video, (as best as i can tell) it looks like you never got through the bend in the trap. How far did you get...by way of measuring the snake used? So the trap itself is inaccessible?


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## nealtw (Nov 13, 2015)

I wonder how much tile grout was rinsed down there when they did the tile work. The trap should be straight down below the drain.


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## frodo (Nov 14, 2015)

we used to catch tile guys emptying the dirty grout buckts into the shower drains

i know a plumber why got into a fight over it,  whooped a tile setters butt.

then got fired,  for but whoop'n   should have gott'n a raise.

i know another plumber,  who caught a "undocumented person of spanish decent"

crap'n in a tub.  pointed a pistol at him, made him pick it up, put it in his pocket and leave the jobsite.  LOL...i love that ols man !!!!!!!!


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## Khufudude (Nov 21, 2015)

I've achieved a significant (~75%) improvement in how fast the shower drains. :trophy:
I used the "Works" Toilet cleaner method (twice) and unfortunately all it did was clean out everything except for the stuck tile grout (it did give me clearer video of the obstruction):
24 second clip (after 2 attempts, soaking "works" for 15 min. and then flushing with boiling water.)
https://youtu.be/cKFY_6Uv3w0

So, Then i moved up to Muriatic acid. After looking up PVC's resistance to dif concentrations of HCL acid, I decided to buy 20% Muriatic acid. I diluted some to 10% (2 cups total sol. in a pyrex meas. cup) and poured it into the shower drain. After 10 min. I flushed it with cold water, and then then hot water.

I repeated this method a 2nd time. A Lot of the grout is now gone. (18 sec clip) https://youtu.be/fowbv0dBMqU
I will likely do it one more time, but I am very happy with the improvement :
DISCLAIMER: This in NOT "How-to" info or guide. Acid is Dangerous. I did research on and used safety precautions (chem. resistant gloves, goggles, respirator mask, good ventilation, etc.) Everything was pretty cheap actually, and easy enough to find...But do your own research if (like me) you have never used strong chemicals in a DIY project before. Thanks!


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## slownsteady (Nov 21, 2015)

good results....and a good reminder


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## frodo (Nov 22, 2015)

I would have handed the bill to the tile setter


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## slownsteady (Nov 22, 2015)

So, did your budget camera earn itself a star? would you say it's a good cheap alternative?


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## Khufudude (Nov 23, 2015)

slownsteady said:


> So, did your budget camera earn itself a star? would you say it's a good cheap alternative?



For the price I paid for it ($20 including overnight shipping), I give it 4/5 stars).
The Good: It functioned very well with my (android) phone. Has a light dimmer on it near the plug (you can adj. the light with the camera 10 ft down a pipe/duct etc). You can get pretty good pics/videos when the camera (lens/end) is in the right focus depth (about 4cm-10cm in my experience). The wire I used (w/ electrical tape) as a guide worked well.

The Not Good: if something is too close (<4cm) or too far away (>10cm), you wont be able to get a focused  pic/vid. This def can be a problem in a pipe/trap etc. when its hard to move/adj the camera a 'tiny' bit when its bent around p trap/far down. The cable is flimsy (just like a phone charger cable). Different uses would def need something semi-rigid taped on. 

I needed to get around the p trap bend. the camera head was twisted and  bent many times to try and accomplish this. After a few days of this the camera signal to my phone started to go out, and I had to 'play with it' for a minute to come back on. To be fair, it was butting up against hardened tile grout.

If I was rating it w/ out considering price, it would be poor (2/5). there is a quasi similar milwaukee product i saw at local big box store, with a 3 ft. flexicorp cable cam. I am sure it would have done a better job (but it is $200).


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## nealtw (Nov 23, 2015)

Could you have put inside a sugical tube?


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## Khufudude (Nov 24, 2015)

nealtw said:


> Could you have put inside a sugical tube?


I did not try surgical tubing. I did try clear plastic/vinyl poly tubing and automotive vacuum tubing. the poly tubing (think was cheap ice maker line tubing) came rolled up in a spool (like a hose) and would not flatten out enough to get down to the bend in the p trap. The vacuum tube was too 'rubbery' on the outside and wouldn't slide down smoothly.

Here's (most of) the stuff I tried:


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## slownsteady (Nov 25, 2015)

Hope you've got a different baster for the turkey


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## nealtw (Nov 25, 2015)

A fish tape might have worked.
https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/search.products.html?redir=s&#!q=fish+tape


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## Khufudude (Nov 26, 2015)

nealtw said:


> A fish tape might have worked.
> https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/search.products.html?redir=s&#!q=fish+tape



Yes, I looked at the Klein fish tapes at my local HD. Unfortunately, the most affordable one (~$20) was poorly reviewed (on hd & other websites) b/c it was not super flexible (plain steel variety) did not extend/retract nicely. I confirmed this somewhat by messing around with it at my local hd. I know I would like to have a good one down the line, but this project I tried to have a small budget.


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## nealtw (Nov 26, 2015)

Now you have it cleared some what you could wrap it up in a water proof clear plastic and float it down the drain and wait for it to dry out and veiw things as you pull it back out


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## frodo (Nov 26, 2015)

This looks like something illegal going on....i am going to call home land security ...maybe they will run a camera down there if we tell we saw sum'n 'spicious


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## slownsteady (Nov 26, 2015)

they'll have a drone up there in no time.


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