Hose-end Drain Unclogger

thingiverse

This printable take on a gadget from big box home improvement centers gets plugged into the end of a hose and sticks into clogged drains. When you turn it on, the bladder - toy balloon in this version - expands to make a seal against the pipe's inside while pressurized water clears the blockage through a powerful jet. The commercial edition works great, but it costs over twenty bucks, and I've managed to blow two of them up with too much pressure. This model can be modified to any size if you're familiar with OpenSCAD. My wife noticed that it does resemble a certain anatomical feature, however. It needs cawalke3's female hose fitting STL from Thingiverse's "Hose_Fitting_10mm_v3.stl" for the setup. The provided STLs fit 3/4" PVC pipes perfectly - these are the kind used on my HVAC condensate drain. Instructions This was all created using HIPS, and there is no support material required in this project. First, print a copy of tube.stl until it reaches your desired length for application purposes; glue them together with hose_conn.stl and expansion_socket.stl at each end to complete the tool setup. Printing with HIPS is awesome, by the way - the glue bonds extremely well using Testors' brand toluene-based airplane model cement! Take an open-ended toy balloon, cut a small hole at one end, and slip it into expansion_socket.stl's groove; next, push expansion_insert.stl through the tiny opening and secure with clockwise turns of the bayonet joint. Hook this assembly onto your garden hose and insert into the clogged drain before applying some pressure. Just be cautious because I was not lucky in that aspect. CAUTION: It has already failed once - I successfully dislodged a blockage, but the attachment let go, leaving me to clear up after myself later on! As you might have figured by now, I made some design decisions incorrectly during my prototype. Nonetheless, printing another replacement did the trick nicely! This was my own experience. It seems a little part flew down into deeper depths before that last clearing operation, so I could remove the clogged bits afterwards; in future instances with drains buried more deeply I worry about not getting anything to return. Note: