Customer Reviews

Cobra Products 83250 1/4-Inch-by-25-Foot Metal Drain Clearing Drum Auger

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I bought this after fighting with a bathroom sink clog for weeks. It was a $16 well spent. The instructions are not very clear, but I knew how to use it from having watched others before. You push the wire through the pipes until you can go no more. Sometimes you encounter a bend in the pipes and the auger will not go further, so you stop there and spin the drum until you feel the wire slip further in. When you think you have caught something, pull the wire back (sounds sort of like fishing). It may take a few tries if the clog is way in the pipes, but with 25 feet to work with, you should be able to get the clog out in minutes. Don't forget to clean, dry and oil wire before storing it back into the drum. Easy enough for any handy woman with manicured nails like me to handle.

I was a little skeptical because the price was so low - but the reviews were so good I had to give it a shot. If it didn't work out, it was an acceptable amount to lose. I'm happy to say that this is by far the best investment I have made in a very long time.

I am in a rental home with old pipes that give me trouble every six months or so. I grew weary of calling either the landlord or the roto-rooter people and having that expense for what was always some ridiculously small clump of whatever, and slow drains the rest of the time. I am unbelievably happy with this product!

A few of things to be aware of:

* I've noticed some of the negative reviews were under the impression that simply turning the handle inserts and retracts the snake - it does not. This is an affordable MANUAL auger made slightly easier with a rotation/holding drum. You still need to exert some elbow grease, and that's all there is to it. Small price to pay to save even more money, I'd say.

* You must insert and retract the snake coil by hand. When the snake hits the clog, you rotate the coil clockwise trying to drill through and snag the clog. Pulling back and counterclockwise rotation helps works the clog OUT. The drum HOLDS the snake coil; the rotation handle SPINS THE COIL inside the pipe and helps snag the clog; the thumbscrew keeps the coil manageable and steady;

* The head of the coil doesn't just "fit" into drains with narrow openings - it's a little larger to snag more stuff. In that case, just put the tip of the coil into the drain, then turn the handle clockwise. The coil/snake will screw into the drain past the large head which can then be inserted into the drain as needed.

* When removing the snake from the drain, alternately employ two methods:
- push it back into its circular holding compartment
- turn handle counterclockwise

* When the coil feels like it is snagged during removal, keep using the methods above. It is working the clog out.

* If you don't see the clog right away, plunge the drain for a moment, then use the snake again. You should be starting to see the some progress.

* You may need to do it a few times for a tough clog.

* You can take the whole snake out of the compartment (loosen thumbscrew); put it in the sink with some dish soap, rinse, dry off with a towel, and use some oil (I used hair clipper oil) to relubricate it. Wipe out compartment and dry as well. Use a paper towel to remove excess oil and recoil into compartment. I just push the coil back through, bend so it will go circular again, then push the snake through until you reach the end.

I seriously recommend the heck out of this thing both for your wallet and your sanity.

i hate using drano because it's so toxic but my incredibly thick hair really knows how to clog up the tub drain. i tried several other more natural techniques (baking soda, vinegar, & bleach which is questionable environmentally) and even a Zip-it (it couldn't reach the clog) all to no avail. i used this little gizmo and it smacked the hair clog right out of the drain. now, i'll never have to buy anything else or kill anymore fish to unclog a drain. i am a very happy camper!

I purchased this product to perodically clean the drains in our bathrooms. I once paid a plumber nearly $ 100 for a visit to clean one drain due to the water going out of the sink slower than desired. Based on the cost of this product that I will be able to use multiple time, it is well worth the money. It is simple to use and it works. Excellent value for those willing to do-it-yourself.

It's an auger. It cleans drains. It works like it's supposed to. Pretty easy to handle, kind of a pain to clean, but you knew the job was dangerous when you took it. The trick is to turn it just a few times, the more you turn, the more gunk gets caught in the coils and you have to yank it out with plyers - which is a really nasty job. Turn less, wear gloves.

Don't pay a plumber for a job that will take you 5 minutes to do yourself! Easy to use-just put the cable in till the clog is reached, turn-and voila! Pull it out & the clog is removed. No more unsafe drain liquids "draining" my wallet. For $20, there's no reason not to use it. Very good investment.

Worked great for breaking up some leaf and debris clogs from the downspouts. Great price too.

This is an inexpensive, green way to clear slow or blocked drains. As other reviewers have stated, the instructions are almost non-existent, but by simply feeding the tape into the drain until a blockage is encountered, then holding the pistol grip and rotating the auger to "grab" the obstruction, either pushing it through or pulling it back. To clean it, throw the uncoiled section that had been down the pipe in the bathtub and rinse with bleach, then hang it up to dry. Before rolling it back up, spray with a light coat of WD40.

Not the simplest tool to use (considering you are snaking it down a pipe, I guess it's not that bad), you may get dirty, but it beats paying for a plumber for a minor blockage.

I had a partial success with this product. It does work, but is very muscle-intensive. There is also a kind of trick you have to learn to feed the cable through the bends of the drain. Wear rubber gloves. On the easy parts of the drain, you pull out about 4" of the cable between your finger and your thumb, then push it into the drain opening. Then if it is still easy to push, do 4" more. When it becomes difficult, you have to reduce the amount of cable you are feeding to 1-2". Then you tighten the thumbscrew, push with one hand, and spin the lever on the rotor drum with the other hand. When the cable slips in, loosen the thumbscrew, feed another 1-2", then repeat the above process. When you get the cable past the bend in the pipe, it becomes easy again . . . until you hit the clog. I did manage to get about 6 feet of the cable into my drain and I ran into the clog. Unfortunately, I had "kinked" or bent my cable by that time, which appears to be an occupational hazard of learning to get it around the bends in the pipe. I got out part of the clog, but not all of it. I think if I ordered a replacement cable, I would be able to get it on the second try. However, I have already wasted 2 Saturdays on this project so I am just going to order the motorized version of this product, even though it costs more. Maybe I should have lifted more weights to prepare myself for some good old-fashioned plumbing . . .

My shower drain was completely clogged, and I bought this to see if I could break through it without having to call a plumber or use chemicals. After wrestling with this thing for a good long time, it eventually popped through the clog and my shower is draining like a champ. In the process I bent the cord coming out of this thing, but I don't think it'll affect performance in the future. So... for the money, you can't go wrong (although I'm sure for a bit more you could get much higher quality).