How many tissues to clog a toilet?

Revolutionary

Our toilet's clogged, and I'd like to know if flushing four tissues would have been enough to clog it. We're talking tissues here, and not toilet paper. I'm wondering if it was my fault - I would have thought 6 or 7 would have needed to flush to do it.

No tissues are visible under the water and some prodding didn't bring up any. Even if they did clog, wouldn't the water have disintegrated it unclogging it in the process? And if the clog were further down the line, wouldn't the pipes be wider than in the actual toilet?

Is it neccessarily clogged if simply no water is sucked down? Another explanation possible?

Thanks in advance.

Kazhiim

How much semen, exactly, was on each of the tissues?


But really, it could have been building up for a long time. Shit sticks to pipes, shit sticks to the first shit, and so on and so forth. Try plunging it.

Janson

Depends on the toilet! Ours clogs very easily.

I just keep a plunger right next to the toilet; that's sorted every problem we've had.

Revolutionary

Good and bad news:

We pulled out the hatch thingy outside that links to the toilet to find that my tissues weren't causing the problem. Whatever is clogging it wasn't put in by me as I've just been out of the country for five months. Basically we pulled out the tissues and it made no difference.

That leaves my brother (whom I share the toilet with) who told me to f*** off and blamed me. I'm betting it's clogged with used condoms. Now THOSE would clog a toilet.

Bad news is we have to use the other toilet until Monday.

Thanks y'all.

Klorgnum

Couldn't you just use a plunger on it? It's not like they're expensive.

MetroidZoid

Revolutionary wrote: »

That leaves my brother (whom I share the toilet with) who told me to f*** off and blamed me

Is your brother a constant jerk? Otherwise, this would, as the cool kids say, mean "something is up". Shenanigans are afoot. Beat those shenanigans into submission.

Caswynben

you're not supposed to flush condoms down the toilet.

Stover

Caswynben wrote: »

you're not supposed to flush condoms down the toilet.

You are if you don't want your mom to find them.

More importantly, why is plunging not an option?

Revolutionary

It's my brother who would have done the condom flushing.

The plunger is not an option as it's further down the pipe, not in the S-bend thingy.

Quid

Tissues don't break up the same as toilet paper so it's possible they're the cause. But then, so are condoms.

Midshipman

Snake that shit (literally).

Seattle Thread

Revolutionary wrote: »

The plunger is not an option as it's further down the pipe, not in the S-bend thingy.

Impossible. If that were happening, your sink and/or tub would be clogged as well.

Iceman.USAF

Makershot wrote: »

Revolutionary wrote: »

The plunger is not an option as it's further down the pipe, not in the S-bend thingy.

Impossible. If that were happening, your sink and/or tub would be clogged as well.

Not necessarily. If the clog was past the back flow preventer but not past the main, it could happen. Don't know why you'd set it up like that but hey I've seen weirder shit.

Seattle Thread

Iceman.USAF wrote: »

Makershot wrote: »

Revolutionary wrote: »

The plunger is not an option as it's further down the pipe, not in the S-bend thingy.

Impossible. If that were happening, your sink and/or tub would be clogged as well.

Not necessarily. If the clog was past the back flow preventer but not past the main, it could happen. Don't know why you'd set it up like that but hey I've seen weirder shit.

Backflow preventer? That's part of a boiler manifold... unless you mean a p-trap, which doesn't prevent backflow (it only keeps sewer gas from wafting up from your drains). And on a toilet, the p-trap is the s-bend thingy. There's no kind of backflow prevention parts in a drain system.

If the clog is only affecting the toilet, then it's in the toilet. Plunge it like there's no tomorrow, and if you find that it still won't unclog, you can try a closet auger.

acidlacedpenguin

whut if it's clogged at the point it junction's with the main. . . I'll second the snake idea, also you should attach a fibre optic camera on the end so you can "AHA! I KNEW IT WAS YOU!" when you encounter the flushed condom filled with semen or cocaine or whatever.

Seattle Thread

Unless whomever installed the DWV completely fucked it up, there is no way for the pipe to be clogged. It's three inches in diameter, whereas the toilet's s-trap is an inch-and-a-half. Anything large enough to get stuck in the waste pipe would get stuck in the toilet first.

Also, snaking a mainline costs in the neighborhood of $500, and running a camera costs closer to $1000. If you really, really want to check to see what's down there, you could remove the toilet and look. But I wouldn't recommend it.

Szechuanosaurus

Revolutionary wrote: »

Good and bad news:

We pulled out the hatch thingy outside that links to the toilet to find that my tissues weren't causing the problem. Whatever is clogging it wasn't put in by me as I've just been out of the country for five months. Basically we pulled out the tissues and it made no difference.

By outside, do you mean literally outside the house? As in the main sewage drain is blocked?

The Black Hunter

Pour a bucket of water into there while flushing

brandotheninjamaster

I'm woefully late, but I would think that using a plunger would create a suction that would strong enough to move "objects" that are "further down the line."

Seattle Thread

brandotheninjamaster wrote: »

I'm woefully late, but I would think that using a plunger would create a suction that would strong enough to move "objects" that are "further down the line."

Nah, plungers don't work via suction. They just push water through the pipe in an attempt to push any obstruction loose. They've got a woefully limited range, and mainline blockages are typically caused by tree roots that have wormed their way through cracks in the pipe fittings, so plunging is useless past that point.

Revolutionary: this "hatch" you're describing--is it a screw-off cap, about three inches across, found on the pipe near the bottom of the house?