It's best to review vids like this BEFORE attempting the job. Being frustrated and covered with shtuff isn't the best time to learn some tips.

If you’re watching this and wondering about its expense, it’s worth it. We bought one when we were dirt poor and it pays for itself the first time. Since then, it has handled at least 5 jobs over the years at our home and 3x at a friend’s house. Just don’t ever use it for drains that are clogged by tree roots. Don’t let anyone who borrows it do that, either.

Thank you so much, mother borrowed the neighbors and was in over my head. Ya'll got me through it, much appreciated. Returned to neighbor with everything and everyone undamaged and drain cleared. 😅

Saw a reddit post where a dude lost half his finger when one of these instantly coiled on itself. Didn't really understand how until I saw 4:07 . I think I'll leave these to the professionals 😳

BIG THANK YOU FROM FLORIDA...going to buy this unit tomorrow and your video certainly helps in my decision.

Best video available. Second time around with this problem.

WOW! Your video is perfectly paced, and very professional quality. Good job!

Very Helpful!! Thanks a Million!!

Great video! Thank you!! I truly appreciate your transparency. So many edit their videos, not showing all the possible mishaps that could happen. Please keep making excellent content🙂👍👍💯

Great video. We've had root.problems over the years. The last plumber was probably the best at showing us the drain out and working and cleaning the main line. Define you considering purchasing an auger to resolve future issues.

i have the exact same electric auger from Harbor Freight, i also bought a replacement auger snake because the other one was all bent up. Cool video 😎

That’s how I do it. Good job !

Love this Paul!! Well done.

Perfect video, thank you!

Good video on how to use the machine.

thx

Very good vedio, thank you very much

Thank you 2pac

Awesome n informative vid. Especially showing clean out fitting; explaining types n usage of snake cable heads n strategies involved. Will try to unclog stubborn shower n kitchen drain ! Kudos for upload. New subscriber because of this vid. Anticipating ur next one. Peace

Really awesome video. Best one for HF hydrostar I've seen yet. But let me add few tips. I have HF hydrostar and also Ridgid K400. What makes K400 better is not the price tag, but it has a small bolt on the cable outlet which can be tightened down to fix the snake in place. This is absolutely necessary for dealing with stubborn clog and advancing the snake incrementally. HF hydrostar can be retrofitted with such a bolt using drill and tap. Second tip is that the cleaner tips are pretty dull as it comes out of the box. They can be sharpened using files or grinder wheel. Third tip is that you can easily extend length of HF hydrostar by buying another 50 foot extension. After first 50 foot, just disconnect, put the extra 50 foot into the drum and reconnect and you are good for next 50 foot for total 100 feet. One additional tip is to put hose clamp on top of the bolt that joins the cable and lock it down securely. That makes it almost impossible for cable to separate inside the drain (avoids a nightmare scenario of losing 50 foot cable inside drain).

I’m about to go purchase one of these uggg my 72 yr old brother craps like a race horse 🏇 and time is ticking here….thank you for the video and wish me luck I’ll post back after if I survive this!

As a retired plumber and mechanical contractor this was a terrific video showing how it's done. Pros or professional equipment has an attached head that looks like a hole saw that we used with Rigid Kolman 1500 sewer cleaning machines that could cut thru roots better than I saw here. The same type of head was available for the bigger General machines but was slightly less aggressive. Renting these machine is not cheap. You should check out having a local small contractor on a regular schedule compared to owning one. Remember roots grow back and can grow around a pipe breaking it. Best way is to get rid of the intruder. 🤓🤓

Just rented one. Wish me luck! I would really like to use my toilet again, the corner store lady is starting to become suspicious 😆

Keep in mind, you have to lift this in and out of your trunk/suv. It isn't light. You may need to rent the manual version.

Any tip on locating that clean out tub outside of the house along the main sewer line? I’m not sure if I have one but I’m certain it would be very helpful if I did.

Okay, that look simple enough to use. Just got to make sure that it doesn't get tangled or any parts aren't lost or damaged.

I have a ranch house. The clean out is on one end but the clothes washer is litterly on the other end. I notice there is a vent down line sticking out of the ground. I know previous owner moved the washer to that location so they made the drain line out side and down along side the slab under ground. Is it possible to send the snake down the vent pipe? Hopefully it's not a "T" so it will turn down line tword the septic.

Will the olive spring bit- the one you used for the roots damage a PVC sewer line while making a 90° turn?

Does it matter if you overshoot the end of your main and go into the city line? I'm guessing that area is much wider... would the cable whip around a lot and damage the city side or the cable?

Good content. I’m purchasing this one at Harbor freight tomorrow. Is the snake motor in the same forward position when it gets pushed into & pulled back within drain?

if you have roots in a drain pipe, you need to fix the drain pipe!

I can't get my cap off. The entire head spins but the cap isn't spinning on the threads. Almost like it's glued in.

Have a 50 foot snake , but it isn't cleaning out the drain anymore . Do I rent a longer length one , or call a service ? Foundation was built with bricks , not blocks , and now leaks in both water and mud . Nobody I've talked to locally really wants to tackle redoing it .

Did you mean auger not augur 😂 BTW I like snake drain

I'm having a hard time keeping the machine running with the foot pedal. Any reason for that?

1/2” snake big enough for this job? Or you recommend 5/8” or 3/4”?

I have never used one of these before and appreciate the video. I have a 100-year-old house with cast iron drain pipes. My washing machine drains into a sink in the basement, which gets clogged from time to time with what I'm guessing is basically lint. We've been here 40 years and I never dump grease down any drain. The basement sink which is 3 ft away from the washing machine tub, has an access cap so I am going in through there. I am assuming about 6 ft in there is a y that joins the drain from the laundry room tub to the basement sink going out a common 5 inch or whatever cast iron drain pipe. If I rent a power auger from a brick-and-mortar and go in through that access the auger, it will have an automatic feeding system. what is the risk of it getting stuck? Roto-Rooter came out and unclogged it about 4 years ago and he said it was about 6 or 7 ft in from the basement sink , at what he predicted was a Y collecting the lint. I am guessing I will use that coiled cutter as it is just going to be scraping the rusty chips off the inside of the pipe and any lint that has collected on the chips. Also, if I wind up renting an auger that does not have automatic feed, am I just pushing it in ever so gently as it spins, until I think I've given about 10 ft of cable into the pipe? And just for the record, there are no trees anywhere near my foundation. Roto-Rooter charged 189.00 to snake a clog. It took him longer to bring it in from the driveway than it did to actually do the work LOL . Does anyone know how effective that Liquid Plumber stuff is on just attacking lint or hair in a drain pipe?

Paraice sar

Inserting and removing the snake should be in the same forward direction?

Ok how do those roots get in there? Is the pipe cracked under the surface allowing the roots to get in there?

I can’t get my snake to get past a certain point. Maybe that’s the clog but no matter how much I spin it, it’s just stopping at the same spot everytime

put some root x or other root killer in your drains every 4 to 6 months, it helps.

Why not just fix the entire drainage system and removing the big tree?

no rubber gloves, feed slowly, and don't put body weight on that switch so you can lift off in a hurry

Dude those grip gloves... nevermind, you figured it out as i was typing!

For all your BS why don't you focus more on operating the machine -- such as CW and CCW setting, retraction, and kinks.

I had a major clog issues, I had the sewer line replaced, old houses have clay lines, after the sewer line is replaced, it was working well, my drain line is clogged, i got electric snake, I have 3 clean out vales one in bathroom under the floor has trap door to access it, one in kitchen there's a clean out valve, up stairs cused to have a bathroom, not any more, that's why there is a old sewer pipe from upstairs to downstairs thats why there ia a clean out valve. And 3rd clean out valve is in basement. I use snake at kitchen clean out valve, first it worked, then I run water to clean tub the toilet water is rising and tub drain is stuck. Oh ph. Uck. I use snake on clean out valve under bathroom floor, it has a trap door to get to valve. Use snake nothing happened, the bathroom drain line is connected to clean out valve drain line in kitchen clean out valve. I went to basement clean out valve, nothing happened, toilet water still full and tub still has water. So even with the sewer line is replaced, what could cause the clogg in house if snake didn't unclog, there must be a clog where a snake can't reach, I'm baffled, its not the sewer line issue.