You need a snake. This is a spool of cable about the size of a large toaster with a handle on it and a corkscrew looking end attached to the free end of the cable. Feed the cable into the pipe until you hit the obstruction. Then turn the handle and it should begin pulling out the gunk in the pipe. The hardware store should cary them snakes. Be careful about how you push it as the snake can chew through the pipes if you get it into a sharp bend and push it hard enough against the pipe wall.
If you're renting, I should think the landlord would put up for the cost of a plumbing emergency.
Your electricity problem is most likely a blown fuse or a circuit breaker popped into the off position -- that would be why your outlets don't work. You need to replace the fuse or reset the breaker. Be sure that you have a flashlight with you when you go to do this in case you remove the fuse or flip off the breaker which controls the circuit lighting the room where the fuse/breaker box is located.
Find the fuse or breaker box. It will be mounted on the wall near where your electrical service enters the house. The circuit breakers will look like wall lightswitches, most likely mounted sideways. They should be printed with on/off labels. Find the one in the off position and switch it back to the on position. Your outlets should work. If the breakers are not printed, look for the odd-one out, the one in a different position than the others. If there are only two breakers, plug a radio into one of the dead outlets. Flip one of the switches, and if you hear the radio come to life, then bingo. If you don't hear the radio come on then flip the switch back to its original position and try the other one. If you do not have circuit breakers, check for fuses in a fusebox which will be mounted in the same place.
If you have fuses, it is most likely that one of them will be blown. Unscrew it and look into the little window to see if the fuse is blown. There will be a flat copper bar in the window of the fuse. If this copper bar is intact, the fuse is okay. If the copper bar is melted away in the middle then that is the blown fuse. The fusebox should be wired so that the hot lead is in the bottom of the fuse socket, but occasionally some lummox has done the wiring and the hot will be on the threads.
Congratulate George on decrementing his alotment of lives.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Just saw this on a friend of a friend's page and thought I could be of service.
Date: 2005-01-24 03:33 am (UTC)If you're renting, I should think the landlord would put up for the cost of a plumbing emergency.
Your electricity problem is most likely a blown fuse or a circuit breaker popped into the off position -- that would be why your outlets don't work. You need to replace the fuse or reset the breaker. Be sure that you have a flashlight with you when you go to do this in case you remove the fuse or flip off the breaker which controls the circuit lighting the room where the fuse/breaker box is located.
Find the fuse or breaker box. It will be mounted on the wall near where your electrical service enters the house. The circuit breakers will look like wall lightswitches, most likely mounted sideways. They should be printed with on/off labels. Find the one in the off position and switch it back to the on position. Your outlets should work. If the breakers are not printed, look for the odd-one out, the one in a different position than the others. If there are only two breakers, plug a radio into one of the dead outlets. Flip one of the switches, and if you hear the radio come to life, then bingo. If you don't hear the radio come on then flip the switch back to its original position and try the other one. If you do not have circuit breakers, check for fuses in a fusebox which will be mounted in the same place.
If you have fuses, it is most likely that one of them will be blown. Unscrew it and look into the little window to see if the fuse is blown. There will be a flat copper bar in the window of the fuse. If this copper bar is intact, the fuse is okay. If the copper bar is melted away in the middle then that is the blown fuse. The fusebox should be wired so that the hot lead is in the bottom of the fuse socket, but occasionally some lummox has done the wiring and the hot will be on the threads.
Congratulate George on decrementing his alotment of lives.