5 ways to unblock a clogged toilet: plunger, drain snake, etc.

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  • OVERALL DIFFICULTY INDEX: 4/10
  • IF YOU HAVE NO TOOLS, YOU COULD PAY AS LITTLE AS $20 OR AS MUCH AS $ 200 TO GET THEM FOR THIS JOB
  • IF YOU HAVE NO EXPERIENCE YOU SPEND 8 HOURS TO CARRY OUT THIS JOB
  • NO SAFETY ISSUES RELATED TO THIS TASK
BEFORE YOU START
  • You need to work in a clean environment. if the toilet flush still works but is slow or difficult to evacuate the toilet contents, flush it several times until clear then add detergent and flush again.
  • If the toilet is completely clogged, wear long gloves that reach your elbows and safety goggles to avoid any drop of dirty water to enter your eyes.
  • Be courageous, it is not as "disgusting" as you think...
DISCLAIMER:
Our pictorials are of informative nature and do illustrate works carried out by ourselves at our own premises for our own use and satisfaction.
Readers who envisage to carry similar works inspired by the below method shall do this at their own risks and liability.

Preparatory works for unclogging a toilet

Start by opening the closest sewer manhole to the toilet. 
If clogged, move to the next manhole until you find the one that is clear.
If no manhole is clear, the problem is from the septic tank which is not covered by this pictorial.
Insert a camera and take a picture of the pipe going towards the toilet (left)
If the pipe is clogged, go to the below described methods for opening it.
If the pipe is clear like in this case, insert any empty can into the manhole to create a trap (middle) and later catch what was obstructing the sewer. You don't want the foreign object to pass the manhole and create a problem downstream of it.
Fill with water a bucket and manually try flushing your toilet by pouring the water from as high as you can. Repeat a few times, check at each time the can in the manhole. This could have solved your problem.

1- First trial: toilet plunger or better, suction pump.

A classic and simple tool that is worth trying the toilet plunger being so widely available and cheap.
Be aware however that you need to use the one with the biggest possible cup.
Push in and pull out several consequent times.
If you use the pump, use all your force to push and try to pull the handle as fast as you can.

2- The water hose

Introduce your garden hose from the manhole and keep pushing until it hits somewhere and refuses to go further.
Put some tape for marking the length inside the sewer. This is useful in case you pull it out and in again to see if it can still go further.
Connect water supply to your hose.
Make sure the trap is there and open the water.
You can try the same from the toilet side but this depends on how the toilet outlet is shaped within the bowl.

3- The sewer snake (drain snake)

Another classic tool with a relative low cost not exceeding 20$.
You can attach fishing hooks to its end, also attach it to the water hose as a combination of both methods.
The drain snake alone is so efficient against organic and fat plugs.
With the hooks at its end, one can hope catching a foreign object.
if used alone (without the garden hose), rotate the snake using the handle while pulling it towards you.

4- The air compressor

If you have an air compressor, introduce the air hose into the sewer the same manner as the water hose.
Plug all drainage fittings in the basin, shower, etc. with plastic bags and use something heavy to keep the bag in place when blowing air like the shown tool boxes.
Use a floor mop to plug the space around the air hose.
Make sure not to forget the overflow drainage fittings of the basin and the tub.
Run your compressor with the valve closed until a 5-6 bar pressure is built into the tank.
Open the valve fast. You will see bubbles into the toilet and hopefully the obstacle will come out with it.

5- The flat sewer rod combined to an inspection camera (endoscope)

If you have an inspection camera (endoscope), and if you suspect that the plug is in the toilet itself, use it as shown by shaping the flexible tube like an S (left). In this case, the object has been found stuck inside the toilet siphon. It's a shower handset diffuser:
The sewer rod is introduced along with the endoscope in order to see what's happening in there:
Once sure of the drain rod reaching the object, a large fishing hook is attached to its end and the shower cover is pulled out of the siphon. The water had been emptied from the bowl for an easier handling: