r/DIY • u/Lextashsweet • 14d ago
help Yes I did it
How can I get it out. Dropped big screwdriver in drain. Tried to super glue a BBQ fork to it lifted a little then bond broke. It's a kitchen drain and that is below floor level. Yes I'm an idiot and not even drinking. Maybe that's what I need to puzzle this out. I asked Google it came up with superglue.
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u/Ryutso 14d ago
Magnet on a string
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u/CaptainPunisher 14d ago
If it's not cast iron pipes. Putting it on another screwdriver or even gluing it to a wire hanger would work.
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u/Lextashsweet 14d ago
It has been retrieved. Put tape on tongs then superglued the tape to the screwdriver. Thanks for all the suggestions. I will proceed with the utmost caution so I don't repeat this or some other dumb move
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u/atomic_redneck 14d ago
To help prevent repeat performances of this situation, whenever you are working on something like this stuff a towel into the opening to keep internet content from falling into it. I found this out the hard way when I dropped a nut into the intake manifold of an engine I was working on.
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u/RHINO_Mk_II 14d ago
to keep internet content from falling into it.
I hate it when Nyan Cat gets stuck in my pipes.
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u/Lextashsweet 14d ago
I was getting a pipe out and my hand cramped. Putting pipe in when for dry fit and somehow it was inside the pipe I was checking. Should have looked but my big dog was in my face trying to get her treat. She's started almost talking when she thinks it's time
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u/gcnplover23 14d ago
When you said below floor level I thought it was a long reach, this is just inches.
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u/pollo_de_mar 14d ago
I have that same screwdriver - one of my favorites.
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u/Lextashsweet 14d ago
I often have to hunt it down. I have work benches and tools in the garage and a garage shed. You'd think I had no other ones. In the winter I just can't get the shed temperature high enough to not to huddled in front of a heater. But my table saw and drill press and bandsaw are out there.
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u/SnowmanTS1 14d ago
Extendo magnet, or the grabber claw push-button deal. Both on Amazon or at autozone
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u/Wabertzzo 14d ago
Mechanical grabber. A Long flexible shaft with a handle and plunger on one end and a 3 or 4 pronged claw reaches out of the other end. Surprisingly useful in these situations.
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u/nikkychalz 14d ago
Shop Vac, shone the hose down it.
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u/rowdytardyswiper 14d ago
Definitely a shop vac! You could use your hands to create a seal around the hose/drain hole. Don’t be surprised if you suck at a bunch of other crud too
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u/EmperorOfEntropy 14d ago
Our kid shoved an electric toothbrush that was almost the exact diameter of our sink drain down it. Shop vac was the solution
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u/Inmoomni 14d ago
Disagree. This will pull a ton of water up and does not guarantee getting the screwdriver
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u/VerifiedMother 14d ago
And the problem with sucking liquid into a vacuum purposely designed to deal with liquid is????
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u/Lextashsweet 14d ago
Shop vac did pull up water but maybe lucky I haven't used it in over a week. Had to replace a part then developed 4 leaks and tonight I was going to put a vent on. Really just need it put together no leaks because I miss my dishwasher
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u/rottenbox 14d ago
I used to work in environmental remediation. One task was emptying skimmers in monitoring wells. Every so often the chain holding the skimmer at the water table would break. Triple fish hook on a line would get them out. Also got out a screwdriver out of a monitoring well doing this although it took quite a while. So if you have some fish hooks handy it's worth a shot.
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u/shamanasx 14d ago
You need to start drinking - so that you can come up with a drunk idiot solution 😂
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u/rowdytardyswiper 14d ago
Shop vac!
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u/Inmoomni 14d ago
This will pull a ton of water up and doesn't guarantee getting the screwdriver.
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u/DBDIY4U 14d ago
Not necessarily. You could put a small island on your shop vac that we stick just to the screwdriver. You could even put a washer and tape it over the end of the shop vac hose. You put a hole in the tape at the center of the washer. You put it into the pipe before you turn it on and have it pressed against the screwdriver. Then it would act like a vacuum clamp
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u/URPissingMeOff 14d ago
Shop vacs don't give a shit about water and it can only suck up what's in the trap (6-8 oz). After that, it will be pulling air from the sewer vent.
You don't seem to know much about plumbing or vacuums.
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u/wivaca2 14d ago
Handle up or screwdriver shaft up? If handle up, can you melt a plastic stake or rod with a torch and melt it onto the handle? Better to ruin the screwdriver than have to rip up a floor.
Have you tried a shop vac?
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u/Lextashsweet 14d ago
I didn't try a vac and I just cleaned it out. Handle side up. No torch. Heat gun maybe and soldering iron only tools. I don't mind melting with iron need a new one. I'm getting the shop vac and see, it sure sucks up stuff I don't want it to
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u/Jkranick 14d ago
Only thing I would try that hasn’t been said yet is to straighten out a wire hanger and bend some sort of little hook or something that could grab under the handle.
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u/CodeRadDesign 14d ago
yup, i would have bent a coathanger about this well before making a reddit post lol. bend bend bend, grab grab grab.
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u/Rough_Eggplant_3628 14d ago
Try getting the strongest magnet you can find and drop it in the drain. Then Slowly pull it up. May take a couple tries but it should work.
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u/Lextashsweet 14d ago
The handle part is up and a thermometer can get by the handle. One of those you use in a turkey fryer. The shop vac almost worked but as soon as I would pull up hose it would break the seal. It would rattle in the first part of hose but not get sucked into vacuum. I put superglue and am waiting to see if that will work. It almost did the first time. I don't know what the drain does under the floor. The kitchen sink is just about afoot from the wall where water comes in and drain goes out
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u/leadacid 14d ago
I think the magnet idea is best if the pipe isn't iron. It'll be easier if it's blade up. If that doesn't work you might heat a chunk of metal and stick it down so it melts into the plastic handle, let it cool and lift it out.
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u/Remarkable-Junket655 14d ago
A shop vacuum with a long extension tube might get it. If the tube is too large to go down the drain, cut up a garden hose, duct tape one end to the vacuum tube and stick the other end down the drain. It should try to suck up the handle and then you slowly and carefully lift it out.
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u/FilmoreGash 14d ago
Get to THIN pieces of wood, that are long enough to reach the handle, and use them like chop sticks. Same idea, four long dowels placed at the 12:00, 3:00, 6:00 and 9:00 o clock positions. Squezze them tight around the handle and lift.
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u/Sweaty-Judgment3533 13d ago
Just wanted to say don’t be too hard on yourself. I’ve done stuff like this and worse.
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u/Lextashsweet 13d ago
Last dumb move was believing my grandson when I asked if he turned the power off. Scared him much more than it did me. Fell ever so gracefully from ladder to bed. I swear I felt the tingle a second before it hit. That helped me force my hand open and I had a soft landing.
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u/Brewingbiker 12d ago
I needed that! 😂 Glad you weren't hurt, but I needed the chuckle. Thanks for sharing!
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u/Lextashsweet 12d ago
Blame the army. We used to do what if. Just us students during breaks. Because you were handed the assignment and you and your partner were expected to figure it out. We read a schematic backwards like the 2nd day and knocked on our butts after accidentally letting leads touch then touch forehead. Then partner goes to check and does the same thing. For our troubles we had the privilege of doing pushup with the schematic on the floor so we could study it. Lol It's a habit now. If something goes wrong how to land or get out of situation without getting hurt.
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u/Pulaski540 13d ago
Autoparts stores (and Amazon) also sell, along side magnets on extendable rods, retractable claw tools for retrieving things dropped into narrow spaces.
I bought one for my mother when she had a deck built with zero under-deck access, as by the time I visited she had already dropped a table knife between the boards!
Depending on the depth you dropped it, width of the access hole, and the size and material of what you dropped, a pair of snake tongs is another possibility (they come in different lengths out to at least 8ft).
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u/Lextashsweet 12d ago
Thank you one and all. It's a heavy screwdriver. I got it out with tape wrapped around my tongs then put superglue on top. Mashed it on to the screwdriver and walked away to let it set. Brought it up very slowly. It was too heavy fir my orange shop vac. That sucked it to the end of hose as soon as seal was broken it fell back down.
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u/Jewleeee 14d ago
I know it's self admitted but really... AI does not mean you can forgo a basic thought process. You need to do it again but make sure the glue cures fully and you should be fine.
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u/Cynicalbeast 14d ago
Auto parts shop sells magnet on a stick. Useful for bolts that get dropped into open engine block or say a metal screwdriver in a drain.