In 1985, Fred J. Meyer invented and patented the drain snake. The bulb-style drain snake patent has expired, and this drain snake bulb auger head is still used today. The bulb-style drain snake works in smooth piping. Not all pipes are smooth and perfect. The majority of the drain pipes that are 10 years old or older, have heavy calcified scaling, which makes it very difficult to operate a bulb-style auger head. The bulb-style auger head can get stuck in the pipe because of the tip’s resistance. Bulb augers work in PVC / ABS piping or new pipe build, try operating a bulb or 4X bulb in a 10 year old heavy scaled piping, have fun try to get the auger unstuck.
Try unclogging a drain using a bulb auger head or a 4x bulb auger. Guarantee getting the auger stuck. Have Fun!
When engineers designed the drain snake bulb head and 4 X bulb head, it was tested out in smooth PVC piping, in which the autofeed worked. How often are pipes smooth and perfect, that’s if you own a brand new galvanize pipe or your house is made of new internal piping. If you operated a bulb head or 4x bulb head in an older pipe with scaling and bumpy / rocky lime buildup. The autofeed would not work and you have an increased odds of getting the snake stuck in the drain. I will be honest, I will not market autofeed in a drain snake, because all pipes are not smooth and perfect. It still requires some sort of guiding and feeding snake in the pipe. Commercial drain auger also require guiding and feeding the snake by hand. See attached video link:
JP Morizono has worked in the plumbing / construction industry for over 5 years. He discovered that nothing has changed in the do-it-yourself plumbing tool industry. Most of the common problems include: the drain snake getting stuck in the pipe, the snake could not pass the P-trap, the drain cable was not locked into the auger, which caused the cable to slip down the pipe, and the cable with no inner core snapped in the pipe, etc. Elbow Pass Manufacturing Co. was started, to design plumbing tools that would help the everyday do-it-yourself succeed in drain clog removal and eliminate the toxic use of chemical drain openers that pollute the earth’s waterways and ground. The chemical liquid drain openers can cause your pipes to heat up, melt, or crack. Which may cost you more money to fix the pipes inside the walls.
Elbow Pass Manufacturing Co. Drain Snake bent tip with 600 lb test inner core. ETA sell date 6/2025 Model 2 above, zero chance of getting the auger cable stuck in the drain.The cable has a flexible 160 degree low tip resistance. Very limited in finding a 25ft drain snake with inner core. Only 1 or 2 manufactures have it. One of them is us.
Model 1 above, is discontinued. Hook design to extract hard objects. It does require adjustment of the tip to extract hair and grease. 1. Cut the tip off with a wire cutter. be careful the tip maybe sharp. 2. Bend 1-2 inches of the tip to form a 160 degree L shape. The model 2 auger head is based off of this design.
Updated instructions manual for the model 1. How to adjust tip to extract hair and grease.
How to unclog a drain. 