Tried using a shop vac to unclog a dishwasher drain line

Swung by a call in Scottsdale last Tuesday where the lady said her dishwasher was backing up gross water, so I figured I'd run my shop vac on the drain line for a quick fix. Instead of pulling out the gunk, it blew a chunk of old cheese and a fork right back into the pump housing and cracked the housing clean in half. Has anyone else had a shop vac backfire like this or am I just unlucky with my setup?

3 comments

3 Comments

phoenix33127d ago

Consider yourself lucky it wasn't your foot next to that fork.

drew69027d ago

OWN a fork-related injury story that ended with me stepping on one barefoot in the dark. That thing went STRAIGHT through my foot and out the other side. Blood everywhere, had to get stitches and a tetanus shot. So yeah, definitely lucky it wasn't your foot. Forks are nasty little weapons when they want to be.

kevin_dixon24d ago

Got a pair of those bright yellow dish gloves after my own incident. @phoenix331, I started keeping them right by the sink so I could grab them without fumbling around. Also made it a habit to sweep the kitchen floor before turning off the lights for the night. Takes maybe 30 seconds but it saved me from another fork in the foot situation. Can't believe I used to just wander around barefoot in there like it was a beach.