Super Sopapa (super Plunger)
Hace años que vengo quejándome de los fabricantes de sopapas, porque no las hacen de tamaño suficiente como para destapar inodoros con cierta comodidad. Las más grandes que he conseguido se meten fácilmente dentro del caño que hay que destapar, con lo cual quedan prácticamente neutralizadas. Así que decidí fabricarme mi propia sopapa gigante.
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For years I've been complaining plungers manufacturers, because they don't make them large enough to unclog toilets with some comfort. The largest I've gotten creep easily into the pipe to be open, wherewith are virtually neutralized. So I decided fabricate my own giant plunger.
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For years I've been complaining plungers manufacturers, because they don't make them large enough to unclog toilets with some comfort. The largest I've gotten creep easily into the pipe to be open, wherewith are virtually neutralized. So I decided fabricate my own giant plunger.
Materiales Y Herramientas (materials and Tools)
Tomé prestada de mi mujer una ensaladera de acero inoxidable cuyo diámetro me pareció adecuado, para hacer de molde. También una tijera, unos rollitos de venda de gasa y un cartucho de sellador de silicona.
Antes de empezar a hacer enchastre con la silicona, busqué un bulón más o menos largo y algunas arandelas grandes, a efectos de hacer el mango.
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I borrowed my wife a stainless steel bowl, which diameter seemed appropriate to make by mold. Also got scissors, some gauze bandage rolls and a silicone sealant cartridge.
Before start making mess with silicone, I looked for a more or less long bolt and some large washers, in order to make the handle.
Antes de empezar a hacer enchastre con la silicona, busqué un bulón más o menos largo y algunas arandelas grandes, a efectos de hacer el mango.
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I borrowed my wife a stainless steel bowl, which diameter seemed appropriate to make by mold. Also got scissors, some gauze bandage rolls and a silicone sealant cartridge.
Before start making mess with silicone, I looked for a more or less long bolt and some large washers, in order to make the handle.
Ensuciando La Ensaladera (messing the Bowl)
Le di dos manos de detergente en la superficie exterior, a manera de desmoldante. Luego me di cuenta de que habría sido mejor darle más manos.
Una vez seco el detergente, la puse boca abajo sobre unos diarios para evitar ensuciar la mesa, y la cubrí con una capa de silicona, de más o menos dos o tres mm de grosor. Sobre esta capa, inmediatamente dispuse varias tiras de venda de gasa, haciendo que quedaran bien pegadas dentro de la silicona. AVISO: esta parte es bastante desagradable, porque la silicona se mete por todos lados y hay que tener permanentemente a mano un trapo limpio para sacarla de los dedos antes de que se seque.
Dejé secar esa capa de silicona y gasa, y mientras tanto hice...
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I gave it two coats of detergent on the outer surface, as a release agent. Now I realized it would have been better to give more coats.
Once dry the detergent, put face down the bowl on newspapers to avoid soiling the table, and covered it with a layer of silicone, about two or three mm thick. On this layer, immediately I set several strips of gauze bandage, making remain well placed into the silicone. NOTICE: This task is pretty nasty, because the silicone gets everywhere and you must have constantly on hand a clean cloth to remove it from your fingers before it dries.
Allow dry the silicone and gauze layer, and meanwhile I did ...
Una vez seco el detergente, la puse boca abajo sobre unos diarios para evitar ensuciar la mesa, y la cubrí con una capa de silicona, de más o menos dos o tres mm de grosor. Sobre esta capa, inmediatamente dispuse varias tiras de venda de gasa, haciendo que quedaran bien pegadas dentro de la silicona. AVISO: esta parte es bastante desagradable, porque la silicona se mete por todos lados y hay que tener permanentemente a mano un trapo limpio para sacarla de los dedos antes de que se seque.
Dejé secar esa capa de silicona y gasa, y mientras tanto hice...
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I gave it two coats of detergent on the outer surface, as a release agent. Now I realized it would have been better to give more coats.
Once dry the detergent, put face down the bowl on newspapers to avoid soiling the table, and covered it with a layer of silicone, about two or three mm thick. On this layer, immediately I set several strips of gauze bandage, making remain well placed into the silicone. NOTICE: This task is pretty nasty, because the silicone gets everywhere and you must have constantly on hand a clean cloth to remove it from your fingers before it dries.
Allow dry the silicone and gauze layer, and meanwhile I did ...
El Mango (the Handle)
Soldé una arandela grande a la cabeza del bulón, y busqué algunos discos de amoladora usados para usarlos también como arandelas. Pegué con masilla de chapista (lo mismo pude haber usado adhesivo epoxi) uno de los discos de amoladora gastados a la arandela del extremo. Con un trozo de caño metálico hice un espaciador para poder apretar el mango con la tuerca del bulón. Finalmente soldé una tuerca al extremo de otro trozo del mismo caño, que casualmente ya tenía el otro extremo curvado justo en la forma ideal para lo que yo lo iba a usar. Por si usted no lo sabe todavía, las sopapas son efectivas al empujar, pero lo son mucho más al tirar.
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I soldered a large washer to the bolt head, and looked for some used grinder discs for use also as washers. I stuck with tinkerers putty (I could the same have used epoxy adhesive) one spent disk grinder to the end washer. With a piece of metal pipe did a spacer to attach the handle to the bolt nut. Finally I soldered a nut to the end of another piece of the same pipe, which coincidentally had already bent the other end just how perfect for what I was going to use. In case you don't know it yet, the plungers are effective pushing, but they are much more pulling.
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I soldered a large washer to the bolt head, and looked for some used grinder discs for use also as washers. I stuck with tinkerers putty (I could the same have used epoxy adhesive) one spent disk grinder to the end washer. With a piece of metal pipe did a spacer to attach the handle to the bolt nut. Finally I soldered a nut to the end of another piece of the same pipe, which coincidentally had already bent the other end just how perfect for what I was going to use. In case you don't know it yet, the plungers are effective pushing, but they are much more pulling.
Volviendo a La Ensaladera...(returning to the Salad Bowl...)
Comprobé que la silicona había secado, apoyé en el centro el vástago de la manija y apliqué de la misma manera anterior varias capas adicionales de silicona y gasa. Antes de dar las dos últimas capas puse otro disco gastado de amoladora, a manera de tope para empujar.
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I found that the silicone had dried, I put the rod in the center of the handle and applied in the same previous way several additional layers of silicone and gauze. Prior to the last two layers put another spent grinder disc, as a stopper to push.
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I found that the silicone had dried, I put the rod in the center of the handle and applied in the same previous way several additional layers of silicone and gauze. Prior to the last two layers put another spent grinder disc, as a stopper to push.
Desmoldando (demolding)
Como dije antes, dos manos de detergente no fueron suficientes para evitar que algunas partes de la ensaladera quedaran pegadas y se rompieran al desmoldar, pero nada que no tenga arreglo. Lo único insoluble es la muerte, y hasta ahí nomás.
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As I said before, two detergent coats were not enough to prevent parts of the salad bowl stay glued and break to unmold, but nothing that can not be fixed. Only death is insoluble, and up right there.
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As I said before, two detergent coats were not enough to prevent parts of the salad bowl stay glued and break to unmold, but nothing that can not be fixed. Only death is insoluble, and up right there.
Probando (testing)
Luego de remendar con silicona algunos lugares que lo requerían, y dejar secar todo durante varias horas, tuve que usar la amoladora para alisar un poco los bordes del labio, para evitar que al estar desparejos no hicieran buen contacto.
La primera prueba fue en los vidrios del cerramiento de la galería, y fue un éxito. Luego la probé en los cerámicos del piso, otro éxito, pese a que la superfice no es perfectamente lisa.
Finalmente me dirigí a paso triunfal al baño, me aseguré de que el inodoro estuviera limpio, apreté el botón, metí la sopapa... y ¡oh, fracaso! se dio vuelta hacia arriba instantáneamente. Insistí varias veces, tratando de acomodarla bien en la boca del caño, y porfiadamente siguió haciendo lo mismo. Analicé la situación, y me di cuenta de que EL PROBLEMA NO ES EL TAMAÑO DE LA SOPAPA, SINO LA FORMA DEL INODORO. Al tener curvatura diferente en sentido longitudinal y transversal, la única manera de asegurarse de que las paredes del mismo hagan contacto con todo el labio de la sopapa es que esta sea ovalada, o que no tenga la boca plana sino siguiendo la curvatura del inodoro. Es decir que los fabricantes de sopapas no son tan tontos, después de todo.
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After patching with silicone some places that required it, and let everything dry for several hours, I had to use the grinder to smooth a little the edges of the lip, to prevent being odd not make good contact.
The first test was in the glass enclosure of the gallery, and was successful. Then I tried it on the ceramic floor, another success, in spite of that the surface is not perfectly smooth.
Finally I went triumphant to the bathroom, made sure that the toilet was clean, pressed the button, put the plunger ... and oh, failure! it turned up instantly. I insisted several times, trying to accommodate the mouth to the tube, and it stubbornly continued doing the same. I analyzed the situation, and I realized that the problem IS NOT THE SIZE OF THE PLUNGER, but the shape of the toilet. By having different curvature in the longitudinal and transverse directions, the only way to ensure that the walls thereof are in contact with all the mouth of the plunger is that this be oval or not flat but has the lip following the curvature of the toilet. This means that plunger manufacturers are not as dumb, after all.
La primera prueba fue en los vidrios del cerramiento de la galería, y fue un éxito. Luego la probé en los cerámicos del piso, otro éxito, pese a que la superfice no es perfectamente lisa.
Finalmente me dirigí a paso triunfal al baño, me aseguré de que el inodoro estuviera limpio, apreté el botón, metí la sopapa... y ¡oh, fracaso! se dio vuelta hacia arriba instantáneamente. Insistí varias veces, tratando de acomodarla bien en la boca del caño, y porfiadamente siguió haciendo lo mismo. Analicé la situación, y me di cuenta de que EL PROBLEMA NO ES EL TAMAÑO DE LA SOPAPA, SINO LA FORMA DEL INODORO. Al tener curvatura diferente en sentido longitudinal y transversal, la única manera de asegurarse de que las paredes del mismo hagan contacto con todo el labio de la sopapa es que esta sea ovalada, o que no tenga la boca plana sino siguiendo la curvatura del inodoro. Es decir que los fabricantes de sopapas no son tan tontos, después de todo.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After patching with silicone some places that required it, and let everything dry for several hours, I had to use the grinder to smooth a little the edges of the lip, to prevent being odd not make good contact.
The first test was in the glass enclosure of the gallery, and was successful. Then I tried it on the ceramic floor, another success, in spite of that the surface is not perfectly smooth.
Finally I went triumphant to the bathroom, made sure that the toilet was clean, pressed the button, put the plunger ... and oh, failure! it turned up instantly. I insisted several times, trying to accommodate the mouth to the tube, and it stubbornly continued doing the same. I analyzed the situation, and I realized that the problem IS NOT THE SIZE OF THE PLUNGER, but the shape of the toilet. By having different curvature in the longitudinal and transverse directions, the only way to ensure that the walls thereof are in contact with all the mouth of the plunger is that this be oval or not flat but has the lip following the curvature of the toilet. This means that plunger manufacturers are not as dumb, after all.
Resumiendo (summarizing)
Errando se aprende. Publiqué este instructable porque seguramente hay algún otro con la misma inquietud que yo, y tal vez lea esto y evite perder tiempo. Se puede encarar todo de nuevo, usando como molde de la boca de la sopapa el inodoro, o sea que si en la casa hay varios inodoros diferentes habrá que hacer una sopapa para cada uno. Tal vez se le pueda agregar una "pollera" a la sopapa que hice, que haga contacto con la superficie del inodoro. Pero me servirá solamente para ese, y no me seduce la idea. Tendré que pensar.
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To fail is to learn. I published this instructable because surely there are someone else with the same concern that I, and perhaps read this and avoid wasting time. I could face all over again, using the toilet as template for the mouth of the plunger, so if the house have several different toilets, you will have to make a plunger for each. Maybe I can add a "skirt" to the plunger I made, so it contacts the surface of the toilet. But this will only serve to that toilet, and I don't relish the idea. I'll have to think.
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To fail is to learn. I published this instructable because surely there are someone else with the same concern that I, and perhaps read this and avoid wasting time. I could face all over again, using the toilet as template for the mouth of the plunger, so if the house have several different toilets, you will have to make a plunger for each. Maybe I can add a "skirt" to the plunger I made, so it contacts the surface of the toilet. But this will only serve to that toilet, and I don't relish the idea. I'll have to think.