Clearing gutter swan neck advice

Hi all, 

I am new to gutter cleaning and looking for some advice on how to clear the swan neck of a down pipe.  I have managed to detach one that was more loosely attached to the straight section of the down pipe but quite often find that the section has no flexibility so cannot be detached.  I flush the down pipe first and also use a plumber tool  used to unblock pipework.  What I am looking for is an idiots guide to detaching the swan  neck when it is completely packed. 

Thanks in advance.   

John

Easy peasey i use an SkyVac Atom 

Best £400 youll spend gutter cleaning if your on a budget.

If you really can’t wiggle it apart you’ll need to either unscrew the down pipe brackets or the outlet, whichever’s easiest 

don't force it or you may crack guttering on connecting plastic.

Belated thanks for the replies

On the odd occasion you'll find some witnit has solvent welded the fittings Together ? if thats the case good luck. In 9/10 cases just detach/unscrew/unbracket as said above. I find half round easier to work with than square. Square fittings tend to block up more too. 

Belive it or not if the swan neck is blocked past the first bend i look around in the garden for a 'nice bendy' piece of garden bush twig,

brake of surplus bits and its flexible enough to push blockage away or to bits.. Natures tools .

John1980 said:

Hi all, 

I am new to gutter cleaning and looking for some advice on how to clear the swan neck of a down pipe.  I have managed to detach one that was more loosely attached to the straight section of the down pipe but quite often find that the section has flexibility so cannot be detached.  I flush the down pipe first and also use a plumber tool  used to unblock pipework.  What I am looking for is an idiots guide to detaching the swan  neck when it is completely packed. 

Thanks in advance.   

John

Click to expand...

I don't have a g/vac, I use a simple, small, cheap bbq tongs (cheap as chips from the likes of Asda). I slightly bend open the grips so they will slide nicely down the top section of the Swan-neck and grab whats in there. They will, only clear to the top bend but often that's where the main blockage is. I also use a short 2 feet length of flexible rubber, electric, farm fence insulater, to push around the the lower bend. I then drop one or two small pebbles down the downpipe while my son listens for them at the bottom as a final check. Once up the ladder it's done in a very few minutes.

If it's blocked at the bottom of the downpipe I don't get involved as I don't have the time or the inclination to be digging, having done over twenty years working on and off with shovels, been there done that.

if it's a gutter and downpipe that is prone to blocking and I'm likely to be doing it again in the future I sometimes fit a bulb filter at the top at my own expense (£1.65 at Screwfix) to make it even quicker next time.