35473 K-45 Sink Machine

Perfect nice tool

works great, fast shipping good quality

I have been used this machine at least once a week. Easy to operate, easy to change drum, ease to clean. Cable can be clean with water in the drum liner. I recommend the use of a proctective mask to avoid water drops in eyes and face. Some cables slip in the drum liner. To avoid this, the torque arm of K-40 (Ridgid I-Nr. 71847) machine can be used.After one year of use this machine, I can say this is a reliable tool for small secondary lines up to 2 inch (tube diameter). Please, read the instructions, you can damage the cable easyly when cable is forward at high RPM and in galv steel pipes. After each use, the cable can be dryed in drum with a home hair dryer.

Not my first plumbing rodeo and our master shower is abused by mi wife's body wash and all the stuff she uses. To the point that the drain runs slower and slower and then this Rigid Autofeed auger showed up. I read all the directions and they were well written - except for one thing: The first time I fired up the unit, the forward feed did - wait for it - nothing. So I read the troubleshooting section of the manual and there was nothing about this condition. You Tube - video and some guy said to make sure that the black drum/clutch was NOT up against the drum. Mine shipped that way and when I yanked on the clutch - it popped out a bit and then the auto feed worked great and, in less than five minutes the auger head returned a ton of hair that was seemingly globbed together with body wash.Bonus points for this product having a long power cord with a GFCI on the end.More bonus points for an included pair of gloves.This product is pricey, but will pay for itself in the first use. Nice job Rigid...

Unfortunately I bought a low-flo toilet to help fight California's drought. The low-flo toilet does not put out enough water to clear my fairly flat sewer line. I had the plumber out about every two weeks to reopen the sewer (he says that frequency has been common with customers buying low-flo toilets) and the plumber recommend I get my own tool to clear the sewer line to save all his expensive trips to my house. So I got the Rigid K-45. I gave it 3 stars because it works mechanically just fine. But it will not clear the line. The Rigid's line is too short and too small to open the sewer. The plumber's tool has a much bigger line. The plumber says the small line on the Rigid K-45 just goes right through soft blockages without opening the line. I am putting my Rigid on Craig's list. (Note - I would buy a new regular-flo toilet, but those are now illegal in California.) Update to One Star - I tried the machine again on the next blockage after the plumber ran the line. The forward/back mechanism does not really work and you have to pull out or push back the line using the glove Ridgid provides. I accidentally pulled the line wall the way out (the line apparently is not tied off inside the spool) and had to push it back in. I think it went in backward. The next time I tried it, I made sure the line was set to go forward, but the machine pulled the line all the way back into the spool. I will have to take the spool apart and rewind it. Unfortunately I have had the infernal machine too long to return it. To avoid the plumber's charge, I went to Lowe's and bought a 50 foot 5/8 inch hand cranked line for about $35. So far it has been working to clear the sewer line. Since I needed the clean out right away, I did not check to see if Amazon has the same product.

The K-45 is a solidly built tool, comfortable to handle, and easy to use. The Operator's Manual is also well written and illustrated. I've used rental snakes many times but learned much from this manual. This machine starts gently and both feeds and retrieves steadily. I purchased a 50' cable because the 25' cable wasn't long enough for my needs. Comparing the purchase price to a rental cost, it seems that the purchase cost will be the about the same as three or four rentals. Given family and friends, payback should come quickly. I should have bought the K-45 long ago and can't wait till my next pipe becomes plugged:)

This is a serious tool. It is fairly heavy, so any awkward positions will make themselves unpleasant quickly. That is not a dig on the tool. A lot of the weight is in the cable, which is very sturdy. I ran it out to full length on its first job which would have been impossible without this thing. I'm happy with it. I actually look forward to the next sewer clog. How's that for an endorsement?

Use it at least three times a week, for the last month, and it works great