Cherne 270178 Clean-Out Mechanical Gripper Plug, 3 in, Black, 1 Count

What I did to make this work is, grind away the rubber a screw edges. My clean out pipe is old school, meaning 30 plus years old. This 4 inch cover had to be modified a bit to fit my metal pipe. But, it worked perfectly. It was snug fit, I used a rubber mallet to tap it all the way down and tightened the top screw. Perfect!

I used this to replace a worn out rusted plug that a previous plumber installed after cleaning out my sewer line. My sewer line needed to be cleaned again and the plumber I chose did not replace the plug with a new one. (just a little mad about it, but he was a nice guy) The old plug was nasty and the wing nut that was on it completely disintegrated after I LIGHTLY tried to turn it with a pair of channel locks! The plumber yanked it out and stuck it back in there. After he left I noticed it and was worried about it leaking, so I ordered the Cherne Clean-Out Gripper.The Cherne Clean-Out Gripper works GREAT! My only complaint is the size. I measured the inside diameter of my pipe and it was 3.5", so I ordered the 3.5" model. It was too big, so I had to order the 3" one. But once the 3" one came, I put it in the pipe, tightened it up and it sealed really well! A well made product that does exactly what it says it will do. Just watch out for the inside diameter size. I'm still giving it 5 stars because it worked so great!

My 1982 house has an old cast iron clean out that has been rusting away to a point that the ABS thread plug can no long screw on tightly. I tried wire brushing the threads to loose and expanding the opening but no luck. Found a few 3-1/2 plugs and ordered one for 3-1/2” opening. The first plug came in and yes, it was for 3-1/2 opening, but that wouldn’t fit in because it was exactly 3-1/2 and the rubber was very hard. Return that and then had to read each plug description carefully to see what their fit range. This 3” plug can expand all the way to 3-1/2” opening which was perfect for what I needed.

These are the only cleanouts I could find that would work in my super old XH (extra-heavy) cast iron whole house trap (Somerville). I had originally bought 2 used from Amazon Warehouse Deals which I regret since they were subtly damaged. I returned them and ended up buying new, which I installed with some slight modifications after guessing at the mistakes someone made installing the used ones. Here is a list of the modifications and then I will explain why I thought they were necessary.Modifications:- Removed the black rubber washer separating the carriage bolt from the bottom piece of ABS, then glued the carriage bolt in place. Frankly nothing sticks to ABS so I really don't know if it did anything but it appears to at least hold the bolt in place.- Duck butter on the sloped inside of the top of the main rubber piece, thus allowing the top ABS piece to spin. Only on the very inside of the top. The bottom ABS has ridges and should stick to the bottom rubber. They come greased in that area on top (see pic) but it's not enough. In hindsight I could've just greased the bottom of the top ABS piece.- Duck butter on the bottom of the white washer that sits between the top ABS piece and the nut, so that washer can spin independently of the ABS.- Replaced nuts with some 3/8 galvanized ceiling plates (two dollars each at Home Depot) that I could turn like wing nuts, but heartier. I can use my fingers to tighten but I suspect that way it's much harder to overtighten and fail like the used ones I returned. I also like that once loose I can yank on the handles to remove the plugs.Duck butter is basically plumber's lube that is non-oil based (since oils affect rubber). If you can't find it then use something non-oil based like a little bit of detergent or something. Also note removing the nuts is a little difficult because it seems like they very gently crimp the bolt end. Anyway if you're patient you can get them off, just turn slow and hold the carriage bolt head into the square hole so it doesn't strip.Now why I thought all this was necessary. In the first four pics you can see one of the used ones that I ended up returning. I suspect in both cases someone overtightened the nut, probably with a ratchet, which eventually made the nut so tight it couldn't spin so then the bolt started to strip itself out of its square hole. I also suspect this is partially due to the design which puts a black rubber washer on the carriage bolt head, preventing the square part from fully entering the hole, which is why I removed it in my replacements.In the last 3 pics you can see the replacements installed. You'll notice the rubber is flush with the top of the cleanout instead of the ABS plate being flush. That is because they only give you 1/2" to 5/8" of rubber, and my cleanouts are exactly that deep in threads before the pipe expands out. I installed by turning tight with my fingertips, just until the rubber started to bulge and then the top ABS piece and white plastic washer appeared to start moving just a little (that means it's pretty tight). I checked by trying to yank them out with all my might and they wouldn't budge.Well I know this is a long review, I'm not some yelp reviewer but hopefully this saves you some time because these are the ONLY cleanouts I can find that meet the dimensions of my old cast iron cleanouts (3-1/4" wide by 5/8" thread deep), and maybe yours too?Update: Amazon changed the order of the pictures. Pics 1, 3, 4, 5 are of the used one that was damaged. Pics 2,6,7 are of the new installation.Update 2023: In the last 6 years I've removed the plugs two or three times. They still work fine.

I don't know about others saying buy a different size than you need but I purchased the 3" plug to replace my brass one and it worked flawlessly. I didn't feel comfortable installing another brass plug since the threads were somewhat damaged from having to destroy the original plug.That said, having noticed some of the reviews with people over tightening this, I began by tightening the nut only until the threads caught on but was still loose. After that, I tightened the plug by hand until it was flush with the lip of the pipe, making sure that the threads hadn't jumped out of place due to over tightening. Next, I tighten the nut until it was snug, placed a bucket underneath and ran some water. It leaked as expected so I tightened it until it stopped. This may not be an option for everyone but it allowed me to tighten it only as much as I needed to.I'll say, I'll never be afraid of doing this again as long as I have one of these on hand.

This plug expanded to the right dimension needed. Plugs in stock at Home Depot would not work.

We have old metal sewer clean out. Over the years the threads of the 3 1/4” 70 year old pipe were stripped.One company said to break up the floor and install something new in a finished carpeted room. I was in tears. Next drain cleaner company said no way, get a compression lid. Gave me name of the supplier. They didn’t have anything in stock. Third guy said T cone, but three inch too small and four inch to big. Well I read thru everything on Amazon. This product had excellent reviews and expands in size to fit our odd sized pipe! Went on quickly no fuss no bother. If you read the four inch size it covers from 3 7/8 “-4 “. Came in one day. Thank you. Saved me a lot of money.

Have an old cleanout that had to be forced open for an inspection with camera...threads are destroyed as was part of the lip...had another gripper placed in the opening that no longer sealed the access properly...The Cherne 3" fit spot on and sealed the pipe tight.

A good plug but just a bit small for my needs. Will need to get a larger one.

I have an old cleanout in my basement with an odd diameter and the standard test plugs don't fit it. This product worked great. very easy to install.

Worked well , diameter was what it said it would be , worked great on older clean out