Cobra Products 40030 3/8" by 3' Home Toilet Auger

Gag gift for my father for Christmas, works pretty well and he likes it

After purchasing several tools to get the things stuck in the toilet unstuck this product came as I was going to call the plumber with an SOS. Saved me hundreds of dollars.

I've been struggling with the toilet intermittently not flushing through for months. Before I called a plumber, I thought I'd try this reasonably priced 3 ft. snake. Why not, for $6 it'd be a LOT cheaper than a plumber call. Besides, I saw a young lady on the internet use it, and it looked very easy. Yep. First thing is SAFETY. If there's any STUFF in the toilet, it'll definitely get on the snake/tube, so wear your PPE -- Safety glasses or goggles, rubber gloves, and old clothes. I also recommend removing rugs, etc. from the bathroom. Have a large trash can, or something similar, to put this snake into once you're done...that way you can carry it outside for cleaning without dripping all over the house. Also, if you've already tried a chemical drain cleaner inside the toilet water, DO NOT USE THIS SNAKE -- call a professional plumber, because those drain cleaners can cause severe burns and other health problems. Please let the plumber know what you put in the toilet before she/he starts working, and keep the bathroom fan ON all the time. To start, pull the cable back until the "working end" of the snake touches the plastic tube. Then place the 90 degree plastic tube inside the water, so the tube protects the porcelain. Now, keeping the plastic tube from moving in/out of the bowl, start gently cranking the handle in a clockwise motion. You can feel the head of the snake moving around, and with a little finesse, and occasionally pulling back-and-forth on the plastic tube about an inch, the snake head will start to make it's way into the toilet. Once I got the handle all the way to the end of the plastic tube, I gently backed the handle out (again keeping the plastic tube from moving), but this time without cranking, to see if the snake head could dislodge anything in it's path. If it catches up on anything, just rotate the handle counter-clockwise and it'll come free. When done, back the handle all the way until you feel the snake head stop at the submerged end of the plastic tube, and then pull the tube out of the bowl. Hopefully by now the clog is broken free. If not, the clog is further down the piping, and you'll need to go farther than 3 feet. There are longer snakes available, but the price starts to get close to what you'd pay a plumber to do the job. BTW, for me the clog is down in the pipes, so I'm going to call a professional. Yay.

It works when nothing else does to clear a clogged toilet, thank God. It’s a bit flimsy and it’s not really possible to turn the handle but it gets the job done. I only wish it were cheaper or part of subscribe & save because I end up having to order a new one every couple months - let’s just say I am NOT cleaning that thing for reuse, it goes right into the dumpster!

It is a good toilet auger for a house or apartment and it gets the job done for the low price. I have used the auger 3 times and it has helped clear the clog all three times. The trick is to grab the plastic housing and rotate the wire clockwise as you gently force the auger down thru the toilet and sometimes you will have to pump the auger up and down to snake it thru the toilet and force it thru the obstruction in the toilet but it does work. If there is a hard object stuck in the bottom of the toilet (such as a toothbrush or a child's small toy) then this auger will help bring the hard object back up into view where you can retrieve it with a pair of pliers. To all you non-plumbers, the goal is to allow the tip of the auger to grab the obstacle by rotating the auger clockwise thru the toilet and counter-clockwise to bring the obstruction and the auger back up toward you where you can grab it with a pair of pliers. That way, if there is a bath towel (for example) that accidentally fell into the toilet, then you can retrieve the towel without forcing the towel down into your piping system. In other cases (such as toilet paper) the auger will force it thru the bottom of the toilet and clear the clog - it all depends on what is clogging the toilet. If snaking the toilet doesn't work, then you may have to call a plumber or remove the toilet yourself and flip it on it's side in order to get to the obstacle at the bottom of the toilet using a pair of needle-nose pliers. I give this product 5 stars based on price vs performance. I wouldn't recommend it for heavy duty use but it is more than adequate for an average home or apartment. Just remember to be gentle with it.

First time I tried to use it was today. Handle came right off without much use. Maybe 5 minutes or less. And I can’t figure out how to get it reconnected. Now I don’t remember what the end looked like but wasn’t there a rounded thing on the end of the coil at the business end? Well not any more. Nope. Going to have to spend another few hard earned bucks and buy another one.

Bought this in 2024, but had to call a plumber because we could not wait for delivery. Fast forward to August 2025. Had a need for it on another toilet. Within 15 minutes it cleared the clog. It was ultra easy to use and clean. If you are a DIY person, you need this in your cache of tools.

Works okay while it holds together. Bought two of these five years ago. Used one while the other sat. I had bought for another location, but didn’t need it. Just used the first one again, and the black plastic sleeve started racking away, so I couldn’t get the coil to spin properly. Cracked so much that I just threw it away. Went to use the Econ’s one which had never been used and noticed that the sleeve was already cracking! Not a good situation, as I did not have a plunger. Managed to clear the clog with a bit of brute force on the coil, but no, I would not recommend this product.