has any one ever lost a key down a drain ?

i was coming back from walking my dogs when i pulled out my front door keys and the car key came out off my pocket and went down the drain.

just wondering is there ny way to get it back ? ive got 3 spares but wonder what the likely hood of getting it back is. i thought about a magnet but they are not magnetic !

Nightmare. Is the drain a deep one, are you able to remove the cover yourself? I have an endoscope with a 3.5m reach and a hook on the end so I would use that. Do you have one or know anyone that does?

I remeber a mate,s girlfriend doing that, he had to use a small fishing net to try and recover them, the amount of grud that game out of the bottom of the drain before he managed to get the key fob was incredible. Then he had to leave the fob for a number of days on a radiator to dry out before it could be used again.

4 minutes ago, eddie eastwood said:

I remeber a mate,s girlfriend doing that, he had to use a small fishing net to try and recover them, the amount of grud that game out of the bottom of the drain before he managed to get the key fob was incredible. Then he had to leave the fob for a number of days on a radiator to dry out before it could be used again.

I was just about to suggest a tea strainer or small net on the end of a rod. 

15 minutes ago, eddie eastwood said:

I remeber a mate,s girlfriend doing that, he had to use a small fishing net to try and recover them, the amount of grud that game out of the bottom of the drain before he managed to get the key fob was incredible. Then he had to leave the fob for a number of days on a radiator to dry out before it could be used again.

Similar thing happened to a uni mate of mine, we had to force the cover off using crow bars ( tut tut us naughty boys!), and he left in in an airing cupboard for a few days to dry out. Strange thing was it worked from father away when it was dry than it did before it went for a swim!

I have a weird fear of this happening and clench my key fob in my pocket when walking over certain drains (just in case it spontaneously jumps out lol!?)...always thought it was an irrational fear but looks like it's not that uncommon after all.

I guess it depends what type of drain it is, how deep it is, where it leads etc.  If it's a house drain it should be easier than a road drain.  If you have a Helping Hand type grabber that might work.

Our house keys are magnetic so it might be an idea to attach one to the fob but in general the Fob is tucked away in my jeans before I leave the house. At work its straight into the Faraday pouch and then in my shorts back pocket which has a zip on it.

Did the car key have a key ring on it or just key on its own.  I got one of my neighbours key out of a drain once with a long length of welding rod with the end bent into a hook.  But if there’s no key ring on it to hook into then it’s not quite so easy. 

I'm assuming you mean the drain on our property e.g. for the guttering run-off. If so, I have to clean these out from time to time, I use a soup ladle (cheap placcy Ikea one) to scoop stuff out with. this gets down to and round the bend. Hopefully not too much stuff went down after the keys. Rubber gloves of course!

Part of a set like this ikea utensil set

1 hour ago, Jonro2009 said:

Nightmare. Is the drain a deep one, are you able to remove the cover yourself? I have an endoscope with a 3.5m reach and a hook on the end so I would use that. Do you have one or know anyone that does?

not sure how deep it is. i have a cheapo edascope thingy it i dont think a hook would do it as it has no rings etc on the fob

1 hour ago, eddie eastwood said:

I remeber a mate,s girlfriend doing that, he had to use a small fishing net to try and recover them, the amount of grud that game out of the bottom of the drain before he managed to get the key fob was incredible. Then he had to leave the fob for a number of days on a radiator to dry out before it could be used again.

a net might work its a drian in the gutter so probably would push the key the wrong way not sure

11 minutes ago, RMurphy195 said:

I'm assuming you mean the drain on our property e.g. for the guttering run-off. If so, I have to clean these out from time to time, I use a soup ladle (cheap placcy Ikea one) to scoop stuff out with. this gets down to and round the bend. Hopefully not too much stuff went down after the keys. Rubber gloves of course!

Part of a set like this ikea utensil set

its a drain in the gutter not sure if i could remove the cover

35 minutes ago, isetta said:

Did the car key have a key ring on it or just key on its own.  I got one of my neighbours key out of a drain once with a long length of welding rod with the end bent into a hook.  But if there’s no key ring on it to hook into then it’s not quite so easy. 

no rings or anything on it 😔

Use a strong magnet on a stick. If it's a fob type  without a flip out blade , the emergency use blade inside should still be enough for magnet. 

1 minute ago, iantt said:

Use a strong magnet on a stick. If it's a fob type  without a flip out blade , the emergency use blade inside should still be enough for magnet. 

Beat me to it Ian, was just about to suggest the same thing.

How deep is the drain? You may reach it with a grabber like someone suggested earlier.

What you need is to get hold of a machine like they had in the 1960s movie, 'Fantastic Voyage'. Once you have shrunk to micro biotic levels, get someone to wrap a bit if thread round you, then jump into the drain, then you can swim towards the fob, and maneuver it to the edge so the tool in previous thread can then extract both you and fob LOL 🤣

Not sure what you mean by a drain in a gutter, if you post a photo tomorrow I should be able to give you an idea of whether there is a Trap or not, sometimes the Trap is a few feet away and can be quite deep, if it is trapped where the Downpipe goes in then often it is very shallow, but not always.

If you shine a torch down it you will be able to see whether there is a trap there because you will see water and from its depth work out your best course of action.

1 hour ago, iantt said:

Use a strong magnet on a stick. If it's a fob type  without a flip out blade , the emergency use blade inside should still be enough for magnet. 

i tested a magnet on a spare one and it wasnt magnetic

43 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

What you need is to get hold of a machine like they had in the 1960s movie, 'Fantastic Voyage'. Once you have shrunk to micro biotic levels, get someone to wrap a bit if thread round you, then jump into the drain, then you can swim towards the fob, and maneuver it to the edge so the tool in previous thread can then extract both you and fob LOL 🤣

if only that was possible lol

21 hours ago, mrmetallica said:

if only that was possible lol

My other solution is to borrow the DMC12 from Back to the Future, get it to go to 88Mph, then go back in time a few minutes before your dropped your keys. Then you can keep them firmly in your pocket 🤣

Hope you find a solution, but if you've got 5 minutes there are some ideas in this video .....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBmwvdOyu-8

 

21 hours ago, Tizer said:

Not sure what you mean by a drain in a gutter, if you post a photo tomorrow I should be able to give you an idea of whether there is a Trap or not, sometimes the Trap is a few feet away and can be quite deep, if it is trapped where the Downpipe goes in then often it is very shallow, but not always.

If you shine a torch down it you will be able to see whether there is a trap there because you will see water and from its depth work out your best course of action.

i live in a dead end and its the drain in the front of next doors drive

35 minutes ago, mrmetallica said:

i live in a dead end and its the drain in the front of next doors drive

If it's a Road Gulley then it will be quite big and you might be successful with a Ladle fastened to a stick. It it's a Channel Drain then the covers usually lift off quite easily and any Trap is usually quite shallow, either way you should be able to gauge the depth if you shine a torch down it.   

On 2/3/2022 at 9:00 PM, Jonro2009 said:

How deep is the drain? You may reach it with a grabber like someone suggested earlier.

ive got one of those will have a look saturdar