Cherne 270138 Gripper 3-1/2 in. Black Mechanical Clean Out Plug, Black

If your yard had a sewer clean-out cap inside of a 4" PVC pipe and you ran over it with the lawnmower, please READ THIS REVIEW. This will be all you need so you don't go wasting time like I did!I am not a plumber nor do I know anything about putting together pipes. I reviewed everything and on how to fix my sewer clean-out cap after I ran over it with the lawn mower. For those of you wondering what that is, it is a little white cap sticking out of the ground in your front yard. If you have not seen it, don't worry about it, this is strictly for those of you who have DESTROYED it!After looking at the mayhem, I figured it would be an easy fix because it looked like an easy fix, but it was deceiving. I went to Lowe's, purchased a 4" in cap thinking it would be good, well it did not fix. I went back and purchased a 3" cap and that didn't work either. Turns out I needed a 3.5" cap which no store seemed to sell. My second option was rebuilding the pipe with a coupling of a larger size that would fit over the in-ground pipe and with the appropriate cap. The only thing with this is, the pipe would now stick 5 plus inches more out of the ground plus digging would be required. Not to mention the total was around $14 bucks and added work.I researched once more and stumbled across the Cherne Clean-Out Gripper on Amazon. I read the reviews and it seemed like a lot of people were having the same problem as me, but with some mixed reviews on the product. I figured I could always return it and just be out shipping if it didn't work, but the specs on it made me feel confident. You see, the gripper is 3.5", but expands to 4.25" when it is tightened.I received the gripper and right away put the cap onto the PVC pipe. The cap DID NOT fall through and rested very loosely (prior to tightening) and was a good bit wider than the PVC hole itself (4"). As soon as I tighten the gripper everything fit perfect! It was very snug and is not going anywhere, not to mention it has a max back pressure of 40ft.!This product was hands down the most time saving option out of everything and was about $3 more than what I would have spent putting PVC fittings together. The cap is more flat to my lawn so I will not have to worry about mowing over it, and you can always sticker it if you have trouble finding it due to its black color.Again, the 3.5" gripper cap is made to go inside a 4" PVC pipe, nothing smaller. DO NOT get this for a 3" or 3.5" pipe as so many people who reviewed did, because it will NOT fit. It is VERY easy to install and does the job to perfection. I would not recommend anything else!

I needed a plug for my main sewer cleanout line, and this works perfectly, solid water tight seal, easy mechanism for tightening and loosening... couldn't ask for more!

My iron cleanout thing is quite old and degraded so a regular plug wouldn't seal. Took a couple tries to get this one in but it sealed it.

We will see in time, but seems strong and fits well. I took off 1 stars because the item is either plastic or fiberglass NOT ALUMINUM as described.

This would be a very nice plug if there only would be a size that would fit. I have a exactly 3.5 inch pipe inner diameter I wanted to plug so after some research I thought I would have to go with the 3" plug. I was wrong. It was to small for the hole. So I bought the 3.5" plug and this time it was to big. Had to cut the inner side of the pipe with a knife and make the opening bigger and hammer the plug in. Tighten the nut is also hard work because there's no way to stop the plug with spinning along. I give it 3 stars because after all my work it does its job now, but it's not a easy way to plug a opening.

Exactly what I needed. Thanks for previous reviewers for sharing pics like the ones I am posting. This cap fits perfectly and snugly to cover the downspout used to connect to the sewer.

Didnt fit a 3.5" opening... It was just about 1/16" too big. I tried a hammer and WD40, nothing worked.

Replaced the old brass/lead caps on my house trap with these. Worked perfectly. It was a 4" cast iron trap. Cleaned up the threads and popped this plug in and tightened it down. No issue at all.