Kitchen Sink Drain Leak

Hi folks, I've been reading lots here and learning but still not quite finding what I'm looking for...

My house is ~5 years old and I'm experiencing a leak under my kitchen sink. It's a dual sink, and the leak is on the non-disposal side. Specifically, it is coming from where the metal fittings on the bottom of the sink are connecting to the PVC.

On a suggestion from someone at Lowes I replaced the inner plastic ring (sits between pvc and the metal) and I thought it helped, but I was wrong!

What I am confused about is that it just seems wrong... like it can never actually seal in a water-tight fashion. It may just be that the washer/ring that threads onto the bottom of the sink doesn't get very snug, but even snug I don't see how it keeps this sealed. Going to try and attach some annotated pictures... if someone could comment and/or point me to a diagram of how these fittings look in detail, that'd be most helpful.

Thank you!

It is cross threaded,need to make sure all is lined up for a proper connection.

cwhyu2 said:

It is cross threaded,need to make sure all is lined up for a proper connection.

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I see what you are saying... clearly it is. Right now it's the only way I can make it snug, so I guess it needs to be replaced. Still, as far as I can tell (from how it is now), it doesn't look like it does anything to snug the lower pvc onto the metal drain--there's no "lip" or anything to join the two... maybe I'm missing something? Maybe a new one will magically (speaking as a non-plumber ) work?

Thanks for the quick reply!

Once it is cross threaded you may have to replace the basket strainer,or replace the tail piece nut that connects to your basket strainer.

As far as I am concerned, that type of basket strainer is a piece of junk. The threads are "rolled", not machined, so many slip nuts will NOT tighten to them.

cwhyu2 said:

Once it is cross threaded you may have to replace the basket strainer,or replace the tail piece nut that connects to your basket strainer.

Click to expand...

Bummer. I assume the smart thing would be to replace that ring and see if it works...? fingers crossed--I'll try to get one tomorrow. Fortunately I have seen tutorials on how to replace the basket portion...

Thanks again!

hj said:

As far as I am concerned, that type of basket strainer is a piece of junk. The threads are "rolled", not machined, so many slip nuts will NOT tighten to them.

Click to expand...

If I have to replace it, what is the name (type) of what I should use?

You might want to replace your basket strainer with a good one and have no problems for a long time.

So brass fittings?

try switching the nuts. i used to run into this all the time with those type of strainers. the plastic nuts seemed to fit better then the nuts that came with them. the nut that isnt working is kinda short so a deeper brass nut would probably work also.

cwhyu2, the one you sent a picture of, is NOT an improvement over the one he has. I REMOVE the two piece strainers, I do NOT install them.

hj said:

cwhyu2, the one you sent a picture of, is NOT an improvement over the one he has. I REMOVE the two piece strainers, I do NOT install them.

Click to expand...

The only picture I could find at the time,but it did have machined threads.

I would definitely replace the basket strainer completely.

Didn't read the replies about replacing the basket entirely before now, however... did pick up a new nut and rubber washer set @ lowes and got it installed last night. no more leak!

i had thought something was wrong with the setup and i was right. after i took the pieces out completely i found the original rubber washer jammed into the pipe and not sealing anything... so after i found that i realized why i thought it could never seal properly--it couldn't! i think i got it back together properly (the rubber washer was throwing me for a bit), but it is all working, not leaking, and much better than before.

anyway, just wanted to throw back a big thanks for all your help/advice... mucho appreciated.