Bathroom sink drain leaks after replacing it

Hi Folks,

This site is great.

I replaced my bathroom sink the other day. Used 1 1/2 ABS for the drain.

sink to wall: drain downspout with stopper in it, ABS compression fitting, ptrap, ABS straight pipe to the copper spout coming out of the wall, ABS compression fitting to connect the ABS pipe to the copper.

I know I'm using the correct pieces as I've done this before and had no problems in the past and had home depot recommend what to use (ya I know they screw up not this time )

So the sink was working perfectly for about a week, then yesterday, it clogged and was draining VERY slowly. I opened the ptrap valve and let it drain. Then I took the stopper out to see if anything was clogged in there but nothing.

I noticed that when the sink was clogged and water was in the drain, it was leaking at the valve in the ptrap, leaking at the connection from the drain downspout (the part that you just screw on) and also leaking at the abs compression to the copper pipe in the wall. Very slow leak and only noticable when the sink is clogged. All my ABS glued connections were ok.

1. Can't figure out where it would be clogged as the pipes are new
2. I can hear a gurgling sound from the compression fitting at the copper side so I'm thinking there may something clogged on that end.

I'm wondering if possibly air is getting in there causing some sort of clogging. I tightned all the fitting but still have it leak when the sink gets clogged. Should I put some teflon tape on the connection on the downspout from the drain?

anyone?

anyone?

Got pictures? Hard to understand what's going on from your description.

I had a pain in the neck vanity drain, and had to pipe half of it in copper to get it right. The plastic connections weren't stable enough to get them all tight. Also try teflon paste and/or tape in the threads.

Pictures

Hi

When I get home tonight, I'll post some pics. Good idea.

I took a look at the rest of the bathroom drains to see how they were done. My home is about a 40 year old home so nothing is easy as it should be I noticed on the other drains, they have another smaller piece of 1 1/4 copper interted into another larger copper copper piece. I know the larger piece that comes out of the wall is definitely not 1 1/2 because I originally tried using a 1 1/2 inch compression fitting but it was too big. It seems as if I may have to use the same type of scenario you are talking about. Extend the original copper drain coming out of the wall (appears to be 1 1/4 but has thicker walls so it was really hard putting on the compression fitting...had to FORCE it on so that may be a reason it was leaking in that spot)..extend it with another piece of 1 1/4 copper then start using ABS from that point..

I took apart the entire drain and put it back and tightened all the pieces. The valve in the ptrap seems to leak still.... anyone have that problem?

I may have to put teflon on the valve and other parts that leak that have a thread.

I'll post pics tonight.

Maybe a venting problem?

Does the sink "clog" when you run the water slowly, fastly, or only when you try to drain a full sink? Sounds like the water is making it to the copper OK, but slows down when it gets into the (presumed) vertical stack beyond. If it isn't properly vented, a big slug o' water might get slowed down enough to back up and simulate a clog. If there's a downstream blockage, it might pass a slow flow OK, but gradually fill up the stack when the flow exceeds the ability of the blockage to pass it.

One general test would be to put the outlet of a portable vacuum cleaner (conveniently 1 1/4") into the copper and blow away. If the vacuum acts like it's having a hard time of it, there's likely a downstream blockage and a venting problem. Also, find out what other fixtures share this drain path and see if the sink's clog is correlated with the use of any other such fixtures. In a 40 year old home, it's possible that some modifications might have been made that compromised the DWV system; the gurgling sound at the copper is suspicious.

clogging

Ya. The stack seems ok. Tried the vacuum cleaner test and it seemed ok. The gurgling seemed to be because of the fact that the connection to the copper (the entry point in the wall) had air leaking in/out...not 100% sure..

Your right though, the water seems to be going into the copper but then stops there. I tried again after putting the drain back together and it seemed to flow ok. No blockage but still leaks. Not sure if I should try teflon at any of the threaded joints.

I may have to solder an extension on the copper piece in order to get a better connection on it and to bring it down to 1 1/4 where the ABS compression fitting will fit without any force.

The extension seems to go on the inside wall of the copper piece making the diamer slightly smaller... will post pics tonight.

Pictures

Ok here are pictures of the sink. Don't mind the wall behind, it was already broken up and ugly when I moved into the house

This shows the pipes, the copper pipe spout out of the wall. The sink in my basement that has the extension that I was talking about. If you look closely you can see the smaller extension in the next message.

The pic with the compression piece alone is the piece I am using on the copper pipe.

More pics

This is the pic of the connection in the basment with is working fine. Notice the extension that is slightly smaller from the copper pipe. I noticed in the basment the compression fitting is also different. There is the one with the white threaded piece. I am using the one in the above pics that is black.

Couple of things:

1. I had a similar condition. I had to come out from the wall with copper to the first 45 degree fitting. Then I transitioned to white tubing.



2. I see an expansion fitting, then a reducing fitting. Not sure this is OK with the plumbing gods. Why not stay with one pipe size for the whole job? I do believe it is OK to expand the pipe size as you move away from the drain, but not decrease.

3. The cut end of the pipe in the wall, to which you are connecting, looks nasty. Not sure if it is leaking there, but I would be surprised if it weren't.

pipe size

Hi

I'm using 1 1/2 ABS for the whole job. The connection from the copper pipe go from 1 1/2 to 1 1/4 (compression fitting, not a reducer). The part where it gets tricky is where the copper pipe sticks out of the wall. I had to FORCE the compression fitting on. Your right, the copper piece is nasty looking. I was thinking of cleaning it up and then soldering an extension on. What was the reason you used the copper extension in your pic?

I am thinking of using it so that I can connect the new compression ABS to a clean, new piece of copper and one that is actually 1 1/4. Not sure why the copper in the basment (pic above) has that extension and then the reducer.. was like that already. The only reason I can think of is because the original copper pipe is slightly larger than 1 1/4 for some reason.. mabye the walls are too thick and the compression fitting wouldn't go on. That's why I had to force the fitting upstairs.

I used copper because, with the multiple plastic connections, it wasn't stable enough to get everything tight. The assembly kept twisting as I tightened.

Making more of the assembly out of copper made it stable enough to get everything tight and leak free.

My suggestions:

1. Throw out everything that is 1 1/2" and go with 1 1/4" for everything.

2. Clean up the pipe coming out of the wall. It might mean you have to cut farther into the wall until you reach good metal, then add soldered 1 1/4" copper pieces as needed. Use a tubing cutter, not a hacksaw. It's easier to make a clean cut with a tubing cutter. Or you could use a Dremel or Rotozip tools, but you need to take care to keep the cut perpendicular to the pipe.

piping

Hi

Ok I will try that. I was thinking of cutting that copper down a bit but was a little hesistant because there's already not much sticking out from the wall. I guess I can take off a bit with a tube cutter to get to more cleaner copper.

The basement has 1 1/4 ABS and it appears to be ok which confused me. I think they only have 1 1/4 in the PVC piping like your picture. Don't think you can get that in ABS but not 100% sure.

Do you have a teflon washer in the piece that connects the downspout to the first piece of PVC piping?

I wouldn't fixate on ABS. Use PVC if that's what is available. There are washers in the threaded joints, but they come with the pieces of tubing and adapters. I didn't purchase any loose washers.

drain

Snake out the drain.

Use a snake in a can and take out the p.o. plug and go in there and put some water in the sink or while your putting it all back together, install a 11/2" wye and a c.o. in the branch and clean the drain there so you can add water when snaking the drain.

Either way will make much less a mess..

Snake

Hi

Sorry I should have mentioned that I did that already. I bought an auger and stuck it in the drain in the wall after I took it apart. Did not feel anything clogged. It went it without any problems.

Can you contact the previous owner?

The broken-up wall suggests that this may not be a new problem. Everything points to a downstream blockage -- where does that copper go after it makes that turn?

downstream copper

Hi

After the turn is made I'm not 100% sure where it goes. We just finished our basement so all the walls/ceiling is closed.

drain

Gen. you may " stuck it in the drain" , but it WILL open if you follow my previous post. If you snake all the way to the main drain it will open up..........you just have to use a longer snake.

Put the drain together and just clean it out..............

auger

k I stuck the auger all the way..all 15 feet of it and it was actually tough in a couple spots. Must have hit some elbows or dirt or both. Came back out with some nasty gunk.

That seemed to take care of the clog. I put it all back together, still leaking...so I used teflon on all threads and it seemed to work. No more slow leaks. Actually, there is a TINY TINY bit of water that comes from the nut underneath the rubber washer that holds the drain downspout but nothing big.

The cut back the copper pipe to get some clean pipe and my fitting fit on it perfectly. The fitting sucks though. Had to use teflon on it also. Those white washers inside the abs to copper compression fittings suck.