My sister calls me up with a report of a slow kitchen sink leak.
It turns out to be the connection between plastic and metal:
I tried using the "correct" tool, but it just bungled up the ring:
I tried using the old screwdriver & mallet method, also to no avail:
Now it's all bungled up (and she's mad at me because it's inoperative):
What am I doing wrong?
I used a propane torch on one that was giving me problems. Heated it and then it turned free.
That's true of most vanity drains , but not most kitchen basket strainers . Best thing to do in this case is get the old one out any way possible and replace it with a new unit . Might want to do a pre-emptive replacement of the other one too if it's a double sink . . -- Snag
What Danny D says
Danny D.:
You're not doing anything wrong.
It looks like someone has mixed plumber's putty with linseed oil, and used that to GLUE the lock nut you're trying to remove on. That yellow stuff in your pictures looks too glossy to me to be ordinary plumber's putty. Either it's plumber's putty mixed with linseed oil, or it's some kinda glue or something.
Normally, the plumber's putty goes between the flange at the top of the strainer basket and the flanged bottom of the sink. See the image below:
There shouldn't be any plumber's putty on the underside of the sink at all, and that yellow stuff in your pictures sure doesn't look like just plumber's putty to me. I'm thinking it's some kind of glue or maybe some one figured they'd mix linseed oil into their plumber's putty so that it would stick better and harden up over time, making it a bytch to remove that lock nut in future. AND, he appears to have used that linseed oil/plumber's putty on the threads between the lock nut and the strainer basket as well. That's why the lock nut wouldn't turn for you; it's glued on with linseed oil.
Look at the image linked to above. It's incorrect because it doesn't show the threads on the strainer basket or the threads on the lock nut. The OD of the strainer basket is threaded and the ID of the lock nut is threaded so that when you screw the lock nut onto the strainer basket, you squash the plumber's putty between the flange at the top of the strainer basket and the flanged bottom of the sink, making a water proof seal. You simply don't need any plumber's putty on the underside of the sink, so why that stuff is there is a mystery, and suggest to me that whomever did that work didn't know what he was doing.
Use a screw driver or something to pry one end of the broken locknut outwards to break it away from the strainer basket. Use two screw drivers to work your way around the lock nut, or better yet, just break the rest of it off too.
Then, use a small screw driver or even the corner of a wood chisel to pry the flanged top of the stainer basket upward so that it comes out of the sink. If it's glued on with linseed oil, you may have to take a torch to the strainer basket (ONLY!) to soften the linseed oil so that it lets go of the strainer basket. Maybe put some cardboard under the fulcrum of whatever lever you use to pry up that strainer basket flange so that you don't mar the bottom of the sink.
Then figure out what that yellow stuff is and get it off. If it's plumber's putty, you should be able to scrape it off with a putty knife. If it's plumber's putty mixed with linseed oil, you'll probably have to use a paint stripper or a heat gun (or good hair dryer and lots of patience) to remove it. If it's got linseed oil in it, then get a paint stripper that uses methylene chloride as it's active ingredient, like Polystrippa. If it's some kinda glue, I'd try acetone or lacquer thinner to dissolve it. Nail polish remover is acetone, so maybe try that first to see if it dissolves that yellow stuff. You may want to try carving most of it off with a cheap Stanley wood chisel for $5 from Home Depot, and then dissolving what's left with acetone or lacquer thinner.
Then, phone around to the plumbing wholesalers in your area and find out which of them sell Kindred 1135 strainer baskets, and replace the junk you have with the best strainer basket on the market that I know of. The 1135 doesn't use a lock nut. It uses a threaded hollow rod in the middle of the strainer basket that you tighten with a coin, like a quarter or Canadian "loonie" dollar coin.
You're not doing anything wrong. That strainer basket was a problem waiting for someone to correct it.
I tried all sorts of pliers to remove the basket from below:
I even tried circular vise grips:
In the end, I chiselled off the cast aluminum lock ring:
And, then I banged the basket up with a rubber mallet:
The good news is that the basket is now out of my sister's sink:
It wasn't elegant, but I pried & banged the old strainer basket out.
So that now all I have to do is clean up the gunk in the hole.
What I found out was that the previous owner jury rigged the basket with caulk and the tailpipe put in upside down.
So, I'm going to replace all that incorrect plumbing tomorrow.
Once you're finished using your Plumber's putty, use your finger to wet the top surface of the putty in the tub with either corn oil or grape seed oil, which you should be able to find in your local supermarket. That will help prevent the putty from drying out and getting hard at the top on you. And, you can use the rest of it as cooking oil.
Why not add a garbage disposal while you are under there?
My recommendation would be the InSinkErator Evolution Essential. Very quiet, very powerful.
There is already a 1/2 HP disposal in the same cabinet:
I made a whole bunch of mistakes, but here is the final setup:
Thanks for that idea.
I used olive oil, as that's all I had.
BTW, what is the purpose of this swivel contraption?
My guess is a vent.
What do I win if I'm right?
I peeled it apart and banged it out.
One mistake I made though, was not purchasing a WIDE flange basket.
Apparently the flange on the new basket is slightly less wide than the original, so, the rust at the edge of the sink is now showing.
My mistake was in not knowing that ahead of time (which my sister pointed out to me).
It sure looks and acts like a vent.
Is that normal for a kitchen sink trap to have a vent which is open to the underside of the sink?
And, why bother swiveling?
Do you think the vent contraption had anything to do with this, which I removed in order to make room for me to work down there?
Thanks for that idea.
The biggest problem I had in assembly was that I couldn't figure out the rather simple instructions for the life of me.
The kit came with *two* different types of nylon bushings:
One bushing was beveled, and I used that on the horizontal end. But the other bushing was sqaured, and I couldn't figure out how to use that squared bushing.
Nothing whatsoever I tried seemed to make any sense. Googling, I found NOBODY used a square bushing on that end (they used the square bushing only at the plastic-to-metal interface).
So, I gave up on the square bushing, and re-used an old beveled nylon bushing instead:
QUESTION: How was I supposed to use the SQUARE nylon bushing?
NOTE: The instructions show it clearly as #3 but those instructions can't possibly work, as I tried it in that configuration and if fell apart every time.
I'm not sure what that means.
I made a whole bunch of mistakes, but, at least the result is much *better* than the jury-rigged contraption that was there initially, mostly held together with putty.
Since I had assembled and disassembled the pipes quite a few times trying to figure out how to properly use the squared bushing (before I gave up on it), I found this particular pair of pliers handy:
It is where the RO system drained when filtering the water to fill the tank.
Why an old one when a new beveled bushing came with the pipe?
The beveled bushing/washer is the pipe to pipe socket slip seal.
The shoulder bushing/washer is the basket to tailpiece/pipe seal. Flat top to basket, small part into tailpiece.
Ah, that makes sense.
The Sears Kenmore reverse osmosis water filtration system under the cabinet was partially disconnected, so I simply removed it, in toto.
My sis told me to take it away, but do you think it can be used for something useful?
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.