I have often thought about this question, and I may have even participated in discussions about it before. It is about something that I just can't get myself to fully understand, even though I try to think of what is going on and how I think it "should" be working. So, I am looking for people who ca "splain-it" to me in a way that I can understand. Here's the scenario: I have a 2nd floor bathroom sink drain. The sink has a typical 1 11/4 inch drain in it and has an overflow preventer port near the top of the sink. The drain line under the sink is a 1 - 1/4 inch chrome drain line P-trap that goes back into the wall. From there it makes a 90 degree turn down and goes down about 18-inches to just below the floor line. Then it makes another 90 degree turn to be virtually horizontal along the underside of the bathroom floor and goes about 8 feet and ties into the side of the 4-inch cast iron toilet drain under the toilet. Everything from the point inside the wall behind the sink and down and across under the floor to the toilet drain is approx 1 - 1/4 inch lead pipe with a horizontal curve in it to make the trip to the 4-inch cast iron toilet drain. The sink is often very slow to drain. I have used a 50 foot 1/4-in snake to clean it out, which always helps -- at least for a while, But doing so is not easy due to all of the turns it has to make to get through the P-trap, down into the wall, and across to the toilet 4-inch cast iron drain. To make things easier, a few days ago, I cut into the horizontal piece of the P-trap and installed a coupling that I can easily disconnect. When I disconnect that coupling, the 15 fool 1/4-snake goes in easily, makes the 90 degree turn down easily, and makes the final 90-degree to horizontal and easily goes across to the end of the line where it drains into the 4-inch cast iron toilet drain line. So, I was able to easily clean that line out that way. And, with the snake all the way in, I even slide the...

But is your roof air vent blocked in anyway? leaves, dead squirrel etc

Glub-Glub sink drain "physics" question?

Feb 18, 2016 29 Replies

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Muggles 10 years ago

I had to look up what a brazing rod is, and I don't have any of those. lol

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Muggles 10 years ago

I'm not so technical. I just use drain strainers like this,

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for my bathroom sink drains. It catches everything and I just empty it when I see stuff in it. I haven't had my sink drain clog up since I've been using one of those.

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Muggles 10 years ago

When you brush your hair, if you have hair to brush, that hair also goes down the drain along with the whiskers and the gunk left over from shaving, brushing your teeth, and mouthwash. The gunk can stick to any hairs that get stuck going down the drain, is what I've been told, anyway.

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gfretwell 10 years ago

It is really a handy material and pretty cheap at a welding store. Of course you can also braze with it if you have a torch.

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dadiOH 10 years ago

You'll need to either...

A. Pinch off the end you are not inserting until the other end is past the trap

B. Blow out the water from the tubing after it is past the trap

Otherwise, the portion within the trap will be filled with water as it passes through the trap.

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TekkieÃÂ® 10 years ago

Muggles posted for all of us...

Well Muggs, you just did about 1000 times the work the PaintedBovine does. Maybe you could coach him on how to do it. Off line of course.

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TekkieÃÂ® 10 years ago

TomR posted for all of us...

Just keep sucking on it until the taste changes... 8-)

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TomR 10 years ago

Yes, I'm sure some hair does end up in the drain. But, I don't have long hair and I have never had or found a hair clog in the bathroom sink -- mostly just gunk of some kind that builds up and slows the drain process.

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Muggles 10 years ago

Well, not sure what else it could be clogging a bathroom sink.

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Muggles 10 years ago

Thanks? :-)

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