I was cleaning the keys of my PC keyboard in a bowl containing a mixture of water and Dawn liquid soap.
When I poured the dirty water into my bathroom sink, one of the keys went down the drain and the key is in the P-trap.
I cannot remove the P-trap nor the tailpiece. The top of the tailpiece is 8 inches above the bottom of the P-trap.
How can I retrieve the key out of the P-trap?
If you have one of the shop wet/dry vacuum cleaners you can try that. It will suck the water up that is in the P-trap and hopefully the key if it is still in the p-trap and not on down the line.
A magnet? Try one on the other key.
Ralph: Thanks but I don't have a wet/dry vacuum cleaner Mike: The key is plastic (not metal).
Maybe Mike is thinking about a metal door key, not a plastic keyboard key.
Nope. It the "A" key.
(Typing "A" without the "A" key is hard).
Can you take it apart? Most come apart fairly easy.
Ed: I cannot disassemble the plumbing.
Q is hardly used. Move that key over to the A position.
So there's no way to retrieve the "A" key from the P-trap?
The vacuum idea is one that I have used. You put a nylon hosiery on the end secured with a rubber band then suck the pc key up. Since you don't have a wet/dry vac, try rolling paper towel, shoving it down and absorbing as much water as possible then use regular vacuum.
Opting two is using a tool like this....
Option three is removing the trap.
Not able or not willing?
And no shop vac either. Not sure if that would work, but it would be easy to try. If he won't or can't take apart the trap, then just buy a new keyboard on Ebay, they're cheap.
Bill: I can't disassemble the plumbing. The bottom of the P-trap is tight against the bottom of the vanity cabinet.
IT would seem it had to be assembled in the first place, unless the cabinet was built around it. If it's against the bottom, you'd have to take the drain tailpiece out, but that's not a major deal. Of course with old parts, you might wind up having to replace some of it too. I'd also look at keyboards on Ebay if you want to avoid the work.
I think I'm showing my age. There was a time when CPU towers sometimes came with a metal key that could be used to lock-out the keyboard. For some reason that's what I thought of when you mentioned a keyboard key.
If you can dry out the trap, (i.e. gently with forced warm air) perhaps you can insert a snake with something sticky, like a small rag covered with molasses.
Undo the tailpiece at the sink, loosen both trap nuts and you will be able to remove the p-trap.
Stormin' Mormon: I have removed the tailpiece at the sink but there isn't enough room to loosen both trap nuts
On my regular (i.e., not wet/dry) vacuum cleaner, the suction hose fits on the end of the suction wand that is too long to fit under my bathroom sink.
I do not have any molasses but I do have: pancake syrup light corn syrup dark corn syrup.
Which is the stickiest?
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