vanity drain leaking

yky · 2017-02-25T05:27:58+00:00

Vanity sink drain usually has two openings for overflow water to go into the drain pipe. What prevents the water from going down (leaking) through the thread? I just installed a new drain and it's leaking. I figure it is the water going down the thread. Maybe I should use a drain that doesn't have the opening but the sink does have an overflow hole.

Feb 25, 2017 22 Replies

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trader_4 9 years ago

I agree with the above, but that's isn't what you posted:

"If so, that is _NOT_ a water seal; the problem if it is leaking there isn't the nut/washer, it's that you either don't have enough plumbers putty to make a full seal or the drain flange isn't seating in the bowl opening properly or it's got a bend or something wrong with it or there's an imperfection in the bowl itself. "

You implied that it can't leak below the bowl, except for a problem with the plumber's putty sealing at the flange where the top of the drain meets the sink. The rubber seal just above the nut *is a water seal* and if that seal is bad, it will leak. In his case, the seal isn't bad, it's that the threads extend too far, so they go past the seal.

I don't know how I can make it any clearer. There are threads on the drain pipe, yes? There is a rubber seal between the nut and the bottom of the sink. There is water present above that rubber seal. If the drain pipe has threads that extend up the pipe too far, then when the nut is tight, there will be some threads protruding beyond the rubber seal, into the area between the inner sink surface and the outer sink surface, where there is water. Water will follow the threads and leak out. His drain is meant for a sink that is thicker, where the threads will not extend out of the rubber seal when it's tightened up.

This is confirmed by his saying that putting silicone on the threads before assembly solved it. That isn't the best solution, I would have gotten the correct drain part.

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dpb 9 years ago

...

I didn't _IMPLY_ it; I said it straight out because 'tis true...I just looked at three here and every one is the same way and in all of them there is obvious sealant around the drainset but nothing but the jamb nut on the threaded portion to hold the drainset in place.

I think if you go on a search for this part you'll find it's the proverbial snipe hunt; there is no such part as you're trying to imagine there being.

You can continue to believe otherwise if you wish but won't make it so...

bye...

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trader_4 9 years ago

Neither the OP nor I ever disputed that.

The part that you allege I and the poster are seeing is in the link I provided in a much earlier post and it exists. The OP has one.

Explain to us how the overflow water from a common sink gets to the drain. In my world, in the OP's world, it gets there by flowing through an opening high in the sink. From there it flows between the inner sink casting and the outer sink casting, ie in the void in between. When it gets to the bottom, at the drain, it flows into the drain through the hole in the sides of the drain pipe, just as shown in the diagram in the link. So water is present there, either from overflow or from normal water going down the drain. And if there is no rubber seal at the bottom of the sink, directly above the nut, water will leak out, despite your claim. You say that the only water seal is between the drain and the inner surface, ie, where the plumber's putty goes, that is not true. The diagram shows it.

In the case of the OP, it appears to be leaking out because the sink isn't thick enough for the drain, resulting in threads on the drain pipe extending past the rubber seal, into the *wet* area.

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