I wonder if anyone knows a source of bath plugs for the waste in an old cast iron bath. The waste is smaller than the modern ones, about 1 1/4" diameter. It's a nice brass waste which will be very difficult to get off so I'd rather leave it in place. Thanks Peter
Ours is old too so I went to measure it - 1 7/8", bigger than yours.
I hope our plug never goes, I doubt that we'd be able to replce it. It's metal.
Recently I noticed that metal plugs are the latest fashion but they have a rubber/plastic sealing ring, ours doesn't need that because it's tapered. It's perfect seal.
No use to you at all though :-)
Mary
A very simple job to make one by turning up a brass plug on a lathe, and using valve grinding compound to get a paefact fit.
Right. And if you dont have a lathe thats doable too. One can make things from softer materials by putting a self tap screw into the lump of material, cut its head off and put it in a drill chuck. One crude lathe. Because it wont stand much sideways force use an angle grinder as the cutting tool, this will remove material with much less force than traditional passive tools.
I wonder if one could even turn aluminium like this, I dont know.
Regards, NT
I was going to suggest carving a wooden one.
Thanks for all those suggestions. Actually I could make a brass one as I do have a (very) small lathe, I think it would end up getting dropped into the bath and chipping the enamel though. I like the sound of wood, something very hard and dense like lignum vitae would be in keeping. Looks like there's a market niche here for lost plug replacements.
Ours is on a chain but even so it bangs agains the tap end of the bath very frequently - and must have done so for decades. There are no signs of damage to the enamel, I just looked.
Mary
My parents-in-law have recently had a new bath fitted with one of these new-fangled metal-with-a-rubber-o-ring plugs. The overflow for the bath is another plug hole which provides a handy storage facility beneath the taps for the occasions when the plug is not stoping all you bath water from disappearing.
I opted for a pop-up waste on the new bath - apparently they're old hat now but it works for me.
Neil
Yeah, they're great. When you don't have a shower that end of the bath, anyway.
Christian.
What a good idea! But I'm not having another hole drilled in my beloved bath :-(
I've never trusted those. They were a novelty when I first came across them, as a child. I suspect that these days it's the thought of what gunge has collected on the push rod ...
Mary
Why should that make a difference?
Mary
Because you tread on them. Then they close. Then you end up with trenchfoot.
Christian.
Oh. When I shower I put the plug in the waste so that my feet are bathed. Keeps me nice and warm :-)
Mary
Having recently - no ten years ago - it was recently that the bath got put back in ! Anyway over ten years ago the CI bath got taken out and I removed the old outlet, can't remember why and it is possible that somewhere in one of the junk boxes I have the plug. Inevitably if I do find it, the diameter will be wrong. Ironically the old CI trap is still kicking around waiting to have the brass recovered from it.
The bath went in again about 6 months ago, much serious planning to allow for it's weight, but in the end 4 lifted it quite easily. And then it got repainted - so far excellent and what an eye smacking change when it went from very grubby grey to astonishing pristine white. Anyway the modern brass plug with it's rubber seal also bangs against the 'enamel' without any signs of damage; finally got to what I wanted to tell you !!! :>)
Rob
Now that IS interesting. Although our bath isn't grey parts (along the bottom) haven't beens hiny for many years and there's an inexplicable and unremovable-by-any-means greean streak under the cold tap. I've thought about re-painting it although it's not a priority. How was yours done?
:-)
But our plug doesn't have a rubber seal and it still does no damage.
Mary
You can, mary, if its a vitreous enammelled bath and teh enamle has not worn through, buff that bath up by a process of rubbing down with fine (60 or 120 grit) wet and dry paper, followed up with 'T-cut' - all obtainable from your local car accessories shoppe.
The copper carbonate staining is harder to eradicate. Strong acid may be suitable, and if the roughbness of the bath is due to limescale be useful to remove that as well.
ry not to breathe with acid in the bath and your head below the rim.
Wooden't that swell when it got wet though, jamming itself securely in place?
Regards, NT
Only when it's not floating about.
I don't think the worn part is thick enough now, it's a very old bath.
I'm not sure that it's copper carbonate. I haven't been able to get a sample to analyse without damaging the enamel! What's always puzzled us is that the plumbing has always been the same for cold and hot feeds, but the staining is only under the cold! It's not important anyway.
I've tried very many chemicals (we both worked in labs) and they don't work. When I first knew the bath it was in a friend's house, his wife didn't like the green stain (I find it rather endearing!) so I cockily said that I'd get rid of it.
I couldn't.
Spouse said he would. He knew better than any woman.
He couldn't.
We didn't mind because they got a new bath :-)
No it isn't. Our natural water is so soft that degrees of 'hardness' have to be added, we never have to de-scale any equipment.
We understand inorganic chemicals, having worked with them for a long time. But your warning.isn't invalidated by that.
Mary
hmmm ... I removed similar staining from my old enamelled bath below the taps, and lime build up elsewhere using acid - but fear that I have damaged the surface of the enamel a little. It still looks
*much* better and whiter than before though. The cleaner bits are now noticable much matter (spelling ?) and slightly powdery. In the bottom of the bath where the acid collected there are now dozens of tiny pinholes through to the underlying cast iron. It's possible to place a fine crewel needle point in one and for the needle to remain upright.So I'm waiting for a protective layer of lime to build up again! Replacing it with one of these flimsy plastic/grp things is *not* on the agenda!
DN
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