Wash hand basin tip

[Mr Pounder Esquire]

We have one of those wash hand basins with a bloody big plug hole. The chrome plug drops in, you push this little lever to make the seal and pull the little lever to pop the plug out. Mrs Pounder Esq was brushing her teeth this morning and dropped the fat cap off the toothpaste tube down the plug hole. It was quite a nice fit, about three inches down. There was no way I could get a grip on it. It was not wedged. Against my wishes we have insurance with BG. I rang them, plumber coming out this afternoon. Lady on the phone says this sort of thing happens a lot. I looked at the little levers at the back of the basin that operate the plug - ugg. Looked at the waste connection, even more uggggg. I found one of those cotton wool bud things on a stick, covered the bud with super glue and placed it on top of the cap. Ten minutes later I just pulled the cap out. Canceled the appointment with BG. They asked me what I'd done. They said well thought out and they would pass the tip onto their plumbers.

[Harry Bloomfield]

Mr Pounder Esquire formulated on Wednesday :

We have two of those - when something happens to go down, the bottom of the trap has a large cap which simply screws off.

[Mr Pounder Esquire]

The cap had not got down there due to the push rod in the plug hole stopping it.

[Graeme]

In message , Mr Pounder Esquire writes

My first thought was thin dowel with a dollop of blu-tak on the end, but your idea sounds even better. Result.

[Dave Liquorice]

Bloody awful things, just swapped out a lever operated one on a basin and bowden cable operated one on the bath. Niether would seal properly and all the mechanisium in the outflow trapped hair and soap scum, yuk...

Bath has now got the KISS plastic plug on chain. The basin a flippy disc *without* an "O" ring or seal around the edge. Both seal reliably and have minimal parts in the flow, in the case of the flippy disc just the flippy disc.

I can't work out how the completly free to rotate in *any* direction and moderately loose fit flippy disc thing works so well.

Good solution. I'd have reached for the short "flexible grabber",

[damduck-egg]

You've just reminded me that I must replace the" chain" on the kitchen sink. It is one of those constructed like a small series of beads and the missus managed to break it last year. After a week of nagging that she had to feel around for the plug I fixed it with the brass innards of a 5 amp chocolate block connecter. Worked fine since but cosmetically unacceptable to the other half.

G.Harman

[Mr Pounder Esquire]

I also thought of the blu-tack method. Thing is that under the toothpaste cap there is a horizontal rod that flips the plug up. I really did not want to put pressure on it. I made the effort as I could see the struggle that a plumber would have in getting behind the basin and taking things apart.

[Dave W]

For heavens sake just buy a new chain! Your connector would be cosmetically unacceptable to me also, and will be even more so when it goes green.