Any suggestions or advice for cleaning out the bathroom sink drain? Ours is emptying very slowly. Drano and similar products are not in my tool box.
You can try Home Depot. They have a snake made of plastic about 3 feet long for just such a task.
I think you can unscrew the "P" trap underneath which is probably where the blockage is.
Agree with Barry.
Remove the P trap and clean.
Remove the sink stopper by loosening the nut securing the rod that operates the sink stopper, remove and clean.
Only after that should you consider a "Plan B".
Brett Wolfe
I agree with Brett, my stoppage turned out to be makeup and hair on the stopper lever. I found that removing the stopper lever was easier than removing the P trap.
Maybe you should go lighter on your makeup and wear a hair net when you use the coach.
I just finished that chore. Get under the sink and unscrew the sleeve holding the drain valve lever into the top of the "P" trap. Pull out the lever and then lift out the drain plug from the sink. Wash and clean it of all the black jelly like stuff. Then use a long handled instrument (sponge forceps work well) and paper towels to clean out the drain itself. Reinsert the drain plug, careful to line up the hole in the bottom so lever will reinsert when cap is screwed back on. Adjust lever to raise and lower the plug normally. VOILA!
Boil water and pour it down all of the drains. Remember, soap is made out of fat! Mix that with a few hairs and you are up to the skill levels of beavers regarding stopping water!
Do that regularly and you will see the difference. It is green, also!
George, did you get it cleaned out? Was it full of hair? That's what it usually is in most bathroom sinks. I agree with unscrewing the cap on the lever and pulling up the stopper. Most times the hair will come up with the stopper, but sometimes it falls into the P trap and has to be fished out with a bent wire, or remove the P trap. After you put it back together you shouldn't be able to pull out the stopper. If you can, the lever missed the hole on the end of the stopper.
Jerry,
I have not tackled the job as yet. Too busy having fun here in far NW Montana. Mostly sunny days in the 80s and evenings into high 40s and low 50s. Last night we watched the Perseid meteor shower. Neat.
For clogged hair and such try a "Zipit". It's a 20' long piece of white plastic, flat and has what looks similar to fish hooks on each side. You push it down the drain and pull out all the gunk hanging up inside the drain pipe. You may have to remove the stopper first. It bets using and old coat hanger like I used to use in the past.
I bought mine at either Lowe's or Home Depot. Look in the plumbing section or ask, good luck finding someone, and they can direct you.
Good luck.
I haven't had to use anything in the motorhome yet but I use a bladder that connects to a water hose at home. Simply put the bladder into the drain & turn on the water, the bladder swells up and shoots high pressure water and (most of the time) blows out the pluggage. These bladders can be bought at most of the box stores for $4 or $5.
A few weeks ago I asked for suggestion to deal with a very slow moving bathroom sink drain. All of your suggestions were good, but I got busy with other things. Then the other day while digging through a large Rubbermaid tub I found a small package of an item called FlexiSnake. www.flexisnake.com (http://www.flexisnake.com).
A one end of the coil is a patch of Velcro.
I used it to snake out the hair and gunk from the bathroom drain and flushed loose globs down the drain with two applications of near boiling water. It works as good as new.
A package of two is $8.95 + S&H. I do not own shares in this company.
Great! Happy you got it fixed. Any chance you could remember where you got the "Flexisnake"? Taking out the drain plug is a pita.
I got them online. The web address is in my posting under a new topic called: Flexisnake to the rescue