How To Repair A Stuck Stopper On My Bathtub

Tub Drain Stopper Stuck In Closed Position? (Here's a Fix)

Showers and baths are pocket-size joys in life, just what happens if the h2o doesn't bleed because your stopper is stuck in the closed position? It can seem like it will exist stuck forever at first, but that is nothing to worry about. Follow along as nosotros explore the simple steps that information technology takes to take care of a stuck stopper.

Bathtub Drain Stopper Stuck in Closed Position

It can be pretty annoying when you take a shower and the h2o starts puddling around your anxiety. If information technology won't get down, you lot probably thought it was clogged with pilus or something. Merely after cleaning it and finding naught, you probably realized that it is simply that the drain stopper is stuck in the airtight position.

If your tub drain stopper is stuck in the closed position, y'all'll have to fix information technology before standing to use your tub. There are several unlike types of stoppers including PresFlo, FlipIt, Lift and Turn, Toe Bear on, and Trip Lever systems. How you fix your tub stopper depends on the type of system you lot have.

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In this article, we'll look at how to set all manner of drain stoppers stuck in the closed position. There are many unlike types of drain stoppers and each of them requires different remedies, each of which nosotros'll explore.

The Lift Bucket Drain System

The lift saucepan bleed organisation is easier than the other and has four different kinds. The PresFlo, FlipIt, Elevator & Turn, or Toe Bear on. They are pretty self-explanatory but hither is some help in case yous do non know.

Type	How information technology Works
PresFlo	Has an O-ring to create a seal and spins to open or close with just a bit of force per unit area on the side
FlipIt	Uses a toggle that you push to ane side to open and shut the bleed
Lift & Plow	You take to lift it and plough it to open and close the bleed
Toe Touch on	Just push it with your toe to open and close the bleed

Fixing the PresFlo Stopper

Brand sure the stopper is apartment in the drain.
Use a suction cup to press on the stopper until it sticks.
Pull the stopper out and supervene upon information technology with a new i.

Fixing the FlipIt Stopper

The O-ring is all that keeps this type of stopper in its place. All you take to practice is unscrew it and pull upwardly at the aforementioned fourth dimension. It does non fifty-fifty matter which way y'all turn it because it can go both ways. Supplant it with a new one by putting information technology in and turning it 1 way or the other.

Fixing the Lift & Turn Stopper

Get a flathead screwdriver and some Allen wrenches.
Put the stopper in the open position and turn the knob while looking for a screw. If at that place is no spiral, turn information technology counterclockwise until it comes out and skip to Step Six.
You will either demand your screwdriver or Allen wrench to loosen the screw. You do not have to remove it all the fashion.
Lift the stopper off the postal service it is sitting on.
Unscrew the mail from the strainer.
Take out the stopper and supercede it with a new one.

Fixing the Toe Impact Stopper

Get a flathead screwdriver and pliers.
Remove the knob by turning information technology counterclockwise. Apply the rag and pliers if it will non come off hands.
Unscrew the brass insert with the screwdriver and lift it off the strainer.
Replace the stopper and put everything back together.

How To Fix A Bathroom Drain Stopper

How to Remove a Stuck Trip Lever Tub Bleed Stopper

If yours is the trip lever bleed organization, it is a bit more work to fix than the other type. But it only has two different kinds. The pop-up and the elevator bucket.

The Pop-Up Bleed Stopper

The pop-up has a turn style or trip lever to move a pushrod within against a rocker arm. The stopper is visible in the drain and is not covered by a strainer.

Rotate the overflow faceplate or flip the lever to open the stopper.
Pull direct up to remove the stopper. Yous may have to move it back and forth a flake.
Some of these stoppers have a rocker arm that comes out with the stopper. Make sure you have a textile to lay it on because it can scratch the tub.
Replace the stopper and plunger with a new i and make sure it is firmly sealed.

Quick Tip: If yous accept a rocker arm, they tin exist hard to put back in. You can use a conversion kit to change information technology to a unlike system.

The Lift Bucket Drain Stopper

The lift bucket stopper also has a turn mode or trip lever to operate it. However, the plunger inside is used to stop the water. When you activate the plunger, it turns the plate to motion the plunger up and down. You cannot meet a stopper in this 1 and in that location is a strainer over the bleed.

Remove the embrace plate by unscrewing it from the drain.
Find the screws on the encompass plate.
Remove only one screw.
Property the faceplate, slowly remove the other screw. As it loosens, the faceplate will get-go to swivel. When information technology is loosened enough to swing downwards and abroad, reinstall the other screw into the overflow elbow. This stops the elbow from falling backside the tub.
Remove the other screw the rest of the way, leaving the first screw holding the elbow in place.
Remove the trip lever past wiggling information technology and pulling gently.
Replace the stopper and trip lever with a new ane and replace everything in the opposite club equally before.

Quick Tip: Make sure the stopper is in the correct spot to let the bathtub bleed correctly.

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Prepare Your Trip Lever Drain Through the Springs

The operation of a trip-lever drain that works a pop-up stopper is slightly different. Instead of a lift-bucket plunger, a jump at the end of the connecting rod closes a drain aperture at the bottom of the overflow tube.

This bound pulls down on a pivot arm when the trip lever is pushed, which levers the pop-up stopper up into an open up position. Gravity allows the block to descend back down and shut the drain opening when the trip lever is moved to the closed position.

To get this chore done, you need to follow these steps:

Remove the overflow embrace plate'southward fastening screws from the overflow tube. Remove the cover plate with intendance, so disassemble the connecting rod and spring via the overflow hole.
Remove any droppings from the spring at the stopper linkage's cease. Hair and soap scum build-upward tin create difficulties with the stopper in many circumstances.
Adhere the cover plate to the overflow tube and re-insert the stopper linkage through the overflow discontinuity. Turning on the water and checking that the stopper is in proper working guild.

How Practise I Remove a Stuck Bathtub Drain Stopper?

Removing a stuck bathtub drain stopper is slightly unlike than fixing a broken one. To remove the stopper and clear whatever droppings in the style, here's what you demand to do.

Unscrew and loosen the drain stopper with a screwdriver.
Use your fingers or a needlenose pliers to take hold of the stopper and pull information technology out of the drain.
Prepare the stopper aside and so it'southward out of the style only not somewhere you'll lose it.
Insert a drain serpent into the drain line and plow and push to loosen whatever debris that's blocking the drain.
Continue to do this until you remove everything that's blocking the drain.
Reinstall the stopper into the bleed and tighten it with the screwdriver.
Fill the tub with water and drain it to perform a practice run and brand sure the drain is clear and the stopper is working.

How Can I Fix My Bathroom Sink Stopper?

If your bathroom sink drain is broken, information technology can exist a major problem. These things are fabricated so that if they fail, y'all accept to accept things apart to fix them. It is not every bit easy as fixing the tub bleed. Just you should be able to do it without hiring a plumber.

Here is a listing of tools yous'll demand to complete the job.

A wrench
Pliers
A Screwdriver
Plumber's putty
Bucket

In one case yous've gathered your supplies and turned off the water to the tub, follow these steps to a T.

With the bucket underneath, remove the p-trap and set it aside.
Remove the pivot rod through the pigsty in the drain stopper and then remove the sink stopper tailpipe and set information technology aside.
Use the wrench to loosen the nut that is property the drain where it is.
Push up on the drain while pulling information technology out of the top.
Take the sink components to the hardware shop and get the exact same ones. Ask for help if you lot cannot find it.
Use the plumber's putty to make a ring effectually the sink opening and press down gently.
Printing the replacement bleed in the opening on top of the putty. Press information technology until the putty comes out and remove the excess.
Replace the drain with the gaskets betwixt it and the nut and tighten the nut to concur the drain in place.
Spread some plumber's putty onto the tailpipe and p-trap threads and hook everything support as it was.

How Practice I Hook the Pivot Rod Support?

Find the hole on the lesser of the stopper and line upwardly the rod with the hole. If you lot cannot come across it, try doing information technology by feel. Make sure yous do not lose the gasket that goes between the pin seat and the pivot pigsty. It may have a few tries, but if you go on at information technology, you can get it right.

Related Guides

How Far Below The Drain Should A P-Trap Exist?
Bathroom Sink Drain Pipe and P-Trap Don't Meet?
How To Remove A Bathroom Sink Stopper (Step-By-Step Guide)

Patricia Oelze

I am a DIYer who loves writing about anything dwelling house-related. When I am not writing, y'all tin can find me studying for my PhD in Psychology, photographing nature, and swimming at the lake with my grandkids.

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