Need Advice on Cleaning Sink Drainage Pipe

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blueskies

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I am trying to clear the drainage pipe under my bathroom sink but I cannot detached the curved section of the pipe. The connections to the white PVC piece you see in the pics can be easily loosened,but I cannot budge the bottom piece at all. It even looks like one solid piece. Is it?

Would greatly appreciate any advice how I can remove the section to the clean the pipe.

Thank you.





 
Not a plumbing expert, but I do lots of plumbing in my rentals. It looks to me that the trap (U shaped piece) has a female threaded end. It appears that the pipe coming out of the wall is male threaded galvanized pipe.

If you remove the PVC pipe, you will probably be able to remove the trap by turning it counter clockwise. Be careful, since the galvanized pipe could be brittle.
 
Hi Jeff,

Thanks for your suggestion. I cannot remove the white piece though. I can twist it after I loosen the nuts but cannot take it out from between the U piece and the top piece.
 
there is a (cleanout nut) on the bottom of the trap....be careful when trying to remove it those galvi threads look tired...you could break it.... when yo get the nut off you can snake it.....
 
Hi Jeff,

Thanks for your suggestion. I cannot remove the white piece though. I can twist it after I loosen the nuts but cannot take it out from between the U piece and the top piece.
The nut at the top of the PVC pipe needs to be removed completely. Then loosen the chrome nut at the bottom. Then, push the top of the PVC pipe to the side, and lift it. It should come out of the trap. Then you can try rotating the trap.
 
He may not be able to "push the top of the PVC pipe to the side, BUT if he can that would be my first move.

If not I would remove that plug from the trap. They're likely brass. But I'd soak with some type of liquid wrench, give it a few good raps or taps, wait a bit and try again. Worse thing probably would be distorting that brass plug, can be replaced with one of those rubber expansion plugs.

To get that trap to rotate will take 2 of the largest wrenches you can fit in there and some muscle. Well, tap with hammer before using brutal force.
 
Diehard - unless the tailpiece was connected to the strainer before the sink was dropped in, how else would it have been originally connected? In other words, it went together, so there has to be a way to get it apart.
 
Diehard - unless the tailpiece was connected to the strainer before the sink was dropped in, how else would it have been originally connected? In other words, it went together, so there has to be a way to get it apart.
Either by inserting into the trap and then rotating the trap vertical or put together when sink was replaced, as you implied.

At this point I would either lift the sink or cut the existing tail pipe then replace it with a 2 piece tail pipe, that can be inserted and extracted enough to make it up, if I didn't want to mess with that plug. Depends how I feel on a particular day.:)

EDIT: I wonder if he tried pushing the PVC pipe further down into the trap, enough to possibly have the top of the PVC clear the chrome tail piece?
 
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if you don't want to loosen the cleanout nut another way is to cut the galvi pipe so that you can install 4 band no hub coupling or a 2 band mission coupling this method would allow direct access to your drain I would try the cleanout nut first...just an opinion
 
I say get rid of the whole thing and use a proflex coupling to put a union trap on it. Done.
 
I wouldn't pull the sink. That trap is solid and is not going to move side ways. If you can't get that piece out
I would do like suggested and get rid of that copper trap and put in a tubular p-trap that can be taken apart.
 
the white pvc is an extension tailpiece. I am sure there is a 4" chrome threaded tailpiece above it. The pic just doesnt show it. Turn the chrome tailpiece counterclockwise and drop it down into the extension tailpiece and take the whole thing out.
 
the white pvc is an extension tailpiece. I am sure there is a 4" chrome threaded tailpiece above it. The pic just doesnt show it. Turn the chrome tailpiece counterclockwise and drop it down into the extension tailpiece and take the whole thing out.
It does show enough of the chrome tail piece to see the pvc nut sealing it into the pvc extension. But threaded???
It should drop into the pvc if there's room to drop. But who knows what OP tried when he said, "can be easily loosened".
 
If that drain has been together for a while that chrome tailpiece will not unscrew that easy. If luck is on his side
it will come out without egg shaping it.
 

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