I have a bathtub drain that is draining too slowly - See Pix

[dvarga]

I have a bathtub drain that is draining too slowly, I've tried a few actions, see below, not getting any improvement in drain flow. With 5 gallons of standing water in the tub, when I push the drain lever down it still takes a full 60 seconds for that water to drain, no difference.

Chemical Actions: I've used several treatments that I have poured down the drain, let them sit for a 30 mins to 2 hours, and then flush them out with warm water, including a ZEP enzyme treatment, Pequa, straight Vinegar. No difference.

Auger: I then used a power auger with a 1/2" head on it and bent the head a little so it spins a little wider than the 1/2" and power augered down the drain (using a power drill) for a length of 3 feet. I felt no clog resistance, and when I pulled it out there was no debris stuck in the head.

Any good ideas of something else I can try? Or could this just be the normal rate of water draining? Would the rate of flow be faster if I enlarged the drain holes in the drain cover a bit?

Thank you!

Dave

 

[Jeff Handy]

Running a snake in for only three feet was likely not reaching the clog.
A clog can be right in the trap, or twenty or thirty feet away.
It depends how all the drains are hooked up.

That snake is probably 15 feet or 25 feet long, put the whole thing down there, and don’t advance too fast.
You need to spend time spinning around in every section of the drain, you never know when the tip is actually in the clog.
If 15 feet goes in and does not work, go farther.
I always prefer manual snaking, you can feel what the tip is doing, what it is going through.

Also, Zep enzyme cleaner needs to sit in the drain overnight, it works very slowly.
You can repeat it every night for weeks, if needed.

And if the clog is far away from the tub, you have to wait several hours or even overnight, before putting in the acid type drain cleaner.
You have to allow all the trapped water in the drain to go past the clog.

Then pour in two quarts, followed by a quart of hot top water, to push everything through the trap, then let it sit for an hour.
Then fill the tub up all the way and let it go, the full tub puts more pressure on the drain.

If you have the type of drain where a little plunger plug is operated by the overflow lever, you can pull that whole linkage thing out of the overflow, to clean it.
Sometimes that part gets choked up with hair.
And then you can run the snake down through the overflow, not through the tub drain flange.

 

[dvarga]

OK, thank you all for your input. Thx for your paitence. I made some progress and got some insight thanks to you all on this 2nd flr 20 year old bathtub on the 2nd floor that seemed to have slow drain. Here is my journey.

Besides multiple chemical plumbing treatments poured into the tube drain, I used an augar with a 1/2" head that I bent, and went down the drain, down the p trap and 15' DOWN, and from the basement went UP that dedicated drain pip 15'. No issues there. However while in the basement I found that this pipe that continues downward under the basement concrete, that meets the main sewer line under the concrete was almost plugged up. So I used main drain cleaner over night and flushed it out in the morning and that drain flow increased significantly on that portion, however that did not affect the bathtub drain flow rate of 5 gallons per 60 seconds.

Back to the tub. I EVER SO CAREFULLY unscrewed the overflow plate and took out the entire mechanism. I then poured the 5 gallon bucket of water in the tub and it still took 60 seconds to drain. Ok so the overflow mechanism was not the problem.

I looked at the overflow tube and noticed the tube was not centered and the gasket was even more so not centered. OK I am not messing with this and I called my trusty plumber. He came and said (1) the drain flow for the tub was 'within normal', and (2) as with this enclosed tube shower unit we did not have access to the overflow from the back, that he was going to silicon the gasket to the overflow pipe and the gasket to the back of the tub and silicon the overflow plate to the tub, and then tighten the screws to the over flow plate. And that is what he did. I think I have gone as far with this as I can and it is in a decent place.

Thank you immensely for all of your insights and guidance!