Removing plug and rocker arm

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Mr. Creosote

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I'd like to remove a plug/rocker arm assembly from a bathtub. Are there any tricks to doing this?

I recently moved into a condo (mid 70's build) and the previous owner was using a large flat rubber plug to cover the drain hole in the bathtub. The tub appears to has a rocker arm/stopper but when I removed the overflow plate, I found plunger hardware rather than the spring at the end of the linkage that I was expecting. What I'm thinking is that the owners had tried to fix the tub at some point, but purchased the wrong hardware and just left it in place. I experimented with the plunger assembly but was unable to block the drain waterflow, so I think it is just stopping at the rocker arm.

The drain plug is very stiff and I don't expect it would work even with the proper linkage hardware so I'd like to replace the plug with a pop-up or something similar. Most replacement rocker arms that I see have hinge pins so I'm expecting, with a bit of finesse, it should be removable. Any tips on how to remove the plug and rocker arm? I'm not sure if there were any designs where the rocker arm can't be removed from the shoe through the drain hole.
 
Last edited:
I could, the issue is removing the existing plug and rocker arm. I'm looking for guidance on removing the plug/rocker arm assembly. I've edit my original post to be a little more clear. :)
 
I've attached a photo of both the plug and the trip lever and linkage to the plunger. The plug photo shows the limit of how far the plug can be pulled out. plug6.jpgThe brand is EMCO but I don't believe it's original. It makes no sense to me to have a plunger and a rocker-arm style plug. The systems are redundant.20201021_125112.jpg
 
If by linkage you mean rocker arm, then yes. The plug will only come out of the drain as far as shown in the picture above with a hard end feel. It can be forced down but then needs to be pried up, so the rocker arm is very stiff. I'm not able to unthread the plug the way I would with a modern rocker arm replacement, so I suspect the rocker arm goes through a slot in the plug. I'm hoping I can get the rocker arm out of the shoe by pulling it out through the drain, but even if it is hinged it may be too stiff to do so.

I was thinking of trying to pry the the plug up with a wrecking bar, braced off a block of wood to protect the tub. However if the rocker arm is a single piece, there's no way it would come out of the drain. That's what I'm trying to find out. Is the rocker arm likely to be a single piece or is it likely hinged?




linkage.jpg
 
Successful removal. Using the needle nose pliers, I was able to get a purchase on the flanges of the plug to start to unthread it then finished by hand. I was able to get a grip on the rocker arm with some visegrips and was able to remove it. I think I may have found the reason the tub was draining slowly.

tub.jpg
 
Successful removal. Using the needle nose pliers, I was able to get a purchase on the flanges of the plug to start to unthread it then finished by hand. I was able to get a grip on the rocker arm with some visegrips and was able to remove it. I think I may have found the reason the tub was draining slowly.

View attachment 26080
Nice job
 
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