Replacing drain stopper in acrylic tub

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Gary Fritz

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I have an AKDY F278 tub:
https://www.amazon.com/AKDY-F278-Bathroom-Standing-Acrylic/dp/B00E6C1IMC/

We installed it about 18 months ago. I very seldom use it, but after 3-4 uses, the stopper quit working. It's a push-push stopper: push closed, push open. Well now it doesn't "push closed" any more. It just pops back up again. The click-click action (like a ballpoint pen) quit clicking.

AKDY has been useless. After fumbling the customer service about every way possible, they said "unfortunately that tub is discontinued and we are out of spare parts." For a tub they're still selling on Amazon and elsewhere!!

Grumble. Anyway. Any idea if it's possible to fix the click-click action in this thing? If not, how hard is it to replace a drain like this? Would I be smarter to try to just unscrew the push-push center (which sticks out above the surface of the tub) and use a universal rubber stopper??

upload_2019-5-1_15-59-56.png
 
does that top thread on to the brass piece sticking out of the drain....if everything just spins you would have to hold (with needle nose pliers) and spin on the top piece at least that's the way it looks to me
 
Yes, I unscrewed the actual "stopper" (the metal circle with a rubber "washer" around the edge) from the underlying hardware. The brass piece is the click-click part. And yes, it does unscrew. (Duh. I meant to try that and forgot.) Here's a picture of the underside. I tried removing the screw on the side and the plunger shot out -- the screw just holds it in. The split-ring on the bottom looks like maybe it once held something that went through the hole in the bottom? I wonder if that something broke off, and fell into the drain...

I don't suppose there's any hope that this is some kind of standard-ish orderable part?? There are no identifying markings.

Worst case, I guess I use a rubber stopper.

upload_2019-5-1_17-28-40.png
 
there are more toe tap drains out there you would have to unthread the strainer and put pipe joint compound on the threads and puddy on the under side of the strainer lip and thread in
 
There isn't really a strainer, just the three crossbars that the click-click doodad (technical term there) screws into. Maybe I can grab ahold of those and unscrew it, if it's not glued or otherwise attached?
 
There isn't really a strainer, just the three crossbars that the click-click doodad (technical term there) screws into. Maybe I can grab ahold of those and unscrew it, if it's not glued or otherwise attached?
there is a tool that you use that fits into the crossbars and it will spin out home depot or lowes will have it
 
there is a tool that you use that fits into the crossbars and it will spin out home depot or lowes will have it
Hey Geofd, I can't for the life of me find a drain wrench that will work with the three crossbars like Gary has. All the wrenches I can find that push against the drain crossbars are all for drains with four (or two crossing) bars. Do you know where I can get one for the three-bar drain like Gary's?
 
Hey Geofd, I can't for the life of me find a drain wrench that will work with the three crossbars like Gary has. All the wrenches I can find that push against the drain crossbars are all for drains with four (or two crossing) bars. Do you know where I can get one for the three-bar drain like Gary's?
you could cut slots in pvc pipe or copper or galvi conduit use that as your wrench2 screw drivers sometimes works I think if you google tub strainer wrench you may find it
 
Happy ending: I posted a less-than-stellar review of the tub on Amazon, and suddenly they were very interested in making me happy. After some back & forth with their customer-support person, they found the tub that had replaced my model, and "maybe the stopper from that tub will fit?" It just arrived. It's an exact replacement. All I had to do was unscrew the steel disk, unscrew the brass click-click mechanism, screw them into the tub, done in 5 minutes.

Hopefully this one lasts a bit longer...
 
Happy ending: I posted a less-than-stellar review of the tub on Amazon, and suddenly they were very interested in making me happy. After some back & forth with their customer-support person, they found the tub that had replaced my model, and "maybe the stopper from that tub will fit?" It just arrived. It's an exact replacement. All I had to do was unscrew the steel disk, unscrew the brass click-click mechanism, screw them into the tub, done in 5 minutes.

Hopefully this one lasts a bit longer...
that's a good ending...…..
 

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