I would love not to get a plumber for this. My son is really handy but he hasn't come across this repair before and he's not sure what is wrong, so can I pick you oh so talented brains?
Short version of what's wrong - flip up and down handle that stops and unstops the bathtub drain won't stay down. It pops back up and drain closes. It will drain if I stand there and lean on it, which is a total pain.
Son took it apart and said this. He sees there are wirelinks to the drain but he doesn't know what the mechanism is, if it's a spring type clip or what, if it's a unit we can take out and replace that would be fine with me.
If it's any help, the problem didn't come on slowly or half-assed. It just went from working fine one day to not working at all the next.
It's a set in - Kohler tub, about three years old, and I imagine it's the original part.
Any suggestions?
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Kathy, the same thing happened to me. I don't know how to repair it, so for now I keep an old disposable razor handy. I wedge the razor handle under the drain plug, which forces it to stay open & drain. We call it 'puna engineering' at my house [
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No help here, but this reminds me of my MIL's house. Taking a shower, one had to hang a wet washcloth on the drain handle to avoid standing in a tub of water when shower was finished.
David
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LOL, glad to be of help, Kathy
David
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Kathy, I had a problem with my flip lever bathtub stopper in my last house, and if your mechanism is the same as mine, it's fairly easy to fix. When your lever is working and you flip it, does the tub stopper go up and down, or is it the type where the stopping activity takes place somewhere in the pipes, and all you see in the bathtub is a flat grate sort of thing? Here's a link that may be helpful:
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=howTo&p=Improve/RepTubDrn.html
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We had this file for our old tub drains, most with pictures of the step by step processe.
Step by step for a plug link drain (the type with a grate at the drain):
http://www.ehow.com/how_5113913_repair-b...drain.html
Lift & Turn repair:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4833773_bathtub-...-type.html
Repair a trip lever drain:
http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/...se-191625/
After a couple of repairs, we went with replacing the linked system with the toe pop up….
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It is probably all gunked up with soap and hair and needs cleaned.Take off the 2 screws on the overflow and pull the plunger mechanism out and clean it.It will probably be difficult to pull out and reinstall.
Run some water down the drain and overflow while it is removed.
Lube it with some Vaseline when you reinstall it
Here are some pictures and instructions.
http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/plumbing/pl...54390.html
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Kathy, it does sound like it's a gunk issue, so Obie's advice is good. It might also be a problem with the spring on the flipper. You can buy just a new flipper plate and see if that fixes it. If you need to replace the whole shebang, you can get a replacement at Home Depot or any hardware store and just pull the old one out and slide a new one in. In any case, the repair should be pretty manageable.
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Did the lever lock into position when the whole thing was removed ??
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Been busy moving the past couple days and missed this one.
The spring should be set to keep the drain open and yes they are replaceable units and don't really have anything to do with Kohler unless the drain mechnism was ordered through Kohler but that would be very rare and unlikely.
There should be a heavy stumpy like brass tube that can be pulled up through the overflow at the end of the linking rods, that is the actual stopper. In the lever overflow plate there should be a spring of some fashion that holds the lever in an open position when the tub stopper is lifted up inside (open/drain position/lever down at user side of lever), so set the spring to lock the lever down at the users side and vice versa UP on the service side.
E ho'a'o no i pau kuhihewa.
