Slow draining bathroom basin

Hello, my bathroom basin was blocked, I took off the vented trap cleaned it and noticed the plug was leaking. I replaced the plug and also got a new Mc Alpine bottle trap with a vent, the same as the old one. The sink takes forever to drain. The outlet is clear and not blocked. I’ve taken the cap off the vent and the water drains really quickly, then spills over when the tap is switched off. When the cap is put back on the sink drains very slowly again. What can I do to speed up the draining??

 

Have you fitted an unslotted waste? Could a slotted version help?

 

Thank you for your reply but I have fitted a slotted waste to take water from the overflow.

 

Sounds like you have a restriction further down in the pipework or there's a convoluted pipe run, or a run without enough fall to the stack/drain . Looks like there's not enough velocity to open the vent under normal drainage, when you open it there's an in rush of air speeding up the flow. Has it always done this?

 

When I open the valve air rushes in and the water flows away rapidly, then spills out of the open valve. Everything used to be fine other than the old trap was blocked hence why I took it apart to clean it. The outlet pipe dropped away when I took the old trap off but went back to the same position when I fitted the new one. All the rest of the waste pipes are all boxed in so can’t see what fall is on them without dismantling half the bathroom.

 

If it was me I'd be getting a wet vac onto the pipe as it sounds like it's restricted somewhere but you probably wouldn't have one. Time to fill the basin, cover the overflow and plunge the mother and see if it gets better

 

Thank you, I took the new trap off today and put a narrow metal spring type rod along the pipe work and felt no blockage and went all the way to the main soil pipe I’m guessing, but if you think a plunge would help I’ll give it a go tomorrow.

 

Madrab, thank you for your plunging advice. Purchased a 4 quid plunger from screwfix, 5 seconds work and problem solved! Thank you for your help

 

Good stuff, some of the stuff you get down a basin is quite gooey so a worm auger will get through it no bother but it might not actually move it much and keeps it restricted. A good plunge can normally get it shifted.

Fill the basin right up with a few kettles of boiling water with some washing powder/vanish mixed through it and let that go then flush it through with the hot tap for a few mins and that should clean it out properly, do that once every other month to keep it clean.

 

Any recommendations? I have a long coil type, hitch had cleared many a blockage, but are the drum ones better?

 

Thank you very much

 

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