If you have a bathroom sink that causes trouble draining water, you are not a single person who faced this experience. Almost every house owner faces bathroom sink drain issues. Suffering goes beyond boundaries when you cannot even wash your hands, brush your teeth or refresh yourself. There is no end to suffering when your bathroom sink won’t drain not clogged until you get it fixed. We have formulated a complete guideline for you to get quick remedies.
Besides clogs, faulty stoppers, air vents, and pipe angles can deter water from being drained. To resolve the issue like the bathroom sink won’t drain but no clog, you must identify its exact reasons and points from where it is happening. Then, repair that faulty part, even if you might need a replacement.
To solve the problem with minimal cost and effort, give us company. We assure you that you can fix it yourself by following our guide. We have organized this article with every small and single step.
When Won’t the Clog be Liable for the Sink not Draining?
We primarily blame the clog whenever we notice the bathroom sink is overflowing and water is not emitting through the drain. It revolves around our minds – how can we eradicate this problem? To detect that the problem is unrelated to the clog, we have to check all sections correctly. When you have noticed the problem, you must check these since you are not sure the problem is not in these areas. After reviewing the below reasons, you can go for other steps unrelated to clogs.
1. Check the Stopper
Check the sink drain stopper by pushing up and pulling down the lift rod to know whether it is performing well or not. If it works well, go for disassembling the sink stopper for cleaning and confirm that no dust or unwanted debris is causing problems in the sink stopper.
2. Use Plunger
After checking the sink stopper and being a failure, there comes a possibility that some unwanted debris can block your drain pipe and hinder water flow through the sink drain pipe. First, by using a rag, stop the sink overflow hole. Next, place your sink plunger (cup-shaped) over the sink drain and plunge up and down quickly to create pressure into the sink drain. If you find the sink is still overflowing, follow the next step.
3. Use Drain Snake
While your attempts failed, try to find the problem with an electric drain snake. It’s a snake-shaped tool with another name, ‘Drain Auger.’ First, insert the tip of the drain snake into the drain pipe by removing the sink stopper. Next, gently crank the drain snake handle from side to side to grab the clog. Finally, clean the clog and check the result.
If all the above steps fail to find fault, the clog is in other areas. Let’s see them.
Reasons and Solutions to Bathroom Sink Won’t Drain no Clog
Three issues are mainly liable for the bathroom sink draining except for clog. Attentively read all the sections to get a prompt and accurate solution.
1. P-Trap Regarding Cause
Your sink is not draining water, and you didn’t find any clog. It indicates that the clog is elsewhere. In such a condition, you should pay attention first to P-Trap. It is situated out of your hand reach. It is an elbow-shaped bent object in the pipe that goes into the wall under the sink. This pipe can collect eggshells, food scrap, hair, paper wastage, grease, and other gunk objects and thus create blocks in the pipe. Such blockage can stop the sink from draining or slow the water flow.
A Solution to the P-Trap Clog reason
To resolve the P-Trap clog, you need to disassemble the pipe and clean all the gunk that made the pipe blockage. To remove the P Trap pipe, follow the below steps.
- Unscrew the nuts on the trap that grasps the drain pipe.
- Rotate the Pipe and detach the P-Trap.
- Clean all gunk from the pipeline
- Place and push the drain snake into the wall and run it for a few minutes.
- Reinstall the P-Trap Pipe and fasten the nut by hand
- Run water and wait for results.
3. Air Vent Clog
Every sink has a built-in Air Vent to ensure smooth water flow through the pipes. You will find the air vent under the sink; its top side will be attached with nothing. However, air vent location is not typical for all sinks; it varies from country to country due to building structure and sinks model variation.
Sink air vents are mainly installed for smooth water emission. If the air vent is blocked, partially clogged, or filled with debris, your bathroom sink drainage system won’t work.
Sometimes we store our unnecessary clothes, boxes, luggage bags, etc., under the sink. Unfortunately, it restricts airflow into the air vent, which causes the sink drainage system to fail to pass water flawlessly.
A Solution to the Air Vent Clog
To inspect the air vent pipe, just turn around the air vent and pull it upward to intercept and check for debris. After identifying any waste in the air vent, you need to clean it properly before reinstalling it. Then check the sink drain by opening the faucet or pouring water into the sink drain.
You must remove the unnecessary things from under the sink to keep the airflow normal. In addition, it will help to dispose of the sink water quickly.
3. Pipe Angle
Generally, the pipe angles meet the technical slope requirement. Therefore, it is hard to think that your installed pipes can be a culprit due to improper default angles. Moreover, sometimes you may use the wrong pipe angle because of incaution. That incorrect selection led you to the problem. Inaccurate angles allow wastage to take place, which stops the water flow.
An ideal pipe slope will be ¼ in each foot when it travels horizontally. A superior angle formation than ¼ slope will cause the bathroom sink won’t drain despite no clog.
The wrong fittings of pipe angle during the first installation done by the inexperienced plumber also cause the bathroom sink won’t drain.
A Solution to Pipe Angle
When buying a pipe angle, select the right one with the highest 25% slope angle per foot. Thus, you can avoid the in-built inaccuracy of pipe angle.
If your problem is because of the wrong fittings, correct it by detaching and reinstalling them again by an experienced plumber.
All the professional solutions we described here are enough to relieve you from the issue of the bathroom sink drain being stuck, not for clogging. To know more about bathroom sink drain stuck, read our article titled bathroom sink drain stuck closed.
Precautions
When you are doing the process alone, it’s going to be a very courageous step. But the work demands more attention during detaching and reinstalling the parts. If you make a mess in the reinstallation stage, you have done almost 70% of the job but might be a failure. So take pictures of every part and every step and match the separated elements with the photos.
Wear gloves, and collect necessary tools, such as pliers, wrench, hammer, and essential items for repairing or, if needed, replacement parts. In changing parts, make sure you choose the right one unless it doesn’t work. Use reputed brand items for longevity and to avoid annoyance.
Take a bucket so that debris or sink water cannot flood your floor when you remove the P-Trap.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my sink not draining but not clogged?
Answer: If your bathroom sink is not draining and also not clogged, you should check the blockage in the P-Tap first. This elbow-shaped pipe collects oil, grease, eggshell, food particles, and other gunk and creates a blockage. Sometimes the air vent or pipe angle also causes the problem.
How do you fix standing water in a bathroom sink?
Answer: In most cases, the bathroom sink drain stopper is responsible for the sink overflowing or the standing water. To fix the sink drain stopper stuck problem, you need to unstitch the plug and reinstall it after cleansing unwanted debris. You can also use a sink plunger or an electric drain snake to remove the standing water from the sink.
Can you use Drano in the bathroom sink?
Answer: You may use Drano to remove the clog from the bathroom sink drain. After applying Drano, allow only fifteen minutes (15) to flush with boiled water. It will clear all blockage from your sink drain or pipe.
Why is my bathroom sink blocking up?
Answer: The main reason behind the bathroom sink blocking up is clogs or debris. The bathroom sink typically blocks hair, eggshell, oil, grease, soap scum, food scrap, gunk, etc. To remove the clog from the sink drain or pipe, you must frequently pour boiling water into the sink drain.
What if the drain snake doesn’t work?
Answer: If your drain snake fails to remove the clog from your bathroom sink drain or pipe, you should disassemble the pipe under the sink. After unstitching, clean the clog or debris, reinstall the pipe, and check the results.
Conclusion
You might call a plumber in your situation, like the bathroom sink won’t drain not clogged. With our most straightforward and complete guidelines, you need not do so. If you are unclear yet, please read the article a few more times. There will be no doubt.
If you are a new guy in the job, please be careful about putting pressure on nuts, bolts, etc., during unscrewing and reinstallation. The reinstallation part may bore you with a lot of disorders. Be patient, do the steps slowly and steadily; you will be successful.
You are requested to feel free to contact us regarding your plumber-related issues by just leaving a message.
Paul Newman is a blogger who writes about plumbing and home improvement. Over the past 20 years, I have worked as a plumber. My passion is to share my knowledge and experience with others to improve their homes.
