Kitchen sink drain started leaking

16 years ago

I installed a new drain Spud and strainer, nice stainless steel and the basket has a threaded connection to the Spud, making closing the drain very nice. I purchased it at Lowes within the last 18 months, don't recall exact date.

Tonight I noticed the dishwasher soap box was wet on the bottom as was the previous box. I decided to get down on the floor and take a look. To my surprise I found the water was coming not from the pipes, but from the drain Spud, the Spud nut wasn't tight. There seems no reason for that, never happened to me before must have been a poor installation I think. As I hand tighten the Spud nut it moves up for a couple of turn and then drops back... threads must be shot, but why? I took the Spud out and gave it a careful inspection and the threads are to the eye still there, not stripped. It is as if the Spud net expanded a small amount, just enough so that the threads don't overlap sufficiently to tighten.

This something anyone else has seen? I plan to go to Lowes (it is the closest) again and buy a new Spud nut or a whole assembly... h@ll I just may install a garbage disposal in stead. I am on a septic system, but I have though it would be nice to have a garbage disposal any way, use it just to clear the sink of the few items that get caught in the basket... not use it to dispose of garbage.

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Comments (4)

tim45z10
16 years ago
How about something banging into it when retrieveing or returning. i.e. soap, trash bags?
jerry_nj
Original Author
16 years ago
Tim.. could be, I installed a replacement dish washer since the new drain was installed. This required me to disconnect and reconnect the DW drain line to the plumbing connection to the sink Spud. Still, all the drains lines are PVC and the Spud is Stainless. It may be that the nut is aluminum, it is light weight for its size.

No trash basket under the sink, still a lot of put-and-take traffic, various cleaners and the like.

Not a big job to replace, not even expensive, and I'd like to replace it with the same type, screw down basket/stop. But wonder about the brand quality.
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randy427
16 years ago
I'd pull out the spud and check how well its threads engage those of the nut. One or the other may have a manufacturing defect, or the nut may actually be split.
Lowes probably doesn't carry the same line of fittings that a real plumber's supply would. I'd look for one of the latter if all you find from Lowes give a loose fit.
jerry_nj
Original Author
16 years ago
It appears that the nut expanded, not cracked that I can detect. But it will in fact shimmy down over the Spud without even turning it. I'm not sure about the general quality of plumbing supplies from Lowes and Home Depot but I can say I've never seen anything like this. The subject sink is one I replaced the basin in about 12 years ago, and I installed a Spud/nut and drain all form Home Depot. It held up well but the basket had worn out and the Spud was becoming tired looking. I looked at the selection at Lowes and found a replacement for a modest cost in "stainless steel" and with a basket that has a central bolt that threads into the Spud to close the drain when one wants to fill the sink. As posted, it started leaking because of a loose nut... the subject of this thread. I replaced it with another complete unit, and we'll see. The work involved isn't much, aside from the leaking mess which I caught before any real damage to the cabinet was done. I'm sure the replacement will work longer than I live in this house (only a few more years) - the hardware involved is not high-tech metallurgy, the failed unit may have had a manufacturing defect/size that worked well enough for me to install it an not notice, but would fail over a short period of time.