Removing cast iron bathtub trap

[Ralph Vart]

Hi. Maybe I should start a new thread, but I am still trying to get the tub drain to stop leaking at where the drain shoe enters the tee. I took it apart and put in a new ABS trap with slight different lengths and angles of pipe. But the drain still has a very slight leak from where the drain shoe pipe enters the tee. I tried putting some pipe dope on the threads of the nut also. QUESTION: could I use a sealant inside the joint around the black rubber compression gasket, such as plumbers putty or silicone caulk or graphite plumbing string? I tried to make sure the pipe from the drain shoe to the tee is not entering the tee at an angle or racking. The nut threads were easy to engage. But probably it is not perfect. Also, the drain shoe pipe doesn't seem to have much, if any, downward slope to the tee and I can see maybe a quarter inch of water when I look down from the tub into the drain. But that is the way the drain shoe attached to tub and it didn't want to take a different angle. The only structural thing I can think of in this mess is that the drain shoe pipe is a tad bit too long and causing itself to rack when I tighten things up. But that seems like a long shot. I dry fitted everything together before gluing the trap and before tightening all the other parts. Thanks for any advice.

 

[Cacher_Chick]

Start a new thread that includes a photo or two of the drain assy in place.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Terry]

The slip joint nuts seal with the slip joint washers. I don't put anything on them.

Putty........No way!
Silicone....Not needed.

If things are aligned they should seal.
There the drain threads into the shoe, I make sure the rubber washer under the tub is in place, a little putty under the flange and nothing on the threads.

I found this picture on the Gerber site, and missing a slip joint nut in the photo.

 

[Ralph Vart]

Mine is a lift and twist, not a lever operated plug. But it doesn't matter. You see where the drain shoe pipe goes into the cast brass tee. Inside there is a gasket or washer. I see on other brands (I looked at a Moen) they use a wedge shaped white nylon similar to most slip joints. This Gerber uses a flat black rubber gasket or washer. It seems like you have to have nearly perfect alignment for it to seal. But it build like a tank, if that matters.

 

[Ralph Vart]

I have posted some photos of the tub drain setup, taken through the back access panel to the tub plumbing. Not the easiest space to work in, but I have had a lot of practice by now. As I mentioned in the previous email, this Gerber drain uses a weird slip joint gasket that is black rubber with square edges, not tapered like most slip joint gaskets I have seen. After tightening it a lot, it was seeping a little water out of the connection where the drain shoe pipe enters the tee when I tested it by putting water in the tub. I took it apart a few times and tried to make sure the drain shoe pipe entered the tee as straight as possible. I figured the rubber gasket was not seating correctly against the flange on the tee or around the pipe. Not sure why, but I decided I would heat up the tee and pipe with a hair dryer. It didn't get too hot, but maybe what hot water from a high setting on the heater would give it. Like a gift from heaven, it fixed it. I have water tested it four times now and no leakage or seeps. I am not sure I trust this fix, but I'll keep an eye on it for a while. If I had to do it over, I would have gotten a different drain or bought a slip joint gasket that is tapered and tried that. The other possibility is that the drain shoe pipe is a quarter inch long and causing it to crank out of alignment when it bottoms out on the tee, but it really didn't seem long when I loose fitted it together.