How do I unclog the overflow drain in my bathroom sink?

[815C]

The overflow drain (that little hole in the sink opposite the facet) is clogged.

Any suggestions on how to unclog it?

Thanks!

Dave

[Wengr]

How did you come to know that it's clogged?

[fazool]

Use a drain-o liquid clog remover. Be very very very careful squirting or funneling it into the hole since its very caustic.

[Acousticado]

Originally Posted by fazool

Use a drain-o liquid clog remover. Be very very very careful squirting or funneling it into the hole since its very caustic.

Yep, what he said. I don't think the overflow has ever been clogged in my sinks. A little unusual, me thinks. What the heck have you been doing?

[BananasCentral]

Get a long zip tie and cut some barb-type notches.

Other wise see if you can find something similar (scavenger hunt begins NOW)

Here is some inspiration https://www.google.com/search?tbm=is....0.TvsNcJ8EJ0o

[Gitarre]

I vote for skipping the poison drain cleaner. Go for a long flexible device. Better yet, if you're even marginally competent at plumbing, take the trap off, then take the drain out and try to insert the flexible piece from the bottom side of the sink. The overflow is just a channel on the underside of the sink and joins right at the bottom of the drain on the underside. Pretty easy really.

[815C]

Originally Posted by Wengr

How did you come to know that it's clogged?

Home inspection - we're selling the house.

I don't think that overflow drain has ever been used. Probably clogged where it joins the main drain.

thx!

[BananasCentral]

There is often a stub pipe at the sink bottom. I wouldn't try to go in there.
Filling the sink then plunging while opening the drain stopper might even work.
You just need enough water in the sink and pea-trap to make use of the side vent/drain.

If you pour draino in it beware gurgling.
If the sink was filled to test that side drain and you suspect the side drain is holding water then avoid draino for sure.

Personally I'd just regulate the compressor to 40lbs and drag out some hose.
It'd take longer to reel the hose back than to blow the drain.

[BrunoBlack]

Create a snake out of a length of wire, like a clothes hanger. If you look at the underside of the sink, you will see it's a relatively wide area where a wire can pass down to the drain. One time my father was cleaning his "partial bridge" and stuffed it down the overflow -- don't ask me how. I had to remove the sink and operate the snaking operation upside down on my workbench. Then I replaced the sink. Even this extreme isn't that hard . It's easy to remove self-rimming sinks if it is like the one in the picture.

[Chicago Sandy]

Dust-Off or another brand of canned air. Follow with one of those serrated plastic trash-bag ties.

There used to be a brand of canned air made specifically as a drain cleaner. Had a rounded plastic “business end” one placed over the drain--and instructions said to stuff a rag in or put duct-tape over the overflow drain so that the shot of compressed air would go straight down the pipe and move the clog far enough that it would safely go down the sewage stack. If they still sell it (forget the brand name), I would try it first on the bottom drain without plugging the overflow hole, and then if that didn’t work, on the overflow drain itself.

[Riverwolf]

Originally Posted by BananasCentral

Get a long zip tie and cut some barb-type notches.

Other wise see if you can find something similar (scavenger hunt begins NOW)

Here is some inspiration https://www.google.com/search?tbm=is....0.TvsNcJ8EJ0o

Best answer by far,
Maybe it has never worked or been open.

[BananasCentral]

I wouldn't use canned air on a hot sink.

Thank you Riverwolf!
I invented that "zip" idea around 2002, to deal with my own drain.
Of course I threw it away (that was the whole idea)
My wife was really mad when she saw them in Home Depot a few years ago.

Of course someone might have done it before me but it's sure bittersweet to have a spontaneous idea and see someone else selling it few years later.

[Scootch]

Remove the drain assembly. Go in from the bottom. You might be able to see it.