bathroombathtubdrainageplumbingsealing
I have an overflow drain, as seen in the picture provided, that isn't sealed. The common wisdom I've read online has been to seal with a gasket, but my drain doesn't seem to be anything like the ones I've seen.
I've also purchased a standard overflow gasket and it's a no go.
Does anyone have any idea how I can seal this drain?
This is the hardware that it's connected to and the gasket I bought thinking it might work.
Your tub has an overflow drain. You just have to find it. Remove the two screws next to the combination drain toggle & overflow plate. Now gently pull up to reveal the overflow hole and the drain plug:
Get out your snake (you've got a snake, right?) and thread it down the newly revealed hole. Also remove the single screw holding the drain screen. Use some sort of semi-flexible plastic rod to clean out the horizontal section of the drain (a suitable tool comes with some bottles of drain cleaner, else you can improvise).
Don't bother with drain cleaner -- it is not right for your situation.
It should not be necessary to try to goop some type of sealer around the lower neck of the sink drain. Such solution may work but it is not the desirable approach when you consider that someday this assembly will need to come apart for repairs.
In looking at the assembly that you have I wonder if one or more things are at play here.
1) If the drain pipe tail was not centered in the neck of the sink drain and then had lateral force on it due to the down stream goose neck trap it could be forcing the gasket open on one side. Check that there is no undue large amount of sideways pressure on the lower part of this pipe assembly.
2) It looks like the gasket directly contacts with the face of the capture nut around the drain pipe. It is possible that by tightening the capture nut that it is putting a twisting force on the gasket that may cause it to "fold away" from the sealing edge of the sink neck.
3) It is possible that there could be a small crack or pitted area on the sink neck that keeps the rubber gasket from engaging 100% with the sink neck.
4) Sometimes the "rubber" used in this type gasket is made of a plastic material that is anything but rubber. Check at the local hardware store to see if they have another gasket that is more pliable. In some cases a silicon material may be better.
Best Answer
When you have an odd-ball thing in the plumbing that needs sealed and you really can't find a thing made to seal it (and it's DWV, not pressurized supply) reach for a tub of plumber's putty...
There should be a gasket as seen in @toyrunrs recent question...