Why has my click-clack basin waste stopped sealing?
How the sprung latch inside a click-clack works, why hair and soap defeat it, and the cleaning and adjustment that fix nearly all of them.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 25 min
- Read
- 4 min
Short answer
A click-clack has a sprung latch inside the waste body that catches and releases the plug, and hair wound round the stem is what stops it seating. Unscrew the plug top — most twist off anticlockwise — pull the whole insert out, strip the hair off, clean the seal and the seat, and refit. If it still seeps, the plug's rubber seal has hardened.
A click-clack, or push-button, waste has no linkage behind the tap at all. The plug carries a spring-loaded latch that alternates between held-down and released each time it is pressed, exactly like a retractable pen. It is much simpler than a rod-operated pop-up, which is why it is now the default. It also puts a mechanism directly in the path of everything going down the plughole, and hair binds round it within months.
What you'll need
- Rubber gloves
- A flexible barbed drain tool
- Descaler or citric acid solution
- A replacement seal or a complete click-clack insert
- Silicone grease
Step by step
- Get the plug top off.Most click-clack plug tops unscrew from the stem — hold the collar and turn the cap anticlockwise. Some pull straight off a splined stem. Some have a small grub screw under the rim. Look before applying force; the caps are usually thin plated brass or plastic and they distort.
- Pull the whole insert out.With the cap off, the spring mechanism and stem lift out of the waste body as one piece, often with a tuft of hair attached to it. This is your access to everything.
- Strip the hair and soap off the mechanism.Gloves on, pull it all off. Then check inside the waste body with a torch — there is usually more caught below. Feed a flexible barbed drain tool down and draw it back slowly.
- Clean the mechanism properly.Soap, body oil and limescale gum the spring and the latch. Soak the insert in warm water with detergent, or in a citric acid solution if it is scaled, and brush it with an old toothbrush. Work the latch a dozen times to check it clicks crisply.
- Check the plug's rubber seal.There is a seal on the underside of the plug head. If it is hardened, cracked, distorted or has a nick from something sharp, the plug will seat and still seep. Seals are sold separately for common designs and replacing one is a two-minute job.
- Clean the seat inside the waste.The machined seat the seal presses against collects a ring of limescale and soap. Descale it and wipe it clean. A perfect seal on a dirty seat still leaks.
- Grease and reassemble.A smear of silicone grease on the seal and on the stem where it slides, then refit the insert and screw the cap back. Never use oil or petroleum grease — it perishes rubber.
- Adjust the height if it does not sit flush or does not seal.Many click-clacks have an adjustable stem — the cap screws further up or down on the thread. Set it so the plug sits level with the waste rim when down and lifts clear when up. Too high and it will not latch; too low and the seal is not compressed.
- Test properly.Fill the basin, mark the water line and leave it twenty minutes. A properly seated click-clack loses nothing. A seep of a centimetre in that time means the seal or the seat, not the mechanism.
If it doesn't work
The plug clicks but pops straight back up
Cause: Latch gummed with soap, or the stem is adjusted too high to engage — Fix: Clean the mechanism thoroughly and work the latch. Then adjust the stem height so the latch fully engages at the down position.
The plug stays down but water drains away slowly
Cause: Hardened or nicked plug seal, or scale on the seat — Fix: Replace the seal and descale the seat. Both are cheap and neither needs the waste removed.
The plug will not stay down at all
Cause: Broken spring inside the insert — Fix: Not repairable. Replace the insert — sold separately for many designs, and a whole new click-clack waste otherwise.
The cap has unscrewed itself and fallen in
Cause: The thread has worked loose, which is normal over time — Fix: Clean the thread, add a smear of silicone grease or a turn of PTFE tape and refit. Do not over-tighten a plated cap.
It works but the basin drains very slowly
Cause: Hair below the mechanism in the waste body and trap — Fix: With the insert out, clear the waste body with a barbed tool, then clean the trap.
Keeping on top of it
- Lift the insert out and strip the hair off it (every 2-3 months)
- Descale the seal and seat (twice a year in hard water)