Hello, new member here. Found some useful info plus related issues so I just joined. I just changed the sink and faucet in my bathroom (including the drain tailpipe). I just noticed that there always seems to be a ring of water at the bottom of the sink where the drain is, where the surface of the sink meets the flange (or strainer), which I did seal between them with plumber's putty. Is that normal? I didn't notice it in my old sink, but then I don't remember now that it's been replaced. Nothing is leaking underneath the sink and it's not clogged (because it's just been replaced, along with the drainpipe). So I wonder if it's just the quality of the sink, or if it's typical, or maybe my water is too hard (which I know it is), so it's just staying at the bottom the sink, just a small ring, so I should just treat it as normal and let it dry or wipe it dry, which is ideal, but realistically who keeps wiping a sink dry after every use?

I checked the sink at my other bathroom which I also replaced with an identical sink, drainpipe, and faucet. No leaks either, just collects a little water at the bottom of the drain too, but not a perfect ring or circle around the drain like the other sink I'm talking about above, but the water collects slightly on one side of the flange (strainger), not like a "full moon" above, like a half-moon, so I'm assuming part of it has to do with the pitch of the sink, where the first sink is more perfectly level than this one which is why water tends to collect in a perfect circle around the drain of the first sink I'm describing above.

Nothing leaks in either sink or drain assembly in the process, so not sure whether to be anal and try and re-pitch the flange and drain slightly in the first sink so it drains like the second sink, or just leave things well-be alone.

 

Here's pics of what I'm talking about, the first one is the water collecting around the drain:

Mastersink | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

The second one below shows the guest bathroom's sink not collecting as much, but still a little to the side:
Guestsink | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

Depending on how the sink was molded, the drain assembly and how much putty you used under the drain flange this could be normal.

 

Yeah, the sink was molded kind of flat, I noticed. The drain assembly was done correctly as I mentioned, no leaks and washer nut tightened up the washer against the bottom of the drain like a banshee, used a moderate amount of putty, but after tightening up the nut of course it squeezed all the excess putty out (plus the fact there's less than that when I reseated the flange), but I gues the flange is not that flat either, so pretty much got the result shown, so will rely on good old evaporation and hope corrosion doesn't set in quicker with the little excess water setting there around the drain unless I resort to wiping it dry as I mentioned.

 

I think you are okay. I can't remember off hand but I think my bathroom sinks also hold a bit of water like yours do. I know that over a week or two they will develop a reddish ring of harmless bacteria and that I can wipe it out easily with a small wad of toilet paper.

 

IMO from the pic and the strainer void in the sink, the wrong strainer was used for that sink. Most are universal but certain sinks need OEM strainers IMO.

 

That's pretty asstute of you to notice, that the strainer may not be the best fit for that sink. Those drain assemblies, which come with those strainers, were spares I got from replacing the faucets a couple years ago, identical faucets, but just branded differently. So the pop-up assemblies looked identical as well, but when I check the subtle difference, either the strainer where it pools around the drain is a little thicker, and/or the sink void may not be as deep as the other sink's (the sinks are identical in that they are OEM, but they were of different brands, so I guess they are not exactly identical as I indicated). Anyhow, not to beat a dead horse (or as shown by my smiley icon below, LOL), I think I'm going to leave it for now and let nature take it's course (evaporation). The sink which drains more thoroughly is actually leaving more hard water marks faster than the sink which is not draining as thoroughly, probably because it takes longer for the second one to dry under frequent use with the water pooling slightly around the drain. Like I said, I got those plastic drain assemblies that came with the faucets and I just changed them now with the sinks, but I don't want to take them apart anymore and try and re-seat them again because I screwed them pretty tightly and afraid any more screwing/unscrewing may result in thread damage (as I can't unscrew one of them anymore anyways without clamping the strainer above the drain to hold in it place while I unscrew the drain pipe, but don't want to risk scratching the porcelain-coated steel drain ). The reason why I took it apart the second time in the first place was because I noticed that the pop-up seemed a little low when fully opened with the lever completely down, because I did not screw the drain pipe fully to the top of the strainer (left some threades exposed), so the sink did not drain as fast. So I took it all apart, re-seated the strainer with more putty, and screwed the drain pipe all the way up so there were no exposed threads between the interior of the strainer and pipe, and now it drains pretty fast, but just leaves that ring of water around the bottom as pictured.

 

Yours doesn't look plastic but I have installed lavatory faucets that came with plastic tail pieces that had a flange so thick* no way it would set down completely in the recess. Usually a brass tail piece which had a much thinner flange solved the problem. I did though once encounter a lavatory sink so badly cast with almost no recess that even a brass tail piece wouldn't work.

*Plastic for reasons of strength needs to be thicker. Just can't make plastic as thin as metal.

 

My reason is that if its say a Kohler sink a Kohler strainer should be used. You can see on this strainer how the curve would adapt to the specific brand sink. This strainer is curved up more and the diameter is also sink specific.

Hope this helps.




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