There are vast areas of the culture that passed me by completely. Football, video games, and gangster rap are only three of them. A fourth, plumbing, is why I call you today.
I am staying at my sister’s old brownstone for a couple of months, and my bedroom there has a sink with a weird feature I have never encountered. Something metal obstructs the drain about two inches from the mouth of it. I didn’t notice it at first–I thought it was just a clogged drain and some Liquid Plumr would be enough to unclog it, and when that didn’t happen, I bought a (plastic) drain snake at the local hardware store. Then I noticed the barrier. I’m guessing there is a slot in the pipe that allows water to go down, but I can’t see down theree well enough to tell for sure. I suspect this is a godsend for people who lose a lot of rings and earrings in the kitchen drain, but for me, it’s just an incredible hassle.
Is there a commonly recognized name for this feature, and an online resource for how to either remove it or adjust it so the drain works in a predictable way?
I’m guessing you are seeing the remnants of an older version of a drain stopper. Even if it is still in place it shouldn’t prevent the drain from draining. I’ll bet your clog is further down the drain pipe, and the stopper mechanism is just interfering with your plastic drain weasel. Or it has a clump of hair wrapped around it where you can’t reach with the weasel. Your best bet would be to try and get under the sink to remove the P-trap and check it for clogs. If there’s nothing there you’ll probably need a plumber with a proper drain snake to snake it from the wall pipe.
Trying to be helpful…the rod is normally called a “sink pivot rod.” This may speed up things if you need to replace it or tell someone what parts you need.
Do NOT ever use any kind of liquid drain cleaner. Those things should be illegal; not to be sold. They are dangerous to plumbers, pipes, and ordinary folks. And by and large use useless on real clogs. Older pipes especially can be destroyed by that goop. Opening up a leak inside a wall is not a good thing to do to somebody else’s house. Even if it is your sister.
I hope you’ve run a couple dozen gallons of fresh hot water down the drain behind your ill-chosen chemicals.
