The brass drain stopper on my bath tub sticks in the down position with the lever in the up position. I have cleaned the inside of the vertical pipe with a portable drain snake. Also used several drain cleaners to clean the internal surface of the pipe. Also have cleaned the brass barrel with sand paper to remove any debris and have even lubricated the surface. I have also adjusted the length of the stopper's depth to the highest point possible in the pipe and the tub will still hold water. But the brass barrel will still get stuck in the pipe every time I flip up the handle. I have to disassemble the fixture and pull like crazy to dislodge the brass barrel to get it unstuck. Do I need a new a new trip lever or a whole new assembly or what?

Do you have access to the tee portion of the drain assembly? If you cleaned the plunger, the problem would be inside the tee, where the plunger sits to block the water flow. You need to remove the tee and inspect it and see if it needs cleaning or replacement.

I took your suggestion and cleaned the inner pipe with CLR and the brass stopper now moves smoothly up and down with no binding up.

Thanks for your reply and advise.



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