My daughter dropped her diamond earring down the drain. I assume it is caught in the trap but have found that the trap does not have the hand tightened connectors. Instead, it is a solid piece which is connected into another piece which has a purple paint-like substance on it on both ends. I can't seem to break the seals to get into the trap. Any ideas?

Use a saw to cut the horizontal piece between the trap and where it goes in the wall. Maybe leave 2'' of straight pipe on the side next to the trap. Then remove the nut on the underside that holds the drain to the sink. You should be able to it away then and dump the trap into a bucket or something and hopefully the earring will be there.

Examine the pipe you have removed. See if it tells on it what it is, PVC, ABS, etc. Also look fro the size, 2'', 1 1/2'', etc. If you don't fine the size, measure the cut end. A 1 1/2'' drain line will be about 1 5/8'' ID and 1 3/4'' OD. You can buy a complete new drain line, trap, and wall pipe with a compression fitting to go on the old line into the wall. You could also just buy the proper coupling and cement, and splice the cut pipe back together. Easier yet, a compression fitting to rejoin the cut parts.

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Originally Posted by jwillguess

My daughter dropped her diamond earring down the drain. I assume it is caught in the trap but have found that the trap does not have the hand tightened connectors. Instead, it is a solid piece which is connected into another piece which has a purple paint-like substance on it on both ends. I can't seem to break the seals to get into the trap. Any ideas?

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Firstly! Do not run any water down the drain. You failed to give many details. It would help if I knew what drain she dropped it down. Since you didn't say,and going by the purple primer I'm going to assume that this is a one-piece PVC trap. There is only one way to retrive the earring from a one piece PVC trap. If the trap connects to the tailpiece of the drain with a glue joint it will have to be removed by sawing the vertical raiser from the trap with a hacksaw.
The same for the stubout out of the wall. Saw that in two also. The trap may now be removed and the erring retrived. To reassamble purchase a small can of PVC Primer , a small can of PVC Cement and 2 PVC couplings in the correct pipe size. With no information I'm kind of flying blind here so this is the best I can do. If I'm wrong about the material of the trap and pipes click on back with more details. Good luck. Tom