"TheScullster" wrote in message
. uk...
Hi all

In our shower waste arrangement we have:

A chrome coated plastic grill.
A removable cylindrical part with a cross bar that locates in the trap
body.
The trap body itself.

At cleaning time (both wife and daughter have long hair) I remove the
chrome grill and twist/lift out the cylindrical part.
The latter usually has a lot of hair caught on it which can be easily
cleaned off.
The thing is that between this cylindrical part and the body of the trap
there is an 'O' ring and I can't figure out what it does.
At some point the 'O' ring has become stretched and therefore fouls the
trap body. I have removed the 'O' ring for now to allow the cylindrical
part to be re-fitted. As the cylindrical part is open at top and bottom,
I can't work out what the 'O' ring seals IYSWIM.

Any ideas on the purpose of the 'O' ring?

The O ring seals the downstream soil pipe (the other side from the water in
the trap) from the bathroom. The trap water forms part of this seal. The gap
without the O ring is very small and is unlikely to cause a problem but it
is possible that, with the wind in the right direction, some foul air might
seep past it. As you have found, it probably doesn't matter!


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)