I fixed a leak with Babybel cheese

I discovered a puddle in my washroom that led me to find a leak in the drain pipe. Looks like a plastic piece called the cam assembly that controls the pop up sink plug eroded away. I removed it and ordered a replacement, but in the meantime I have a hole in the side of the drain pipe. The only temporary solution I could think of using things I already had at home was to take the wax casing of a Babybel cheese piece, smoosh it into a ball and press it into the hole like putty. It's been working amazingly well (there's a bowl underneath as a failsafe and it's completely dry).

218 points · 20 comments · view on lemmy.world

20 Comments

owenfromcanada@lemmy.ca · 51 pts · 226d

This is the content I come here for. Well done.

whelk@retrolemmy.com · 24 pts · 226d (2 replies)

That stuff has all sorts of uses. My secondborn uses it to sculpt art

Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 226d

Oh, I see how it is. Firstborn gets actual sculpting clay, while secondborn has to sculpt with cheese!

Mmmmmm-Hmmmmmmm!!!!!

.........I'm just joking btw.

Akasazh@feddit.nl · 6 pts · 225d

Expensive hobby if Babybel casing is their only resource :p

D_C@sh.itjust.works · 20 pts · 225d (1 reply)

I'm undecided if this is dull.
Yes, fixing a leak is dull...but fixing a leak with cheesy wax. Oh yeah, that's the stuff!!

ladicius@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 224d

And he got to eat the cheese as a bonus... Perfection.

ObtuseDoorFrame@lemmy.zip · 18 pts · 225d

This post is so cathartic. I didn't know I needed to read something like this until I finished.

Subscribed!

tuckerm@feddit.online · 14 pts · 226d (1 reply)

Amazing. A stroke of genius, sir.

mPony@kbin.earth · 5 pts · 225d

Red, smooshy genius

sauerkrautsaul@lemmus.org · 11 pts · 226d (5 replies)

very good.

there are actual 2 part water tight epoxy resins that are made for this, just to say.

was it full fat or low fat babybel

Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works · 10 pts · 226d (3 replies)

Wouldn't a resin set in place permanently? OP intends to install a new cam once it arrives.

sauerkrautsaul@lemmus.org · 4 pts · 225d (2 replies)

sure, but you could chip it out with a flathead screwdriver easily enough. they work well but they're brittle

SatansMaggotyCumFart@piefed.world · 3 pts · 225d (1 reply)

You shouldn’t chip anything out with a flathead screwdriver they’re for driving flat screws.

sauerkrautsaul@lemmus.org · 4 pts · 225d

hey! I know your handle! im a little star struck

observantTrapezium@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 225d

Full fat 😂

Yeah, I know there are much better ways to seal a leak (temporarily or permanently), I just had nothing else at hand.

melsaskca@lemmy.ca · 11 pts · 225d

Once you take the wax off you'll be good at Karate! /s

Monument@lemmy.sdf.org · 10 pts · 225d (2 replies)

Why did the cam assembly erode away?
Is there wear from the operation of the plug, or perhaps an even smaller leak somewhere else that caused this erosion?

What I’m getting at, obviously, is that perhaps another baby bell wax fix is in order, either as a surrogate for a missing bushing or pad or as a stopper for yet another leak somewhere else.

observantTrapezium@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 225d (1 reply)

I suppose it's just physical wear and tear combined with years of exposure to all kinds of nasty stuff going through the drain. There's a plastic hook there that's directly in the flow, that's what eventually broke off, leaving a hole where it was attached.

Monument@lemmy.sdf.org · 3 pts · 225d

Ah, there goes my efforts to elevate cheese wax to the pantheon of duct tape and WD-40.

BCsven@lemmy.ca · 8 pts · 225d

Homemade solution for plumbers putty