Lift bucket in tub won't go down enough

Question

The lever to the lift bucket was stuck and I didn't want to force it so I took the screws out and took out the assemblage and lift bucket to inspect. I cleaned off the lift bucket and put it back in. Problem was, it wouldn't settle down to where it should go. Something was blocking it. Obviously, that's what was causing it to stick.

So two questions:

• What could be blocking it?
• How can I unblock it? (I already used a plastic rod that you would use to pull out hair from a drain and it felt fine.

Answer 1

These get blocked by hair and soap buildup all the time there was probably some scum on it when you removed it (now matter how clean the tub is). An old wire coat hanger can be used to scrape around and pull the remaining soap/hair out. Or the purchase of a small hand auger and slide it in and rotate to clean. I really don’t like drain cleaners in these cases but if you can just put a little down and let it sit it may dissolve the blockage once it will seal let a small amount sit in there and rinse it down. But if using drain cleaner they sometimes discolor the plumbing / tub so I never over fill the pipe if I do use cleaner.