My last kitchen had one ('80s era Franke brand) before I remodeled and it was the most totally awesome thing ever! I replaced the sink with a single bowl (disposal) but if I ever have a double again I will absolutely have one. Stopper just sits there and can be easily removed for cleaning. No problems and it had been there a loooong time.

A very very nice feature if you ever stop your sink!

I thought of getting one. However, I can't remember the last time I actually filled my sink with water to work in a sink full of water. The way I mostly use the sink is with running water from the faucet. I have a large single bowl sink.

When I want to soak something, ie vegies or fruit to clean, I am not going to let the lettuce sit in the sink full of water unless I JUST scrubbed the sink sparkling clean. IMHO, the kitchen sink is not clean enough to let food soak in it.... There is no way I am going to scrub a 30 plus inch of sink every time I soak lettuce. So I get a large bowl out and my lettuce soaks in the bowl.

So I decided to not get the remote stopper.

This type of stopper works best if you actually want to plug up the sink, use the water and then let the water drain: ie like bathroom sink while you are washing face. Do you use the sink like that?

I have a basket type of strainer that cannot close up on its own. I used to have the 'old fashioned' strainer that just closes up on its own and I would have to stick my hand in to the yucky water to open it up when it closed up on its own. With the basket type of strainer, I lift out the basket, tap out the yuck into the compost and put the basket back. There is no standing water in the sink ever.

Here is a link that might be useful: basket strainer

I never plug up my sink. I have an awesome salad spinner if I want to soak some lettuce or something.

I did get a cool basket strainer (it's Blanco in my Franke sink) like Kaismom mentioned. I held up my remodel waiting for this darn thing to arrive. Its new apparently. I love that there is so much more space for crud without standing water. Like kais, i just tap it out into the compost. I decided not to put a disposal in my prep sink.

{{!gwi}}

Check out a Kohler Duostrainer (K-6601 I believe). They're similar to a traditional strainer, but the little knob in the middle turns to drop the plug while the basket stays in the same place. haven't installed it yet, but it's very well made. Buehl has them I believe.

Perhaps the knobs for the strainer you're looking at can be mounted inside the cabinet so you don't have to have a ridiculous hole in your countertop?

i have a remote popup strainer. The button to turn it is inside the cabinet. I have not drilled any holes in my counter yet.

This is a Rohl that looks like the Franke:

I sure wouldn't soak lettuce in the sink, but I used it to hand wash knives, sterling, certain baby items, and crystal. Obviously it's no good over a disposal but if you're a hand washing double bowler, it's very functional!

I occasionally didn't finish and left water in overnight and it didn't leak. And that was an over 20-year-old model. My NEXT kitchen remodel will get one if I have a double sink. Still thinking about what color the sink should be, but that popup drain thingy is a winner.

Thank you for your comments. I never even thought about putting the knob in the cabinet. Where exactly do you put it in the cabinet so that it is still convenient to use?

It's only worth it if you frequently hand wash. And since using a DW uses only about 3.5 gallons vs. over 10 for handwashing, there isn't much reason to do much handwashing. Plus, a DW does a better job with sanitizing than does handwashing. If it's worth it for you to not get your hands wet when pulling th plug, and I don't see the point of that because your hands are already wet from the washing, then spend the money. I don't see the utility of it myself. I do see the cool factor! But, a hands free faucet is so much cooler element for a sink that I don't see a remote drain release even coming close. :)

Why not have both, Green? :)

Anyway I didn't hand wash very often but it never gave me any trouble or was in the way when I wasn't using it. The only drawback is of course the hole and having an extra doodad on the counter, but if David can put his button in the cabinet, so can we and problem solved.

Of course David never mentioned if he liked it...

When you don't have it, you tend to dismiss it. That is a general statement about anything you don't have, and that you have not yet acquired a yearning for.

Decades ago, people were shown a working but bulky wireless phone. Men and women were shown a phone that worked over radio waves. They dismissed it. They asked "who would ever use a wireless telephone?"

So, ".... don't see a remote drain release ..." comments are just naysaying like asking who would ever want something (which they don't have.)

--

Compared to the drain stopper/strainer we had before, this one is great. Being able to stopper the drain with one flick of a button is "cool". It's obedient. It's silent. It's reliable. Some strainers don't need adjusting; our old one did.

I'll admit that it's just as hygienic, not more. Without the remote, I would put a hand into the same water that was clean enough to work with only seconds earlier. So, no hygienic advantage is gained. Call it cool, call it feeling important, cal it feeling powerful, whatever. Like any other remote control. A friend of mine has told me often that it is so enjoyable to be able to dim and shut off lights with a remote control. Maybe one day I'll buy a light dimmer-shutter-offer, and install it.

It gave me a plumbing advantage. I got it because, in drain plumbing terminology it did the same as a tight elbow / street elbow would have done. My partner always liked it and thought she would use it. She still thinks it is a cool thing and good to have.

Also it was an official product with a manual and a guarantee, not just my own personal idea implemented with spare parts. So, I got a tight elbow without asking permission. Then, with a tight elbow in the drain pipe, we could suddenly see a way to have drawers in the base cabinet underneath. Since the drain pipe goes horizontally, it ends up at the wall; that is where you put the P-trap, not under the sink drain. We cut a notch in one drawer's back panel, and we didn't have to notch the entire drawer. That was a real physical advantage. Also, let me remind you that if I had simply installed a tight elbow into the drain pipe, as a personal initiative, I would have been subjected to comments observations and remarks that this may not be code and that this may not be right (!). Millions don't know when they don't know something, and they will talk just enough to scare your SO, and all harmony breaks loose, or the opposite.. We got the remote popup and now harmony reigns free. We managed to bamboozle those who think they know enough to give us some commentary.

I hardly ever use it.

Hth

i went a web wending
and i got results

here is one link that works well
http://www.designerhardware.com/Franke_Remote_Sink_Strainer_Basket_p/frk-900p.htm
works well, because it includes a lot of explanation.
and
a diagram showing the sideways outlet.
(BUt they didn't think to show the drain pipe coming out of it sideways so you would never know unless someone told you ... !)

Alternative:
Go to mountainplumbing.com
click on kitchen
click on the first link there. It's kitchen sink strainers.
look at the options, and you'll see "Remote Pop-Up"

Again it shows the thingie that sticks out sideways instead of downhill.
Again, this is what the drain pipe gets stuck into.
and that is how you get your kitchen sink drain to be redirected at a low cost.

It actually takes up less space than the product called a drain elbow.
So, if you want to save space, this is a solution.
Compact plumbing. (compact DWV plumbing).

it just so happens that a "remote drain pop-up" assembly gives you a tight-elbow bend without asking for it. It's an advantage they didn't ever think of showing. The manufacturers of this device have totally missed showing that it enables one to have a drawer base under the sink. They don't even think of showing you that the drain comes out sideways.

on youtube they have bathroom pop-up videos, but nothing for the kitchen yet.
Bathroom pop-ups do not send the pipe sideways. (And I don't know why not).

here are some more web search results.

searching using "elkay LKAD35" you get to see a complete Z-shaped drain pipe. I'm fairly certain that Once you've seen a photo of a drain pipe zigzagging like a Z (or half of a swastika) you'll wonder why in the world you needed to SEE the image. It is quite simple to imagine and to draw without any previous experience.

Here it is on the ELKAY web site. This is the easiest way to get the P trap out of the way, without using a remote pop up device.
http://www.elkayusa.com/cps/rde/xchg/elkay/hs.xsl/elkay-res-16470.aspx?pid=LKAD35

another web discussion concluded with "handicap sinks ... drain out the rear next to the back wall. Eminently legal also."

more key words :
Strainer with Remote Actuated Opening and Closing
remote Pop-up
Pop-up Basket Strainer
franke pop up strainer
franke pop up drain strainer
franke pop up waste
dual pop-up waste assembly

Kohler has one: "... dry sink strainer dual cable drain allows you to open the sink drains without getting your hands wet. A simple rotation of the control dial activates the stopper(s) underneath the sink baskets."
It looks like the Kohler one sends the pipe downhill instead of sideways. Great if that is what you want.

Here is a link that might be useful: MT remote pop-up

I highly recommend a pop-up strainer, if you tend to wash dishes by-hand... at least 1/3 the time. It's also great for soaking your feet in the kitchen sink, which I do all the time (with dishwashing liquid), while watching TV or talking on the phone.