Plumbers: How to stop water from passing by the flapper causing refill ?
House is < 1 yr old. All 3 toilets have water passing by the plunger style (vs. flapper ball) seal … they refill every 20 minutes or so. What can I do to get them to seat better and seal to stop the water passing by?
Don't you love it when they reinvent the wheel and it has a flat spot? The plunger style toilets suck but one way I have repeatedly overcome the problem you mention is to buy STAINLESS STEEL washers at the local hardware store and weight the plunger with them. You have to use stainless to avoid rusting and what not. Buy a few and use just enough to solve the problem without causing the plunger to fall to quickly.
Talk soon,
Joe Beaven
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wizendwizard Says:
If the house is only a year old they shouldn't be leaking. Check the valves and see if they are misformed or if they are just hung to high. if misformed they have to be replaced. if hanging to high you can manually adjust them to go all the way down. Hope this helps and keep us posted please.
References :
http://www.adepthiar.0catch.com
Posted on January 20th, 2009 at 11:27 am
httnmrtt Says:
I agree with wizendwizard. But at less than 1 year old, there should be some kind of warranty from the builder.
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Posted on January 20th, 2009 at 11:36 am
donna D Says:
I would go back to who put them in or ask a plumber what I could do.
ask somone at a plumbers supply store to help with the information. Give the symptoms, and ask if that is the way they are built or if there is a defective installation. Give them the description or make of the toilet and they will be able to get you the proper information.
References :
Posted on January 20th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
poppyman54 Says:
Unfortunately, these are normal wear and tear items, and thus are not covered by a warranty. If this was happening within weeks or months of the house being built, then you might have stood a good chance of having a manufacturers rep, replace the faulty items, or a different style toilet. It sounds like these are the newer American Standard toilet, with the larger trap way. You are going to have to foot the bill for this one. Good luck!
References :
Texas Master plumber for 30 years
Posted on January 20th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Bug Man Says:
Don't you love it when they reinvent the wheel and it has a flat spot? The plunger style toilets suck but one way I have repeatedly overcome the problem you mention is to buy STAINLESS STEEL washers at the local hardware store and weight the plunger with them. You have to use stainless to avoid rusting and what not. Buy a few and use just enough to solve the problem without causing the plunger to fall to quickly.
References :
Many years as a handyman.
Posted on January 20th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
windeee thumper Says:
Process of elimination.
1) make sure that the chain is long enough - sometimes the flapper looks like it seats, but is just a hair off. When connecting the chain - pull it till it lifts the flapper up, then back it down just a little so that there is a little droop in the chain. (too tight & it will hold the flapper up & too loose & you will have to hold the handle down to flush).
2) flappers should be changed out every 6 mo to a year. They get hard, especially if you put any kind of chemical inside your tank - these usually contain bleach & it hardens all the rubber inside (the gaskets around the bolts, around the douglas valve, around the flush valve & the flapper)
3) when you change the flapper get some very, very soft sand paper - just barely abrasive & swipe around the lip of the douglas valve that the flapper rests on.
Sometimes the water (especially hard water) will create an uneveness around the lip of the douglas valve so that the flapper does not seal & creating a gap that allows water to escape(much like leaving water in any container for long periods of time - you can feel it with the finger tip)
4) make sure that you cut the circle out of the flapper when only using the ears - make sure that there are no rubbing pieces that would hinder the drop of the flapper.
5) make sure that the water level is lower than the top of the douglas valve. If there is water overflowing into the valve, lower the water level a bit.
Age does not matter - new & old toilets tend to need a little TLC sometimes…..but then again, everything does.
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Posted on January 20th, 2009 at 1:44 pm