On 2005-11-23, Wingedcat wrote:
Not as far as I know although there are several different designs of
these seals, the cheaper ones, for example the ones made from clear
plastic, are difficult to get a decent seal. I assume this is a
low-level cistern (as opposed to close-coupled) and you mean where the
flush pipe connects to the pan and not the cistern? The seal where the
flush pipe connects to the CISTERN should have no flexibility in it
all and it should not be difficult to achieve a good seal.

Yes, it's a low-level job and no, I don't mean the seal on the pan :~)
It's leaking from under the cistern. The cistern is a crappy plastic
thing boxed in behind some kind of vanity unit type thing but it's not
in line with the pan, meaning the flush pipe can't be arranged in such a
way that it's in line with the bottom of the flusher unit thing inside
the cistern. The net result is that the o-ring that's meant to seal the
flush pipe into the flusher unit (by tightening the white plastic nut)
doesn't seal the two not-in-line pipes fully. I have explained this
badly.

If only there was a flexible pipe so I could get a good fit to the
cistern and a good fit in the pan spigot, allowing the bendy bit to take
up the misalighment

You could try getting a new seal and seeing if it makes any difference
(it may well do, if you buy one of the more substantial variants).
However if this fails you are left with two choices (a) Realign the
pan/cistern properly or (b) Dry the whole thing off and bodge it by
running a bead of silicone around the leak. This should hold because
the leak is under a low pressure but, as I say, it's a bodge.

I initially thought the leak was from the seal you mentioned but on
investigation the water is dribbling down the flush pipe from above and
dripping onto the floor.

Unless anyone else has some brainwaves it looks like I'll be moving the
cistern. Why can't people install things right the first time?

Cheers,

Mark