On Thu, 13 Dec 2012 01:47:38 -0600, DanG wrote:

On 12/12/2012 11:50 PM, micky wrote:
What is the donut/conical thing that serves the purpose of a flapper
called?

I'm trying to tell a young friend how to fix his toilet, which won't
stop running.

Although the toilet looks new, the guts are old I guess and built
differently from any toilet I've seen, and I don't even know the names
of the parts to find replacement parts.

It doesn't have a flapper. Instead the big vertical tube that has the
thinner flexiblef filler tube going to it (what's the big tube
called?) has surrounding it a doughut shaped version of the flapper,
mounted at the bottom end of another vertical tube (that also
surrounds the first one). This outer vertical tube is lifted at its
top by the arm that is connected to the toilet handle. No chain is
used.

What is the name of the doughnut/conical shaped thing that serves the
purpose of the flapper? Or the doughnut/outer-tube combination?

Do they still sell replacement parts for something like this?

If not, and I need to replace the filler tube, the vertical plastic
tube that most toilets have, do I really have to remove the tank from
the toilet?

Thanks

I was not following your description very well.

That's either becaue I don't write well or because we've never seen
one like this before.

The flapper thing is called a flush valve. There are some very old
ones, but there are 2 major styles in current use which are both readily
available at Lowes/ HD/ etc:

Korky type: http://www.plumbingsupply.com/flappers.html#korky

This is what I have, though now it's by fluidmaster and before it was
by Melnar (sp?) and when I bought my house which is 33 y.o. it had a
metal ballcock with a metal float ball.

Mansfield type: http://www.plumbingsupply.com/mansfield.html

Models 210 or 211 might work like the one he has --- I can't tell for
sure -- , but they don't look that much alike and certainly they're
not enough alike to take a part from a new one to fix an old one, so
if I have to take off the tank anyhow, I think I'll go with the korky
style which is easily avaialbe around here.

The thing that starts and stops the water is called a fill valve or ball
cock:
http://www.plumbingsupply.com/toilet-fill-valves.html

Thanks a lot. Wehn I wrork at my house I have all kinds of spare
parts and it's closer to the hardware store also. When I'm somewhere
else, I don't know what they have and it's a pain to bring everything
I might ever need. Plus the last time I fixed something for them,
htey seem to have never used it but they didn't tell me what or why.
That took a lot of time so I'm going to have to ask them about that.

Thanks and thanks all.