toilet handle -- bigger problems discovered -- sigh...
 

It looks like I have a leak somewhere. The back of the tank fills, then
empties itself,
the fills again... this is a fast one.

Any tips on how to isolate the leak? I am so hoping it is INSIDE the toilet
and
not OUTSIDE in the pipes!

Thanks for any advice

On 24-Jun-2005, "Al" wrote:


It looks like I have a leak somewhere. The back of the tank fills, then
empties itself,
the fills again... this is a fast one.

Any tips on how to isolate the leak? I am so hoping it is INSIDE the
toilet
and
not OUTSIDE in the pipes!

Thanks for any advice

I'll assume that it's not leaking all over the floor or you'd of mentioned
that so it's not the tank bolts.
So it's most likely the donut between the tank and the bowl. These things
kind of disintegrate over time, the rubber gets to the point where it rubs
off on your finger. That will cause the tank to slowly leak into the bowl
which just slowly overflows down the drain without causing the siphon
effect. In the tank the water level goes down to the point that the tank
valve opens up and causes the tank to refill. Sound like what's happening?

Replacing the donut is fairly straightforward although the tank bolts have a
tendency to get very corroded and can sometimes be a bear to remove. WD-40
helps a lot here. I've had to drill and hacksaw them off before.

If you're going to be a diy'er in your new home it's worth getting a book or
three on basic home repair topics. One on plumbing will have instructions
on replacing this.

You can get a kit for replacing this at the despot for about $15 and it has
pretty good instructions with it.

good luck
ml

wrote in message
...

On 24-Jun-2005, "Al" wrote:


It looks like I have a leak somewhere. The back of the tank fills,
then
empties itself,
the fills again... this is a fast one.

Any tips on how to isolate the leak? I am so hoping it is INSIDE the
toilet
and
not OUTSIDE in the pipes!

Thanks for any advice

I'll assume that it's not leaking all over the floor or you'd of mentioned
that so it's not the tank bolts.
So it's most likely the donut between the tank and the bowl. These things
kind of disintegrate over time, the rubber gets to the point where it rubs
off on your finger. That will cause the tank to slowly leak into the bowl
which just slowly overflows down the drain without causing the siphon
effect. In the tank the water level goes down to the point that the tank
valve opens up and causes the tank to refill. Sound like what's
happening?

Replacing the donut is fairly straightforward although the tank bolts have
a
tendency to get very corroded and can sometimes be a bear to remove.
WD-40
helps a lot here. I've had to drill and hacksaw them off before.

If you're going to be a diy'er in your new home it's worth getting a book
or
three on basic home repair topics. One on plumbing will have
instructions
on replacing this.

You can get a kit for replacing this at the despot for about $15 and it
has
pretty good instructions with it.

good luck
ml

It CAN'T be the donut otherwise as with the pipe it would be all over the
floor, even then it would have to get past the flapper to even leak! If
there's no water on the floor the only thing it can be is the flapper. 5$
fix from any borg. Think about it, the only thing the donut does is seal the
bowl to the tank, that flapper is above that holding the water back in the
tank.

Sure fire test is to wait til the tank is full and the water fill shuts off,
put some food coloring in the tank, if the bowl water changes color you've
got a leaky flapper.

Maybe I am missing something here...
What pipes are you referring to?
Does water show up on the floor? If the tank fills and empties without any
water on the floor; how could the leak be outside of the toilet?

Whenever my tank fills and empties, it is either the chain to the flapper
valve stopping it from closing properly, or a worn out flapper valve.

"Brian V" wrote:


Sure fire test is to wait til the tank is full and the water fill shuts off,
put some food coloring in the tank, if the bowl water changes color you've
got a leaky flapper.

Also, check that the refill tube isn't too far inside the overflow
pipe. That can cause water to siphon out of the toilet.

LL

Al wrote:
It looks like I have a leak somewhere. The back of the tank fills, then
empties itself,
the fills again... this is a fast one.

Any tips on how to isolate the leak? I am so hoping it is INSIDE the toilet
and
not OUTSIDE in the pipes!


Is anything holding the flapper from closing at the bottom of the tank? Extra
chain, etc... Your leak has to be in the tank itself... it's supposed to hold
the water no matter whether there's a leak elsewhere or not.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE

Al wrote:
It looks like I have a leak somewhere. The back of the tank fills, then
empties itself,
the fills again... this is a fast one.


The chain and/or handle is broken right? The chain is probably
heading down the drain and holding the flapper up off the seal. pull
the chain out of the hole.

Steve B.

You and the another guy nailed it. Thanks to both of you!



"Steve B." wrote in message
...
Al wrote:
It looks like I have a leak somewhere. The back of the tank fills,
then
empties itself,
the fills again... this is a fast one.


The chain and/or handle is broken right? The chain is probably
heading down the drain and holding the flapper up off the seal. pull
the chain out of the hole.

Steve B.

On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 18:28:26 -0500, "Al" wrote:

Hacksaw took off the plastic gasket, no sweat, then the new handle/gasket
go on
(sure enough, it IS reversed thread!) Chain comes out from underneath
flapper and I am happy flusher!

You old timers probably think "So what?", but this is my first DIY job
in my own home. I am one proud geek.

Congrats on the DIY repair, probably saved yourself about $50 - $75 by
not calling a plumber.

DJ

Hacksaw took off the plastic gasket, no sweat, then the new handle/gasket
go on
(sure enough, it IS reversed thread!) Chain comes out from underneath
flapper and I am happy flusher!

You old timers probably think "So what?", but this is my first DIY job
in my own home. I am one proud geek.

Thanks everyone, for the tips along the way. I'm sure you'll be seeing
more of me!


"Al" wrote in message
news:orZue.51062$iU.2994@lakeread05...
It looks like I have a leak somewhere. The back of the tank fills, then
empties itself,
the fills again... this is a fast one.

Any tips on how to isolate the leak? I am so hoping it is INSIDE the
toilet
and
not OUTSIDE in the pipes!

Thanks for any advice

DJ wrote:
On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 18:28:26 -0500, "Al" wrote:


Hacksaw took off the plastic gasket, no sweat, then the new handle/gasket
go on
(sure enough, it IS reversed thread!) Chain comes out from underneath
flapper and I am happy flusher!

You old timers probably think "So what?", but this is my first DIY job
in my own home. I am one proud geek.


Congrats on the DIY repair, probably saved yourself about $50 - $75 by
not calling a plumber.

DJ
Hi,
Learning never ends. It's life time deal.
Congrats.
Tony

"Brian V" wrote in
:



It CAN'T be the donut otherwise as with the pipe it would be all over
the floor, even then it would have to get past the flapper to even
leak! If there's no water on the floor the only thing it can be is the
flapper. 5$ fix from any borg. Think about it, the only thing the
donut does is seal the bowl to the tank, that flapper is above that
holding the water back in the tank.

Sure fire test is to wait til the tank is full and the water fill
shuts off, put some food coloring in the tank, if the bowl water
changes color you've got a leaky flapper.




Or a bad flapper seat.They get crudded up or rot,also.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 18:28:26 -0500, "Al" wrote:

Hacksaw took off the plastic gasket, no sweat, then the new handle/gasket
go on
(sure enough, it IS reversed thread!) Chain comes out from underneath
flapper and I am happy flusher!

You old timers probably think "So what?", but this is my first DIY job
in my own home. I am one proud geek.

Thanks everyone, for the tips along the way. I'm sure you'll be seeing
more of me!


Thanks for letting us know it was resolved. So many come and get
advice then disappear leaving the group to wonder what the resollution
was.

Glad your first project went well. Trust me you have plenty more of
them to look forward to :-)

Steve B.

You guys are good! I will try to remember your suggestions the next time my
toilet acts up. An aside, just heard yesterday that where I live
(Vancouver) we will only be able to buy low-flush toilets after September
1st. I have heard that they don't flush nearly as well as the old style
toilets. Hope they have improved the low-flush design by now.
Des

"Jim Yanik" . wrote in message
.. .
"Brian V" wrote in
:



It CAN'T be the donut otherwise as with the pipe it would be all over
the floor, even then it would have to get past the flapper to even
leak! If there's no water on the floor the only thing it can be is the
flapper. 5$ fix from any borg. Think about it, the only thing the
donut does is seal the bowl to the tank, that flapper is above that
holding the water back in the tank.

Sure fire test is to wait til the tank is full and the water fill
shuts off, put some food coloring in the tank, if the bowl water
changes color you've got a leaky flapper.




Or a bad flapper seat.They get crudded up or rot,also.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

It looks like I have a leak somewhere. The back of the tank fills, then
empties itself,
the fills again... this is a fast one.

Put food coloring in the tank and see where the water goes

On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 18:28:26 -0500, in alt.home.repair toilet
fixed!! "Al" wrote:

Hacksaw took off the plastic gasket, no sweat, then the new handle/gasket
go on
(sure enough, it IS reversed thread!) Chain comes out from underneath
flapper and I am happy flusher!

You old timers probably think "So what?", but this is my first DIY job
in my own home. I am one proud geek.

Thanks everyone, for the tips along the way. I'm sure you'll be seeing
more of me!

Well done. It's very satisfying isn't it.

--
To reply to me directly, remove the CLUTTER from my email address.

On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 19:49:26 -0700, in alt.home.repair toilet
handle -- bigger problems discovered -- sigh... "Des Perado"
wrote:

An aside, just heard yesterday that where I live
(Vancouver) we will only be able to buy low-flush toilets after September
1st. I have heard that they don't flush nearly as well as the old style
toilets. Hope they have improved the low-flush design by now.

No, the haven't improved the low-flush design. You can compensate for
that by flushing several times to achieve a clean bowl. That's
ususally what it takes around here.

--
To reply to me directly, remove the CLUTTER from my email address.

Vic Dura wrote in
:

On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 19:49:26 -0700, in alt.home.repair toilet
handle -- bigger problems discovered -- sigh... "Des Perado"
wrote:

An aside, just heard yesterday that where I live
(Vancouver) we will only be able to buy low-flush toilets after September
1st. I have heard that they don't flush nearly as well as the old style
toilets. Hope they have improved the low-flush design by now.

No, the haven't improved the low-flush design. You can compensate for
that by flushing several times to achieve a clean bowl. That's
ususally what it takes around here.


The low flush design my apartment complex installed in all the units
flushes very well.
It's not your ordinary flapper-valve type of toilet;designed for low
maintenance,there's not much to fail.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

Our 3 Kohler Wellworth flush fine if WE don't err by using too much
paper or use the soft fluffy type.

On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 05:51:55 -0500, Vic Dura
wrote:

On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 19:49:26 -0700, in alt.home.repair toilet
handle -- bigger problems discovered -- sigh... "Des Perado"
wrote:

An aside, just heard yesterday that where I live
(Vancouver) we will only be able to buy low-flush toilets after September
1st. I have heard that they don't flush nearly as well as the old style
toilets. Hope they have improved the low-flush design by now.

No, the haven't improved the low-flush design. You can compensate for
that by flushing several times to achieve a clean bowl. That's
ususally what it takes around here.

Jim Yanik . wrote in
:

Vic Dura wrote in
:

On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 19:49:26 -0700, in alt.home.repair
toilet handle -- bigger problems discovered -- sigh... "Des Perado"
wrote:

An aside, just heard yesterday that where I live
(Vancouver) we will only be able to buy low-flush toilets after
September 1st. I have heard that they don't flush nearly as well as
the old style toilets. Hope they have improved the low-flush design
by now.

No, the haven't improved the low-flush design. You can compensate for
that by flushing several times to achieve a clean bowl. That's
ususally what it takes around here.


The low flush design my apartment complex installed in all the units
flushes very well.
It's not your ordinary flapper-valve type of toilet;designed for low
maintenance,there's not much to fail.


the brand installed in my apartment is a Niagara Flapperless.
I do not have an address or phone number for them,except for the repair
parts line;800-831-8383

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net