So my ballcock wouldn't turn off, so I went to the cabinet and got
another one, Fluidmaster 200A. I installed it in a couple minutes
with the easy to use bayonet mount, just like I had changed ballcocks
several times before.

But this one often won't turn off even when the water gets high
enough, even when I pull the float up. It actually shoots up at the
base, where it attaches, and might even reach the top of the tank if I
didn't, as I normally do, keep the tank filling at about 1/10 max
speed (so no noise.)

So I figure I'll buy another, but HD and the fluidmaster webpage don't
have 200A anymore, and even worse, the ones they do have don't have
the bayonet mount anymore. Am I missing something? Is there another
brand that uses the easily replaceable value?

Am I going to have to take apart the whole thing every time the valve
fails? Why are we moving backwards?


I have long thought that these things didn't last as long as they
should, but since they were so easy to replace, I thought that made up
for it. Now I have the worst of both worlds, plus they raised the
price from about 6 dollars to about 10 dollars.

On Sun, 21 Jan 2007 17:29:14 -0500, mm
wrote:

So my ballcock wouldn't turn off, so I went to the cabinet and got
another one, Fluidmaster 200A. I installed it in a couple minutes
with the easy to use bayonet mount, just like I had changed ballcocks
several times before.

I found a post on the web that said: "With the old Fluidmaster 200A's
it was obvious you could do that because you had to take the whole top
off to replace the rubber diaphragm. Most people don't know it, but
you can do the same thing with the new 400A's.

So far as I know, Fluidmaster is the only company making ballcocks
that you can do that with. With everyone else's, you have to drain the
tank and replace the WHOLE ballcock. "

But when I dl'd the instructions for the 400A, I could find no
evidence that it worked that easily. The webpage said "Easy to
install" but everyone has his own version of easy, especially vendors.

Does the fluidmaster 400a use a bayonet mount?

On Sun, 21 Jan 2007 20:13:35 -0500, mm
wrote:


I found a post on the web that said: "With the old Fluidmaster 200A's
it was obvious you could do that because you had to take the whole top
off to replace the rubber diaphragm. Most people don't know it, but
you can do the same thing with the new 400A's. "

But when I dl'd the instructions for the 400A, I could find no
evidence that it worked that easily. The webpage said "Easy to
install" but everyone has his own version of easy, especially vendors.

Does the fluidmaster 400a use a bayonet mount?

Replying to my own post, YES, it does, but it doesnt' say a word about
that on the instructions.

When I looked at the instructions for the 200A, it didn't say anything
about that either. For some strange reason, all the text and all the
pictures were about installing the valve in one piece, replacing an
"old-fashioned" valve that had just been removed. The kind with a
metal arm and a metal float ball off to the side. Also on the box was
no mention of how easy it was to put in the second valve, after the
first was installed years earlier.

Why do you suppose they don't and didn't mention this very attractive
feature?

And it certainly is a lot less obvious on the 400 than it was on the
200A. (You have to pull the thing way up! And not lose an O-ring.)

I am disappointed that I have to replace from things from scratch now,
on all 3 toilets, as they break, because I can't find 200A's for sale,
but I'm going to try to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume
they had to change things to meet code somewhere. I certainly won't
beneift from the adjustable height.

And I was afraid this would happen. I think it happened to me once
before, that I had installed an easily replaceable valve but when I
wanted to replace it, all that was sold was the 200A, which didn't fit
what I had installed in 1 or 2 (or 3?) toilets. I hope they don't do
it to me again.