Inside my toilet tank, the overflow pipe, which is a very thin plastic
tube, broke off at the base. The toilet was "running", I replaced the
flapper and it continued to run. Whole working in that tank, I noticed
that this overflow pipe was crooked and when I touched it, it moved.

Immediately, I checked it, and found a crack at the base of it. A little
hand pressure and it cracked right off. That crack is where the water
was leaking, NOT at the flapper.

While replacing the whole flapper drain assembly is not a major repair,
it does mean the tank has to be removed from the toilet base, and most
of the time the bolts are corroded and can not just be unscrewed. Too
much pressure applied to them, and the tank will break. So, that means
it's usually a matter to saw off those bolts with a sawsall metal
cutting blade, or by hand with a hacksaw blade. (Either way, it's a pain
in the ass job).

I measured the hole where that plastic pipe goes, and went out to my
garage to see if I had some sort of pipe to glue in there. I found that
a piece of galvanized steel pipe was just slightly larger. I grabbed a
piece and was able to slowly turn it and cut threads with the threaded
end of that pipe, right into the hole. Once I had threaded it into the
plastic about 5/16", I unscrewed it, coated the threads with silicone
caulk, and screwed it back in. I left it overnight (without water) so
the silicone could dry.

It works perfectly. The steel pipe is exactly the same height as the
original plastic piece and it took me less than a half hour to fix.
Since I had the pipe, it cost nothing.

So, if you even run into this same situation, you know what to do now...

This steel pipe will probably outlast the toilet. That thin plastic pipe
which was there, had a wall thickness about as thick as a business card.
NOT MUCH OF A PIPE!

On Friday, March 18, 2016 at 3:55:07 PM UTC-5, wrote:
Inside my toilet tank, the overflow pipe, which is a very thin plastic
tube, broke off at the base. The toilet was "running", I replaced the
flapper and it continued to run. Whole working in that tank, I noticed
that this overflow pipe was crooked and when I touched it, it moved.

Immediately, I checked it, and found a crack at the base of it. A little
hand pressure and it cracked right off. That crack is where the water
was leaking, NOT at the flapper.

While replacing the whole flapper drain assembly is not a major repair,
it does mean the tank has to be removed from the toilet base, and most
of the time the bolts are corroded and can not just be unscrewed. Too
much pressure applied to them, and the tank will break. So, that means
it's usually a matter to saw off those bolts with a sawsall metal
cutting blade, or by hand with a hacksaw blade. (Either way, it's a pain
in the ass job).

I use a chisel to get those &*$ bolts out.

It should be a law that those bolts be stainless steel. :-)

Andy

On Fri, 18 Mar 2016 14:30:59 -0700 (PDT), Andy
wrote:

On Friday, March 18, 2016 at 3:55:07 PM UTC-5, wrote:
Inside my toilet tank, the overflow pipe, which is a very thin plastic
tube, broke off at the base. The toilet was "running", I replaced the
flapper and it continued to run. Whole working in that tank, I noticed
that this overflow pipe was crooked and when I touched it, it moved.

Immediately, I checked it, and found a crack at the base of it. A little
hand pressure and it cracked right off. That crack is where the water
was leaking, NOT at the flapper.

While replacing the whole flapper drain assembly is not a major repair,
it does mean the tank has to be removed from the toilet base, and most
of the time the bolts are corroded and can not just be unscrewed. Too
much pressure applied to them, and the tank will break. So, that means
it's usually a matter to saw off those bolts with a sawsall metal
cutting blade, or by hand with a hacksaw blade. (Either way, it's a pain
in the ass job).

I use a chisel to get those &*$ bolts out.

That's a good way to break the tank.....

It should be a law that those bolts be stainless steel. :-)

I fully agree....


Andy

I once tried to drill the heads off the bolts, but the drill did not fit
in the tank because of all the plumbing stuff inside. I was going to go
buy a drill bit extension, about a foot long, but I decided to just get
out the sawsall, and saw them between the tank and base. That works as
long as the toilet is not too close to a wall or cabinet. Taking off the
toilet seat makes it easier to get the sawsall in there, but sometimes
those seat bolts need to be sawed off too. (Although most are plastic
now-a-days).

On Fri, 18 Mar 2016 14:30:59 -0700 (PDT), Andy
wrote:

On Friday, March 18, 2016 at 3:55:07 PM UTC-5, wrote:
Inside my toilet tank, the overflow pipe, which is a very thin plastic
tube, broke off at the base. The toilet was "running", I replaced the
flapper and it continued to run. Whole working in that tank, I noticed
that this overflow pipe was crooked and when I touched it, it moved.

Immediately, I checked it, and found a crack at the base of it. A little
hand pressure and it cracked right off. That crack is where the water
was leaking, NOT at the flapper.

While replacing the whole flapper drain assembly is not a major repair,
it does mean the tank has to be removed from the toilet base, and most
of the time the bolts are corroded and can not just be unscrewed. Too
much pressure applied to them, and the tank will break. So, that means
it's usually a matter to saw off those bolts with a sawsall metal
cutting blade, or by hand with a hacksaw blade. (Either way, it's a pain
in the ass job).

I use a chisel to get those &*$ bolts out.

It should be a law that those bolts be stainless steel. :-)

Andy

The bolts and nuts I've seen for toilets are brass.

On Friday, March 18, 2016 at 7:25:51 PM UTC-5, Ashton Crusher wrote:
On Fri, 18 Mar 2016 14:30:59 -0700 (PDT), Andy
wrote:

On Friday, March 18, 2016 at 3:55:07 PM UTC-5, wrote:
Inside my toilet tank, the overflow pipe, which is a very thin plastic
tube, broke off at the base. The toilet was "running", I replaced the
flapper and it continued to run. Whole working in that tank, I noticed
that this overflow pipe was crooked and when I touched it, it moved.

Immediately, I checked it, and found a crack at the base of it. A little
hand pressure and it cracked right off. That crack is where the water
was leaking, NOT at the flapper.

While replacing the whole flapper drain assembly is not a major repair,
it does mean the tank has to be removed from the toilet base, and most
of the time the bolts are corroded and can not just be unscrewed. Too
much pressure applied to them, and the tank will break. So, that means
it's usually a matter to saw off those bolts with a sawsall metal
cutting blade, or by hand with a hacksaw blade. (Either way, it's a pain
in the ass job).

I use a chisel to get those &*$ bolts out.

It should be a law that those bolts be stainless steel. :-)

Andy

The bolts and nuts I've seen for toilets are brass.

Right, seats and the floor mounting bolts are often plated brass that rust. The tank is always brass (in my experience) and comes off easily.

On Fri, 18 Mar 2016 17:49:28 -0700 (PDT), bob_villain
wrote:


It should be a law that those bolts be stainless steel. :-)

Andy

The bolts and nuts I've seen for toilets are brass.

Right, seats and the floor mounting bolts are often plated brass that
rust. The tank is always brass (in my experience) and comes off easily.

Yes, the floor bolts are often a coated steel and I've actually seen
them rust right in half.

Most of the older toilets had brass bolts, but the part inside the tank
is a low domed head, with a shallow slot. After water sits in the tank
for years, especially if the water is acidic, those heads are corroded,
and there is no way in hell that a screwdriver will hold in that slot.
So even if the nut turns a little, there is no way to grip the bolt to
unscrew the nut. But at least the brass saws easily.

I have seen some replacement bolts that are a plated steel, and after
some years they can rust off. Those are the worst and in my opinion,
should not even be sold.

Ideally, those brass bolts should have a hex head that sticks up some.
That way, even of they corrode so a socket wrench wont fit on them, as
least you can grab them with a vice grips.