Old Lady Needs Help
 

In article , (Patscga) wrote:
That's me. I have a toilet that makes a "Shhhhh" sound every ten or fifteen
minutes after it's been flushed. The only way I can get it to stop is to flush
it several more times. Do I need a plumber?
Thanks for any input.

Probably, the flapper valve at the bottom of the tank is leaking water because
it is worn, and doesn't seal properly any more. The sound you hear is the fill
valve opening to let more water into the tank to replace what's leaking past
the flapper valve. Flushing the toilet opens the flapper valve; if you do this
a few times, chances are that sooner or later it will seat a little better and
not leak, which is why you're able to stop the noise that way.

Flapper valves are available at any hardware store for about five dollars, and
usually can be replaced in five minutes without tools. Most of them even have
instructions on the package. It's not rocket science. Just remember to turn
the water off to the toilet before you begin.

"Patscga" wrote

That's me. I have a toilet that makes a "Shhhhh" sound every ten or
fifteen
minutes


Well, it's trying to tell you something. Be a little quieter when you are
using it and it will probably stop...

Doug Miller wrote:

snipped

Most of them even have
instructions on the package. It's not rocket science. Just remember to turn
the water off to the toilet before you begin.

Rather than cramping yourself into an uncomfortable position to reach a
shut off valve down behind the toilet, and possibly running into a
jammed up valve or maybe starting its stem seal leaking by operating it,
it's usually much easier to just hold the float valve up with a bent
wire coat hanger or similar. That'll "turn off the water" just fine, and
you won't have to bend down once to do the whole job.

HTH,

Jeff (An old man who asks, "Why run when you can walk; why stand when
you can sit?")

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"As long as there are final exams, there will be prayer in public
schools"

On 04 Dec 2004 13:00:02 GMT, (Patscga) wrote:

That's me. I have a toilet that makes a "Shhhhh" sound every ten or fifteen
minutes after it's been flushed. The only way I can get it to stop is to flush
it several more times. Do I need a plumber?
Thanks for any input.
Pat

You are wasting water as you have a leak. You need to have your
tank checked for the leak and the problem repaired as it is costing
you money.

Pj

it might be that the float isn't always shutting off the valve completely,
and replacing the
valve cartidge (depending on the brand) may do the trick. to test the
theory, after hearing the water run, open
the tank and jostle the float to help make the valve seat. If it doesn't
run again, the valve is bad. If the water does run, the flapper valve (at
the bottom of the tank) is bad.

"Patscga" wrote in message
...
That's me. I have a toilet that makes a "Shhhhh" sound every ten or
fifteen
minutes after it's been flushed. The only way I can get it to stop is to
flush
it several more times. Do I need a plumber?
Thanks for any input.
Pat

I suspect that the "flush it several more times" holds the key.
There may be something at the flapper valve face, including
a possible too-long chain. When the flush handle is not being
pressed, the chain from the lever arm to the rubber flapper
in the tank should not sag much, or a link from it could lay
down on the spot the flapper is trying to cover.
Go to Home Depot, find a plumbing sales attendant, and
ask for a training session in Toiletology.


Doug Miller wrote in message
...
In article ,
(Patscga) wrote:
That's me. I have a toilet that makes a "Shhhhh" sound every ten or
fifteen
minutes after it's been flushed. The only way I can get it to stop is to
flush
it several more times. Do I need a plumber?
Thanks for any input.

Probably, the flapper valve at the bottom of the tank is leaking water
because
it is worn, and doesn't seal properly any more. The sound you hear is the
fill
valve opening to let more water into the tank to replace what's leaking
past
the flapper valve. Flushing the toilet opens the flapper valve; if you do
this
a few times, chances are that sooner or later it will seat a little better
and
not leak, which is why you're able to stop the noise that way.

Flapper valves are available at any hardware store for about five dollars,
and
usually can be replaced in five minutes without tools. Most of them even
have
instructions on the package. It's not rocket science. Just remember to
turn
the water off to the toilet before you begin.

bill a wrote:
it might be that the float isn't always shutting off the valve
completely,

So Bill, if it doesn't shut off completely, why does it take 10 to 15
minutes before she hears the "Shhhh" sound?

And, from the way she described it it sure sounds like it will repeat
every ten or 15 minutes until she gets up and flushes it several times
until she gets lucky and it the flap valve happens to settle in "the
right place"

It's the flap valve Bill...

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"As long as there are final exams, there will be prayer in public
schools"

and replacing the
valve cartidge (depending on the brand) may do the trick. to test the
theory, after hearing the water run, open
the tank and jostle the float to help make the valve seat. If it
doesn't run again, the valve is bad. If the water does run, the flapper
valve (at the bottom of the tank) is bad.

"Patscga" wrote in message
...

That's me. I have a toilet that makes a "Shhhhh" sound every ten or
fifteen
minutes after it's been flushed. The only way I can get it to stop is
to flush
it several more times. Do I need a plumber?
Thanks for any input.
Pat




--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"As long as there are final exams, there will be prayer in public
schools"

On 12/4/2004 8:00 AM US(ET), Patscga took fingers to keys, and typed the
following:

That's me. I have a toilet that makes a "Shhhhh" sound every ten or fifteen
minutes after it's been flushed. The only way I can get it to stop is to flush
it several more times. Do I need a plumber?
Thanks for any input.
Pat


That is probably the fill valve opening because water is leaking past
the flapper and causing the float to drop slightly, which opens the fill
valve to let more water into the tank. Since the float only dropped a
small distance, the fill valve does not open fully. You usually hear the
same type of noise when the water almost reaches the preset level and
the float starts to close the fill valve. When you flush, the float
drops quickly, opening the valve fully, but when the water leaks out of
the tank slowly, the floats drops slowly, and the valve only opens a
small amount causing the 'shhhhhing' noise as the water squeezes past
the valve. When you flush one or more times after that, the flapper may
find a better spot to seal the opening, so no water leaks out.
Now that you know what is causing it, you can live with it, or try
changing the flapper.

Pat,

For more info on toilets then you could possibly want, see this link:

John

http://www.toiletology.com/toc.shtml

Okay, I replaced the flapper and it doesn't "Shhhh" anymore. Now I hear water
running in the tank for about 30 minutes after a flush.


"Flapper valves are available at any hardware store for about five dollars, and

usually can be replaced in five minutes without tools. Most of them even have
instructions on the package. It's not rocket science. Just remember to turn
the water off to the toilet before you begin."


Pat

On 05 Dec 2004 14:52:24 GMT, (Patscga) wrote:

Okay, I replaced the flapper and it doesn't "Shhhh" anymore. Now I hear water
running in the tank for about 30 minutes after a flush.

I had this problem before. All flapper valves are not the same. The
ones I am talking about are the common old fashioned type of flappers.
Take the old one and compare the distance between the hinge and
the center of the plug. If this dimension is off the valve will not
seat and you'll here water running continually. I had to go to a
plumbing store and buy a more expensive brand that had the right
dimension in order to make a proper seal.

oops.......... hear

On 12/8/2004 5:57 PM US(ET), Patscga took fingers to keys, and typed the
following:

Okay, I replaced the flapper and it doesn't "Shhhh" anymore. Now I hear


water


running in the tank for about 30 minutes after a flush.



So here's what I did. There's a white tube that brings water up from the
bottom and bends over into another larger tube. I fixed the small tube so that
it doesn't bend over so far and it stopped leaking.
Pat


The rule is that the end of the small tube (bowl refill tube) should be
as high as possible in the larger tube (overflow pipe). There should be
a squeezed "S" shape clip that is hooked into the refill tube end and
then the other end is hooked onto the top of the overflow pipe. This
keeps the end of the refill tube at the correct height inside the
overflow pipe. If the "S" clip is missing (they tend to jump into the
overflow pipe to escape whenever the refill tube is removed), sticking
the refill tube in any lower than the high water mark in the tank will
cause a siphoning effect.

It only stopped running after I took it out of the clip and set it directly
into the larger pipe.

The rule is that the end of the small tube (bowl refill tube) should be
as high as possible in the larger tube (overflow pipe). There should be
a squeezed "S" shape clip that is hooked into the refill tube end and
then the other end is hooked onto the top of the overflow pipe. This
keeps the end of the refill tube at the correct height inside the
overflow pipe. If the "S" clip is missing (they tend to jump into the
overflow pipe to escape whenever the refill tube is removed), sticking
the refill tube in any lower than the high water mark in the tank will
cause a siphoning effect.



Pat