Experience: Fixing flap valve in toilet cistern siphon
 

Hi,

After reading this newsgroup and the very clear Readers Digest book
on plumbing, I braved replacing the flap valve in my sister's toilet.
I took the job steadily and got the cistern off the wall - thank
goodness when it was installed a ball-o-fix valve was installed on the
supply side. The metal plate underneath the cistern was rusted, the
foam seal was crushed and the flap valve was shredded (how that
happened I don't know). How the toilet flushed at all is beyond me.
Anyway, I bought a new siphon from the local plumbers' merchant -
which seemed incredinbly wasteful since it was only a thin film of
plastic (the flap valve ) that had failed - but I was pressed for time
- and the replacement is accessible by unscrewing the top should there
be problems in future. Having to take the cistern off the wall to
replace a torn flap valve seems crummy design in the extreme to me. I
also got all new coupling set. Parts came to £15 - plus two hours head
scratching and cursing. The original assembly was all "upside-down" so
I had to rethink how it fitted together - when I twigged the
arrangement it was plain sailing.

Goodness knows how I would have tackled it if there wasn't that
isolating valve on the supply to the cistern. When my house is
replumbed it will be accessible valves all over the place. If the flap
valve fails in future, I'll make my own replacement.

Now my sister has a flushing toilet and much easier access to the
siphon should it fail in future.

Clive

Experience: Fixing flap valve in toilet cistern siphon
 

Clive wrote:
Hi,

After reading this newsgroup and the very clear Readers Digest book
on plumbing, I braved replacing the flap valve in my sister's toilet.
I took the job steadily and got the cistern off the wall - thank
goodness when it was installed a ball-o-fix valve was installed on the
supply side. The metal plate underneath the cistern was rusted, the
foam seal was crushed and the flap valve was shredded (how that
happened I don't know).

I don't know either, buts its very common.

How the toilet flushed at all is beyond me.
Anyway, I bought a new siphon from the local plumbers' merchant -
which seemed incredinbly wasteful since it was only a thin film of
plastic (the flap valve ) that had failed - but I was pressed for time
- and the replacement is accessible by unscrewing the top should there
be problems in future.

I alway change the complete siphon. A couple of times I've replaced the
flap & the toilet still won't flush - a small split in the siphon will stop
it working.

Having to take the cistern off the wall to
replace a torn flap valve seems crummy design in the extreme to me. I
also got all new coupling set. Parts came to £15 - plus two hours head
scratching and cursing. The original assembly was all "upside-down" so
I had to rethink how it fitted together - when I twigged the
arrangement it was plain sailing.

I've always thought it was a bad design as well. Thats why I always change
the siphon - same labour as changing a flap, about another £6 in parts. I
can do them in about 45 mins now.


Goodness knows how I would have tackled it if there wasn't that
isolating valve on the supply to the cistern. When my house is
replumbed it will be accessible valves all over the place. If the flap
valve fails in future, I'll make my own replacement.

The are indeed a godsend. I usually fit them when doing a cistern.

Now my sister has a flushing toilet and much easier access to the
siphon should it fail in future.

Well done that man!


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

Experience: Fixing flap valve in toilet cistern siphon
 

On Sun, 06 Jan 2008 07:00:17 -0800, Clive wrote:

After reading this newsgroup and the very clear Readers Digest book
on plumbing, I braved replacing the flap valve in my sister's toilet.

Point of information: that is *not* a flap valve. What you're describing is
the diaphragm in a syphonic cistern valve. A flap valve is a modern (to
the UK, since water regs changed a few years ago) type with a flap of
plastic covering the cistern's flushing outlet pipe or orifice. Pulling
the flap up (by a linkage to the handle or button) lets water out of the
cistern rapidly to flush the pan. A float built into the flap keeps it up
once it's been pulled up until all the water has gone out, whereupon it
falls back down and seals the outlet. There's a rubber washer sealing the
flap to the outlet.

--
John Stumbles