You hear hissing noises from your toilet in the middle of the night. You notice your water expenses are higher than normal. What you might have is the common running toilet, when not resolved, can cost you hundreds of unnecessary dollars on repairs and utility expenses.
Fixing a leaky toilet is not difficult expertise to learn. The cost savings and knowledge will last a very long time. So, here’s a few plumbing tips that can help you find the causes of a running toilet.
Finding the Source of the Leak
The first thing to resolve any plumbing issue is to locate what is causing it. And, to carry out that we have to understand how a toilet works.
Whenever you drive on the toilet handle, all you’re carrying out is transferring a rod upward that raises one thing termed as a flapper that is certainly protecting against the aquarium water from draining into the toilet. The flapper remains up from the tank water as there is a pocket of air inside the flapper. When the tank water level falls, so does the floating flapper. It falls back into position, sealing the hole that letting the tank water into the toilet bowl.
What ensures water from flowing up the tank is a floater that is mounted on a rod. As the floater goes down and up with the water in the tank, it can either open or close a valve. This is how water is refilled in the toilet reservoir and it shuts off automatically as the floater goes up with the water level. Concurrently, water is also aimed into the toilet bowl via a tube running within an overflow tube. Once again, if the tank reaches the desired level, all water movement will stop.
When the water level is above the overflow hose, water will probably be constantly emptying into the bowl and the floater will never get high enough to turn off the valve. There must be a screw above the location where the water moves into the tank. Adjust the screw in either direction to level the floater. Besides, you could bend the rod to bring the floater down. Thus, the floater will reach a level where it cuts off the inflow of water completely. The water level must be lower than the overflow tube. Make sure that this is correct, adjusting this as simple as this may be can prevent a running toilet.
Another reason for a running toilet could be that water is leaking into the bowl via the flapper at the bottom of your tank. To determine if this is the issue, placed some food colouring in the tank. Check the container in approximately a few minutes to determine if there may be colouring inside the bowl. If so, then the flapper is not sealing the hole entirely. In such a case, all you have to do is purchase a new flapper.
If you have a tank ball securing the drain hole, ensure that the vertical rod is placed perfectly so the tank ball sits in the drain hole perpendicularly.
Another reason for a running toilet can be due to a short or kinked chain (for those who have a flapper-type flushing mechanism). Ensure the chain is lengthy enough to slack and to ensure the flapper is completely sealing the drain hole.
If none of these is the reason behind your running toilet, then a filler valve (the part where the water comes into the aquarium) could be the cause. If your assembly is accessible, there should be rubberised washers or O-ring preventing the water flow. Try to find out if there are any wear and tear. Replace it if needed.
If, on the flip side, it appears as though it’s one strong part, you have to modify the complete setup. In cases like this, you need to shut down the toilet water provide at the shutoff valve, flush the toilet, and take off the entire setup by unscrewing the water inlet pipe, and then the filler assembly. You may need a wrench, a bucket, plus some tarps to accomplish this work.
Call a Professional to Save You
Are you scared you could do more damage than good? Don’t like getting your hands and knees dirty or afraid of getting wet? Or, you might have much better things to do with your time? These are all reasonable concerns to let a professional local plumber carry out the job for you. A qualified plumber should be able to analyse and correct the problem for you without causing a lot of problems.
If you live in the Melbourne suburbs and want to hire some of the best plumbers in Victoria, just make sure you contact the licensed and insured professionals at J.O. Plumbing. We provide services like Blocked drains, gas fitting, roofs, and gutters, fixing leaded and broken pipes, toilet plumbing, tapware and white goods, hot water repair and installation and so much more.
