[Penguins99]

Hello everyone,

I just bought my first home, and like so many others, after moving in I found a problem. There are two bathrooms in the house (one upstairs one down) and they have both been outfitted with the same toilets. I notice that in both bathrooms the toilets seem to have the same problem, so its probably just cheap toilets but I'm worried it could go deeper, and reach out to you for help.

Sometimes you flush and and the water spins but dissipates at the same rate as the filling of the bowl, thus preventing a "flush". You can reflush, reflush, and reflush and nothing. It never backs up it just doesn't flush. You can walk away and an hour later you flush and BAM its a miracle the toilet is fixed and flushing.

This will happen randomly throughout the day, and it does not matter whats in there (#1 or #2) it just does it.

I originally thought that since the house sat empty for so long there may have been build up of minerals or hard water residue, so I ran CLR through the tank and checked the water levels. Didn't seem to make a difference.

Any ideas or help will be greatly appreciated ....

Edward

 

[hayewe farm]

It's probably a low water usage toilet. If you hold the handle down does it flush correctly? If it does first check the water level in the tank. Make sure it fills to within ¼" of the top of the overflow tube. Then check this thread http://www.diychatroom.com/f7/toilet-under-flushing-45621/

 

[majakdragon]

Your problem may simply need a chain adjustment. Check the chain that lifts the flapper when you push down the handle. It should have only enough slack to allow the flapper to seal. If it has more slack, the flapper may not be lifting up high enough to allow all the water out of the tank before closing. This causes "short flushes".

 

[Penguins99]

Hey I wanted to thank everyone for taking the time to read my post, and especially thank hayewe, and majakdragon for your replies. We've been so busy with the backyard and unpacking that I haven't really made time to get back on here. But I do appreciate your help. I looked @ the chain and watched the flapper, they seem to match up with what diagrams I found online. We have decided to replace one of the toilets and see if the problem goes away. I guess as a rule of thumb it would be safe to say anything that says "low water usage" should be ruled out?

Thanks again,
Edward

 

[DangerMouse]

hi penguins, you night want to consider buying a FlushMate unit. ( www.flushmate.com) it has an internal pressure tank inside that kicks butt.
when we moved here, i pulled mine from the old house and installed it here, then bought a $42.00 cheapie for the other place.
when i THOUGHT i had a problem with it once, the company sent me a new duckbill valve AND the whole pressure unit to install in the tank for free....YEARS later... turns out the toilet wasn't the problem, but it's still one of the best purchases i ever made.

DM

 

[majakdragon]

The diagrams online only show how the chain attches to the flapper, and most do not say anything about the amount of slack in the chain except to make sure it doesn't block the discharge hole. Did you watch the flapper when you flushed the toilet? Watch and see if the flapper falls back down before most the water has left the tank. Low flow toilets are the law. 1.6 gallons is the maximum allowable rate of water used.