Toilet tank fills but slowly drains w/o refilling

[Zanne]

I'll have to check at the hardware store to see if they have the dye/coloring that won't stain the bowl.

Geof, as far as I can tell there are no cracks in the overflow tube, but the nut at the bottom might be loose. When my friend comes over to change the gasket out I'll have him check to make sure everything is ok with the overflow nut. I'm not comfortable pulling it myself bc I am a total monkey & would probably drop the tank.

I ordered a bit for my drill to cut inside pipes so I can remove the old flange. I need to find where I put the new flange I purchased so I can have it ready to put in place for when we change out the toilets when the new toilet arrives. We can examine the old toilet to see if we can figure out what is causing the leak. I'm hoping that putting the tower flush mechansim in will stop the leaking.

 

[havasu]

Back to the ADA height toilet. With my bad knees, I've replaced all my toilets with the higher toilets. Visitors and family love them, all except my 8 year old granddaughter. She is afraid of falling either off or in!

 

[Zanne]

I much prefer the ADA height toilets but some of my friends are short & are only 5' & find taller toilets uncomfortable so we want to have the 14-1/2" height toilet in the guest bathroom. It's possible that once we get the place fixed up enough my friend might bring his daughter over too & the ADA height would be too tall for her. I'm hoping to get it to the stage where we can have house guests again. Right now I'm waiting on the stuff to arrive.

As an aside, I see the Flooringforum is down. Rusty said servers changed & no one can get in. I load it and it says "Sorry, forum software is being updated. it should be back online and looking a little bit different soon. Please keep checking back."
I wonder how long "soon" will be. Last night it kept telling me "something went wrong" when I tried to load it.

 

[Geofd]

Just a thought,at stores wete wheel chairs and hadicapped equipment are sold tjey also sell toilet seats that are much thicker bringing up the seat height that way..........

 

[Zanne]

Geof, I showed my mother the thicker toilet seats and she hated them. I'm going to put a Kohler Zofa Softclose seat on it for her. It's a discontinued seat with closed cell foam that is never cold to the touch & it doesn't stick to skin the way plastic does. It's also cushiony so it's comfortable to sit on.

 

[Geofd]

Geof, I showed my mother the thicker toilet seats and she hated them. I'm going to put a Kohler Zofa Softclose seat on it for her. It's a discontinued seat with closed cell foam that is never cold to the touch & it doesn't stick to skin the way plastic does. It's also cushiony so it's comfortable to sit on.

Thats a good idea........

 

[havasu]

Zanne my friend, I cleared my I internet cache and was able to log into www.flooringforum.com

 

[Zanne]

I'm attempting to delete my cache now, but it's being very slooooow. I'll see if that works.

Geof, it is a very comfortable seat. Unfortunately, they didn't anticipate that it is pretty much impossible to clean. Skin oils soak in to it and it discolors over time. I tried using hydrogen peroxide, bleach, etc and it didn't get the stains off. That is probably why they discontinued it, but it is still my favorite toilet seat for the comfort. The foam part comes off for you to wash it. I wonder if they still have any replacement foam parts available from Kohler. The seat also has a quick release to remove the whole seat to wash or if you need to remove it to clean the bowl/rim better.

 

[Zanne]

New toilet arrived. Tank and bowl appear to be undamaged despite post office putting the tank upsidedown (even though it had an arrow indicating which direction was up). Had a time unboxing them because my cats decided to climb in and on the boxes. I decided to film the opening of the boxes in case they were cracked & I could show they were cracked before opening. Fortunately, they aren't as they were packed very well. Tank came in a larger box than the bowl did. I just need to find some time to get my friend over to help me with replacing the closet flange (in case I need a 2nd set of hands or stronger hands).
I'm debating moving everything out of the room, putting a thin layer of luan down, and putting the sheet vinyl down before setting the new toilet in place, but it's a lot of work.

 

[Zanne]

As an Update, I installed a new lever-- a Danco universal fully metal one. It was a pita to get installed, but it works. Since I put it in, the tank no longer seems to be leaking. I think the flapper was somehow being held wrong on the previous lever (which was starting to break off bc the plastic wears out after about 5 or 6 years). Only 2 problems with the new one. 1. It sometimes sticks in the down position and has to be pulled back up manually, but that's not a big deal and 2. It doesn't have much movement so we have to hold it down until the toilet flushes completely and sometimes it leaves stuff in the bowl bc it's not strong enough. Now,that could be bc of a clog downstream or an issue with the flapper. The flapper has holes & a slide thingy to adjust which holes are covered & I'm not sure what they all do, but it has something to do with flush levels I think. Might play around with it and see which gives the best flush.

 

[Geofd]

As an Update, I installed a new lever-- a Danco universal fully metal one. It was a pita to get installed, but it works. Since I put it in, the tank no longer seems to be leaking. I think the flapper was somehow being held wrong on the previous lever (which was starting to break off bc the plastic wears out after about 5 or 6 years). Only 2 problems with the new one. 1. It sometimes sticks in the down position and has to be pulled back up manually, but that's not a big deal and 2. It doesn't have much movement so we have to hold it down until the toilet flushes completely and sometimes it leaves stuff in the bowl bc it's not strong enough. Now,that could be bc of a clog downstream or an issue with the flapper. The flapper has holes & a slide thingy to adjust which holes are covered & I'm not sure what they all do, but it has something to do with flush levels I think. Might play around with it and see which gives the best flush.

 

[Geofd]

Sometimes I use a little heat. Proof grease were the handlegoes thru the nut
Sounds like there is to much slack in the chain so the flapper isn’t being lifted enough
Most flappers are specific to the toilet,it has to be the right one
There are numbers in the tank printed or. cast that the plumbing supply
House can match
Or hardware store may have an off brand flapper that will work with your toilet

 

[Zanne]

Geof, if the chain were set to be any shorter, it would hold the flapper open-- that is how little movement the new handle has. I was thinking of using vaseline on the inside of the rubber gasket to see if it stopped it from getting stuck.
The flapper I bought said it's compatible with this toilet but different toilets require different settings on the flapper (some white plug thingy to go in the different holes on the side of the flapper). I need to see if I still have the box the flapper came in to see what setting is supposed to be for my toilet. If it got thrown out I'll have to test out different settings. Wish I could remember the brand to look it up. I think it might be Korky but I'm not certain.

 

[Rickyman]

Spin the plastic thing on the flapper until all the holes are covered. That is the setting that holds up the flapper the longest

 

[Jeff Handy]

No Vaseline on the flapper, it might soften the rubber.

 

[Zanne]

Rickyman, thank you. I will go do that and see if it works.
Thanks, Jeff, I wasn't sure if it would mess up the rubber or not.
Geof, what was it you said about heat-proof grease? Would that damage the rubber? Any links or specific names for the stuff?

Edit: Flapper settings seem to have worked to make it flush better.

 

[Geofd]

The grease would go on the handle meets the nut that holds the handle on.....don’t put anything on the flapper
The grease is only if the handle is still sticking
Radiator specialties
Slick and slide are 2 brand we use at work

 

[Zanne]

Yeah, I hadn't planned to put anything on the flapper-- just on the rubber washer on the inside of the tank where the handle turns. But, it seems to have worked itself out now. It's not sticking anymore. I think it just needed to get broken in a bit.

 

[Geofd]

Yeah, I hadn't planned to put anything on the flapper-- just on the rubber washer on the inside of the tank where the handle turns. But, it seems to have worked itself out now. It's not sticking anymore. I think it just needed to get broken in a bit.

That’s a good thing!