toilet not flushing completely

balletshoes

Hi,

Looking for a bit of advice. For a while now I've had to press our toilet handle 2 or 3 times to get the flush to work completely (as in empty the cistern into the bowl then back out, taking the contents with it). If I press the handle once, a bit of flush happens, but not enough to clear the bowl. I've taken the top off the cistern and the fill level for the water seems to be fine, ie its not low and cistern is full of water. If I use a jug of water to flush the toilet, it clears the bowl fine.

Is this something thats fixable by me (don't really have a clue but if its a loose connection to the handle etc I could give it a go) or do I need a plumber?

googler

If you operate the flush handle with the cistern top off, you'll see if anything is loose. However, it's probably a decayed flap in the syphon - standard job for any half-competent plumber.

phill99

Googler is right. It's the diaphragm in the siphon that is most likely to be the problem.

Stooby2

As above and if you feel confident enough to get the cistern off and the siphon out, the diaphragm costs pennies to replace. A whole new siphon isn't that expensive either.

balletshoes

thanks very much guys - on closer inspection, the water level in the cistern, although not realLy low, is only reaching to about and inch and a half lower than the previous fill level, so its not actually getting water into the pipe at the corner of the cistern to flush through. If I push the ball float down to allow more water in and get it to the level of the top of the pipe, the cistern flushes fine. Is there a different solution to this problem, or is it still the siphon?

closed

try adjusting the screw on the float arm so it doesn't cut off so soon, but not so much that it overflows

have you put any bricks/bottles/bags in to save water?

Stooby2

Depending on the type of filling valve, you can adjust the float height. If you look closely at the valve there should be a screw adjustment, possible with a locknut.

if you're not sure, can you post a photo of the valve?

balletshoes

closed wrote: »

try adjusting the screw on the float arm so it doesn't cut off so soon, but not so much that it overflows

have you put any bricks/bottles/bags in to save water?

no, theres nothing extra in the cistern.

balletshoes

thanks all - I can see what I need to loosen, it does have a small nut securing it, but I don't have a spanner/wrench that small, I'll just have to keep moving the ball float by hand until I can get to the DIY store tomorrow.

southcoastrgi

if you post up a pic of the ballvalve/fill valve we can tell you how to adjust it