Passing / running toilet cistern

JasX

Hey all,

I was wondering if anyone had any experience dealing with leaky toilet cistern problems? -I've had an issue in one toilet in my apartment for 'a while' now and now the other one has started to develop the same problem.

Basically I seem to have a constant low level flow of water from the cistern into the toilet bowl so there is always a constant hiss from the filling valve and trickle down the back of the pan -> and an extra £50+ per year on my water bill as a result.

Some pics below but I've tried pulling the bottom valve apart (pops out easily with a twist) and found it covered in limescale so gave both sealing surfaces a gentle clean with a soft sponge and thought that would be it -> no improvement unfortunately.

I'm pretty sure the filling side is ok as when I tweak the adjustment screw down so the ball float is firmly underwater putting good pressure on the filling valve the problem goes away for 20 mins or so and water stops flowing into the cistern, however it continues to leak into the bowl until the cistern level has 'leaked down' far enough to drop the ball and reopen the filling valve side again.

I have tried adjusting so there is the maximum amount of water in the cistern (to maximise downward pressure on the 'bottom of cistern valve') but the problem is still there.

What would be a sensible next step? should I be disassembling the cistern and replacing the flush side innards entirely? is there something else that might be worth trying?

there is no visible damage to either valve surface and both feel smooth, I noted there seemed to be a fair bit of 'grit' in the cistern presumably left over from construction, also although the rubber on the seal side is 'soft ish' it is starting to harden a little (from what I have in my head soft new rubber might be like -it could have always been that hard)

is there anywhere else it might be leaking? could it be leaking directly from the cistern to the base around the valve if the valve is making a a tight seal?






(both toilets are around 9 years old -and i get the impression from the rest of the fittings the place came with are likely to be 'cheapest that could be found at the time' when the place was built)

cajef

Sounds like the flush valve seal (the black seal at the bottom of that assembly) is leaking, you need to find out what make of assembly that is and buy a new seal for it.


http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=toilet%20flush%20valve%20seal&clk_rvr_id=675530334524&adpos=1s4&MT_ID=11&crlp=34756374694_2113181&device=c&geo_id=32251&keyword=toilet+flush+valve+seal&crdt=0

JasX

wow, thanks for the link -with that and a little googling mine seems to be from a range called 'Ideal standard' and there is a common replacement seal for the range

Just ordered one for £4 and I'll see how I get on fitting it to one of the problem toilets

(and will report back and order 2nd if it works )

JasX

Update:

Well the new seals arrived.

The new ones were very very soft and sticky to the touch rubber so the old ones definitely did seem to have hardened with age even tho they seemed undamaged.

Both new seals now fitted (took less than 5 mins each) and the problems is now solved! Thanks MSE forum