My toilet, a few times a day starts running water for a few seconds then stops. How do I fix it?
Usually because the flap in the tank is letting a small amount of water out into the bowl. After a while, it’ll trigger the fill valve to top itself back up.
You can try lifting the flap and cleaning it and the drain hole to see if that gives it a better seal. (Turn the valve off so it’s not trying to refill while you work, obviously).
If not that or if the flap is visibly degraded, then you can buy a replacement flap at pretty much any home improvement store. They’re easy to replace: they just kind of clip on.
Ok I’ll give this a try.
That’s usually the cause and easy to check. Less often, the fill valve can be wonky and just kind of kick on by itself.
If that’s the case, you’ll hear another sound while it’s filling where the excess water is going down the overflow drain inside the tank. That’s a harder fix as you have to replace the whole assembly, but it’s not too terrible; just more involved than replacing the flap.
If the valve (as opposed to flap) is gone that far, then a good modern water savings toilet isn’t that expensive and will probably flush better than the old one (good is key - there are many cheap toilets that don’t flush well!). Consider replacing the whole toilet instead. You can also get a toilet style you like (I personally hate high toilets, but some prefer them). I strongly recommend a bidet while you are doing this as well.
I won’t say you should always replace the toilet vs just the valve, but it is something to consider - the effort is similar and the cost isn’t that much more. So if there is any reason to replace the toilet do it.
This toilet is only two years old.
Wow, I’d expect it to last longer than that, even a cheap one. You might want some weter treatment, get the water tested to see if it is destroying parts.
Slow leak going from tank to bowl.
It fills up enough for the float to cut off water to the tank
But a tiny little drip is going from tank to bowl.
Over long enough time, the tank is low enough the float valve fills it up a little. Then stops.
Cycle repeats.
If you really care. You can replace the flap stopping tank>bowl. Maybe replace all the guts while you’re at it.
If you have hard water, you can just rub the flap/gasket with some vinegar and that might be enough.
Hard water is the main cause for me. Minerals get stuck on the gasket and prevents a good seal so water slowly trickles in.
What you also want to do is pour vinegar down the tube in the tank that water sprays into
That feeds into the “jets” the water gets into the bowl from. Overtime those ports will crystalize over and it’s a huge hassle. flushing with vinegar that way will break it up before it fully clogs. And if some are clogged, the vinegar just soaks in there till the next flush
The Toilet Whisperer
Thanks I’ll give this a try. I’ll see if I can find a replacement part
Definitely try just wiping it off first tho…
Just the flap and the gasket it seats into, wipe it down with a wet paper towel, see if it still does it
You can also try adjusting the linkage (chain length) sometimes a flap “floats down” slowly because there’s still some water. And that might be causing issues.
Anytime you fuck with a toilet, you want to try the least invasive methods first and work your way up.
Shit can get out of hand quickly and you may end up replacing everything and still experiencing the same issue.
Shit can get out of hand quickly
Sometimes literally.
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If at any part of the process you have shit in your hand, something isn’t working out like it should have
Every single hardware store has the replacement parts. You can likely replace the entire working insides for about $30.
You might want to say which part of the planet you’re in. Americans just assume everyone has the same medieval plumbing they do, but the vast majority of people don’t
put some food coloring in the back toilet tank and you can see how bad the water leak is.
There is an explanation for this behavior that hasn’t been mentioned. You might have a leak between the bowl and the floor. This is much more serious and can cause expensive damage so if you see evidence of water on the floor, that needs to be addressed immediately.
A leak between the bowl and floor would not change the level in the tank… unless there was also a leak in the tank.
Check your ballcock.
(It’s a real part inside the toilet but probably isn’t the issue, I just wanted to say ballcock)
Just training for the big shit coming … ;-P
There are different ways. Do you have a picture?
Easiest way: put a little weight on the Part which close the valve/plunger.
A bit harder: try to clean the bottom/o-ring of the valve/plunger.
Or replace the o-ring Seal. I had this problem once, replacing the ring solved it. There was a continuous flow of water that drained the reservoir and thus leading to the influx of water every hour or so
Oh I want to know the answer to this as well. Sometimes my toilet will flush itself while I’m having a shower, and if I’m not paying attention I get cooked.
That’s entirely different, call a plumber. Op’s is just a slow leak.
Oh darn, but the slow leak kinda makes sense? What do you think is the cause?
Slow leak makes sense if it’s filling the tank for a couple seconds. It doesn’t make sense if yours is full flushing. Don’t know what would cause that.
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My roommate has a cat yeah.
Ghosts need to poop, too
The toilet flushes because the bowl is filling up. That’s what causes it to flush. Why the bowl is filling up when you shower… I have no idea. Sounds bad though.
Slow leak.
You can replace the gasket/float, or you can try cleaning the probably moldy/algae seal topside and float underside off and seeing if that fixes the leak. I always drain the tank and clean the seal first when I get this issue, takes a minute and usually fixes or significantly reduces the frequency.
Agreed on the slow leak. Replacing the gasket usually does the trick IME.
