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How to Fix a Toilet: Causes and Troubleshooting of a Few Simple Faults

How to fix the toilet if the tank has stopped filling with water? What if he started running? What to do if the seat microlift is loose? In this article, we will analyze the causes of several common malfunctions and how to fix them.

Water is not drawn into the tank

Cause

The filling valve is clogged with scale, sand or slag. Most often, the problem occurs after repairing the riser section or bottling cold water.

Hint: coarse filters installed immediately after the inlet valves will save you from such problems once and for all.

Solution

  1. We shut off the water.
  2. We disassemble the valve to get to the nozzle through which water should flow. In domestic brass valves, for this you need to pull out the pin fixing the rocker, then the rocker itself, together with a movable barrel equipped with a gasket. In imports, the gasket, as a rule, is hidden under the union nut, which fixes the rocker.

  1. Armed with a long needle or thin wire, we clean the clogged nozzle.
  2. Open the water for a short time. She will take out the rest of the slag.
  3. After making sure that water enters, and the nozzle does not clog again, we assemble the valve in the reverse order.

Microlift seat falls off

Cause

  1. One of the plastic bolts securing the seat to the toilet has been displaced or broken.
  2. The microlift mechanism is loose or worn out.

Solution

Inspect the seat attachment point. It seems to be easy to identify a broken or displaced bolt. If necessary, fasteners are changed; Polyethylene seat bolt kits are available at most plumbing stores.

How to fix a toilet lift if it is loose?

  1. Carefully inspect the microlift cylinders. Look for caps on one side of each cylinder. As a rule, they can be removed by prying with a thin screwdriver; screwed caps with a hole for a hexagon are less common.
  2. Then pull the seat up. It should come off the studs without much effort.

  1. Remove the second pair of caps from the cylinders- and under them you will find screws for a flat, Phillips screwdriver or, again, a hexagon. We tighten the screws and assemble the seat in the reverse order.

The tank flows through, the water goes through the overflow

The reasons

  1. A float that has taken on water sinks.
  2. The gasket in the filling valve has lost its elasticity and has ceased to shut off the water.
  3. Broken plastic valve body.

Solutions

How to fix a float in a toilet? The obvious way is to replace it with an analogue, since you can find it in any store. The float is removed from a brass or galvanized rocker; a new one is pressed in instead.

Tip: if you don’t feel like going to the store, cut out a cube from the packaging foam about the same size as the float and put it on the rocker.
It will perform its functions no worse than the original.

To replace the rubber gasket of the filling valve, it must be disassembled. Ways to do this are described above. The gasket is changed to analog; in the case of a domestic valve, a thick piece of rubber can simply be turned to the nozzle on the other side.

A characteristic sign that the valve has burst along the thread - when you try to press it in one of the directions (most often from the bottom up) it intensifies. The problem is more common in tanks with side water supply. The filling valve in this case is easier to change entirely.

Tank leaks when water level is below overflow

The reasons

  1. The drain valve seat is dirty or overgrown with lime deposits.

Please note: often there is a hose between the seat and the drain valve, which is designed to reduce the noise level when water is drawn into the tank.
Frustrated by pressure, he embarks on a solitary voyage.

  1. In imported sets of fittings, a typical problem is a stiffened ring gasket.
  2. In domestic-made compacts, a deformed rubber bulb is to blame.

Solutions

To clean the saddle in a domestic tank, it is enough to lift the pear with your hand.

In import, the sequence of operations is more complicated.

  1. Shut off the water.
  2. Unscrew the bezel of the drain button counterclockwise.
  3. Remove the cover.
  4. Turn the drain mechanism a few degrees and lift it up. The seat is free. At the same time, you can examine the gasket for its condition.

If the gasket has become unusable (small cracks, tears are visible, the rubber has ceased to be elastic), it changes to an analogue.

A deformed pear also changes without much difficulty. It is held on the stem by a conventional thread. Holding the stem with pliers, unscrew the pear and install a replacement instead.

A temporary solution may be an additional burden, pressing the pear to the saddle. Repairing the toilet comes down to the fact that we hang a radiator plug, a massive nut or a coupling on the rod.

Leak under the tank

The reasons

  1. Destroyed one of the bolts, attracting the tank to the shelf. Water flows under the gasket pressed earlier by the bolt head, which ensured tightness. (See also the article.)
  2. The cuff that connected the separate shelf with the socket of the toilet bowl burst.

Solutions

In the first case, a pair of bolts is changed to an analogue (exclusively stainless - brass or galvanized). When tightening the bolts, avoid large forces and distortions. The bolt heads everywhere should touch the faience only through washers and rubber gaskets.

The cuff is replaced with an analogue.

  1. Loosen the bolts holding the shelf to the ears of the toilet.
  2. Move the tank back by pulling the shelf outlet out of the cuff.
  3. Remove the cuff from the toilet.
  4. Fit the new cuff with the narrow side over the outlet. The wide side is rolled up (like the sleeves before hard work).
  5. Install the shelf in place and secure with screws.
  6. Roll the cuff onto the toilet bowl.

Conclusion

Let's hope that the article will help the reader to solve minor everyday problems. And the video in this article will help you understand these issues clearly. Good luck!