Toilet won’t stop running

[MH]

How do you adjust or fix a toilet that keeps running? Both of my home toilets do it and its running up my water bill. Is there a place to adjust it? I know if I call a plumber it is probably simple but will cost me money I don’t have. Please help.

[Henry in MI]

Hi, MH. Go to http://www.doityourself.com, then Repair/Fit-it, then plumbing, then How To Repair A Running Toilet and follow the instructions. You are right that this is usually a simple job but having the drawing and picture so you can understand the nomenclature helps a lot.

Be careful when you emove the lid from the toilet tank. Put it somewhere safe. If you drop and break one of these, they can be very difficult to replace.

Henry in MI

[bc]

Go to your hardware store, home center, walmart, etc and buy new ballcocks (water inlet valves) that have the float on the column and at the same time replace the flappers. Fluidmaster makes a good brand that many plumbers also use. They get old, corroded, worn out, etc. and aren’t made to last forever. If fact (like in your case), when one starts to go bad, then they should be replaced for every toilet in the house. Then you are good for another 10 or more years.

[LindaL]

My own toilet won’t stop running either and I have tried everything! I took my level and laid it on the seat and the thing is off level 3/4 inches. I am sure you can’t shim a toilet without breaking the wax seal, so I think my only option is to jack the floors up. Seriously! Anyone got a solution to this one? All suggestions are appreciated.

[Dave]

You could replace all of the insides of the tank – but you could save time and money by first figuring out what the problem is.

*It could be that the flapper has gone bad and needs to be replaced. That’ll cost ya about $3. If you hear a low-pitched water running sound (the same sound you hear when you just barely hold the flush handle down) then start by replacing the big rubber flapper. (It’s easy – go the website that (Henry was it?) recommended.

*On the other hand – it could be the adjustment of the valve. Take off the top of the tank (And if you DO drop it, try not to drop it inside the toilet. Learned the hard way how much damage that can cause.) Pull up on the ball float (big ball floating in the tank.) If the water stops running, the float just needs to be adjusted (down.) There are different types of toilet apparatus, so the adjustment may be done one of several ways. If the ball is at the end of a metal rod, you can just bend the rod down. If it’s at the end of a plastic rod, it probably has a little plastic wing-nut/screw that you can loosen, adjust down the float, and re-tighten.

If these don’t fix it, you may need to replace the valve. However, if you have to replace parts and you haven’t yet tried the two things I suggested, you may have trouble installing & adjusting the new parts.

— good luck

[Keith]

I am having a similar problem , I think, although I can’t really isolate it to the toilet. See, I have water leak somewhere. I have found no leaking pipes underneath the house, nor any soggy spots in the yard where the water service line runs to the house. My meter indicates that although I am not running any water, some water is being used or leaked somewhere. but here’s the thing, i’ll watch the meter and it will show that water is going somewhere…but then it stops. It’s not like a continuous leak with continuous flow, but a leak that starts and stops every once in a while. My wife says that she’s heard the toilet running when it hasn’t been flushed in a while, so that’s why i think i may be the toilet. It’s run up my water bill and I’m not sure of what to do. I turned off the valve to the toilet and checked the meter for signs of activity, but as i said before, since it does it only at uncertain times, i don’t know if turning off the valve isolated the problem or it just wasn’t running in the toilet at that time. Anybody got any ideas? Thanks.

[Wayne Mycko]

I have an American standard toilet that water is running on even after it is full.I am trying to replace / or adjust the assembly (ballcock?) that control the incomming water. I have replace washer in other toilets (Ejer) and you can take apart the assembly and replace only the washers inside it that stop the water. The american stardard is a newer model that I installed a couple of years ago. Is there a way to take the assembly apart or do I have to replace it.

[bob tittel]

water just goes round and round then goes down very slow. please help!! thanks

[bridgette gloer]

i tried all of the thing possible on my toilet and it still keeps running, should i replace it. i cant sleep at night! its soo annoying

[Author]

Posts