Slow draining toilet

RickJ · Jul 12, 2006, 03:49 AM

The two problems are not related.

The fact that you have to hold the handle down usually means your flapper chain is too long. Shorten it so that there is barely any slack in it between the flapper and where it attaches to the handle.

The slow fill could be that your valve is not all the way on. Check that. It could also be a problem with the valve in your tank...and for that problem, hang tight for our resident Plumbing Expert to pipe in on.

speedball1 · Jul 12, 2006, 04:36 AM

There are several things that come to mind. The water level in the tank wants to be 3/8" below the top of the white overflow tube when the tank is filled. Make sure the small 1/8" tube from the ballcock if discharging into the overflow tube and not into the tank. As the shop trouble shooter I used to get a lot of complaints on the 1.6 gallon toilets exactly like yours. When I began to check and find out if we were installing faulty toilets I found, (much to my surprise) that it was the installers that were at fault. The wax seals were being squeezed inward when the toilet was set. This choked down on the opening and set up a backpressure that stopped the siphon action of the flush and the water rose up and swirled around but didn't flush. To fix this problem I had our plumbers "mold" the wax ring to slope outward before setting the stool. You still got a good seal without the back pressure. Result? No more call backs. 45 seconds to a minute isn't too long a time far a tank to fill. Let me know, regards Tom

gametime · Jul 12, 2006, 01:29 PM

Thanks rickj and speedball,
Few things to mention. The tank is actually a 13.25lpf. I checked out and the shop that I was really getting the proper tank.
The water is about 3/8" below water fill pipe.
Small tube is discharging into overflow tube.
When I relaced the seal I use a seal that had a small pipe on one end to ensure proper fitting into pvc pipe. Is it still possible to have the seal on wrong and cause a bad siphon action?
I'm hoping to get this solved soon with kids its tough to get them to hold the handle down for any period of time let alone to flush at all lol
thanks again 4 the help

speedball1 · Jul 12, 2006, 03:40 PM

As Rick has suggested check the linkage between the flapper and the flush lever. It should have 1/4" of play when then fllapper's seated. Too little play and the flapper doesn't lift enough and the suction pulls it back to the seat shutting off the flush.
Too much play and the flush level pulls the flapper vertical but won't let it fall back while the water drains out of the tank. This releases the flapper as soon as you quit holding the handlw down and it falls back to the seat interrupting the flush. Adjust the flapper link and see if it doesn't work better. Good luck, Tom

Slow draining toilet

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