View Full Version : My toilet doesn't fill and bowl level drops
unclehos
Jun 7, 2012, 01:44 AM
I put in new toilet worked great for several months, then tank took longer and longer to fill. Now it doesn't. Water just keep running I can take fill hose out of overflow pipe and fill the tank but when its in overflow pipe the tank just runs. Also went I fill the tank outside the overflow pipe I notice that the water level in the bowl drops about a half inch... stumped.. anyone have a idea?
hkstroud
Jun 7, 2012, 05:28 AM
You have one of two problems. You either have a defective fill valve or a defective flush valve. From the information provided, we can't tell which.
It all depends on what you mean by the tank won't fill up. Do you mean that there is no water going into the tank or do you mean that the water level in the tank does not reach a level high enough to make the fill valve turn off?
If you mean that the water level in the tank does not get high enough to cause the fill valve to turn off, which is what I believe you mean, then that would be caused by one of three things. First would be that the water level is set so close to the top of the overflow pipe that water overflows into the overflow pipe before the fill valve turns off. The water level should be set to about one inch below the top of the overflow pipe.
The next posibility is that the flush valve is leaking and water is leaking out as fast as it is coming in. Flush valves often leak, but not at that rate.
Symptom of a leaking flush valve is that the water shuts off after a flush but comes on again every few minutes to replace the water that is leaking out of the tank.
The sign of a defective fill valve is usually that water will not shut off after a flush. The tank fills, but because the fill valve won't turn off properly, the water continues to run and simply goes down the overflow tube.
The tube from the fill valve to the overflow tub is there to refill or to help refill the bowl after a flush. Therefore if you point it into the tank, naturally the water level in the bowl will be lower.
What I don't understand about what you have said is, that by pointing the fill tube into the tank you can fill the tank and the valve will shut off. I don't understand that unless you truly mean that there is no water going into the tank and you are using the fill tube to fill the tank. That would take a long time.
That would also mean that there is something blocking the fill valve. If that's the case, replace the fill valve. Never heard of a fill valve getting blocked that way, however.
speedball1
Jun 7, 2012, 06:33 AM
I put in new toilet worked great for several months, then tank took longer and longer to fill. Now it doesn't. Water just keep running i can take fill hose out of overflow pipe and fill the tank but when its in overflow pipe the tank just runs. Also went i fill the tank outside the overflow pipe i notice that the water level in the bowl drops about a half inch....... stumped.. anyone have a idea?
Which ballcock's yours? Let me know, Tom