When flushed the toilet tank drains very slowly. The water in the bowl swirls and gurggles and does not completely empty. I'm guessng a clogged vent pipe? What do you think?

Jayjoe

When flushed the toilet tank drains very slowly. The water in the bowl swirls and gurggles and does not completely empty. I'm guessng a clogged vent pipe? What do you think?

Jayjoe
Hey Jayjoe, (Is that all one name?)
I have one that most repair plumbers miss.. Look down at the bottom of the bowl. If there is a small hole, then that is a jet that starts the syphon action. If it's clogged the water will just swirl around and slowly go down leaving solids behind. Take your finger,(UGH! ) and run it around the inside of the opening. Over the years minerals build up and cut down on the syphon (flush) action. If it is rough or you feel build up, take a table knife and put a bend in it to get around the curve in the bowl and chip and scrap it clear. Next take a coathanger and clear out the holes around the rim. They start the swirling action. And last, check the water level in the tank. It should be 1/2" below the top of the over flow tube. And speaking of the overflow tube, Make sure the small 1/8" tube from the ballcock to the white overflow tube is connected so it discharges in it and that it's flowing when the ballcock fills. This is what raises the water level in the bowl. For a good solid flush they all have to work together. Hope this helps, Tom

Tom - Speedball,

OK, just got my hand out of the toilet after giving that syphon a good reaming! Anyway, no change. Slow tank & swirling bowl. What next!

jayjoe

Tom - Speedball,

OK, just got my hand out of the toilet after giving that syphon a good reaming! Anyway, no change. Slow tank & swirling bowl. What next!

jayjoe

Did you complete all the things I directed you to check? The next step is to auger the toilet and see if you have anything down there that would impede the flush. Purchase a closet auger from your local hardware store. There should be instructions with it but if you need assistance click on back. Has the toilet been worked on recently? How old is it? Did this come on gradually or all of a sudden? If there were a vent problem you would hear it attempting to vent through the traps in the bathroom fixtures.
Hang in there. It this don't work there's more. Cheers, tom

Tom,

Well. Sometimes the toilet will flush and then on the senod flush it will swirl & drain slowly. The upstairs toilet flushs first time, every time. I have a 4 inch above ground capped view pipe that goes to the septic. I can take the cap off & see the discharge pipe that comes from the toilet and empies into the septic system. Sometimes with that cap off when you flush the toilet it empties immediately and the flow into the septic tank is strong but sometimes even with that cap off the toilet with drain slowly, gruggle & swirl. My gray water; shower, kitchen sink & washer in piped into a separte drain field and does not empty into the spetic system. Only the two toilets, two bathroom sinks and the upstairs shower empty into the septic. The upstair bathroom has a separte vent pipe. The toilet is about 5 years old. It has not been worked on. The problem has been off & on but more trouble recently. It is a mystery to me?

Jayjoe

I would certainly drop a snake down the bathroom vent to make sure it was open all the way. When something works part of the time it's very difficult to track down. You have to be on hand when it screws up because it's impossible to fix anything that's working normally . Regards, Tom