Hi,
Got a toto drake toilet and have had some leaking issues where the bolts attach to the tank and now I'm afraid the new wax ring may be leaking. Is it OK to use 2 wax rings for insurance? Should I cover the bolts and washers with plumbers putty.

hi,
Got a toto drake toilet and have had some leaking issues where the bolts attach to the tank and now I'm afraid the new wax ring may be leaking. Is it OK to use 2 wax rings for insurance? Should I cover the bolts and washers with plumbers putty.
Make sure the rubber washers are under the bolt heads inside the tank and leave 1/4" of play in the tank when you tighten the bolts. If you don't leave a little "give" in the tank the tank bottom will crack when someone leans back on it.
I would opt for a wax seal with a funnel,(see image) instead of two wax seals. If the toilet has been set correctly and the flange isn't below the floor line one wax seal should be all you should need.

should I cover the bolts and washers with plumbers putty I assume you mean the tank bolts and the answer is no, it's not vnecessary to use anything on the tank bolts.
Good luck, Tom

Hi Frankieboy:

May not necessarily be the bolts at the tank as much as it may be the gasket between the bowl and tank! No need for plumber's putty on bolts.

Take the tank off and inspect the gasket underneath... see if it is cocked sideways a bit (look at indentations on gasket). If it is, reset the gasket and then lower the tank onto the bowl squarely... then install bolts.

Hand tighten the bolts 1st... equally each side. Push down on tank a bit and then tighten each bolt a little more. Finally, use the appropriate socket or wrench to tighten tank down so it is level back to front and side to side.

Toilet tank should move about 1/4" deviation when finished with installation.. but still need to use common sense when tightening tank to bowl... don't overtighten and crack that baby... huh?

In terms of the wax gasket... need to know if the toilet flange sits ON TOP of the finish floor or below the finish floor (and if below, how much below)? Could you also tell us the material the flange is made of (cast iron or pvc with metal or plastic ring)? And is the flange secured to the floor properly?

Get back to us with this info. And then will give best advice we can... ;)

Mark

This toilet is well known for leaks from tank bolts. This is because there is very little space inside the tank for somebody to work. You need the longest flat screw driver you can buy. And still, the bolts are covered by flushing mechanism. My plumbers hate this model.

2 wax ring are fine - if you need them. Install one with flange on drain, second, the skinny wax ring on top. When you sit you toilet over the bolts, you should feel that its base first touched the was rings. Push gently on the bowl. It should slowly squeeze wax rings until the bowl touches the floor.

Bolt caps should come with your new toilet. They consist of 2 parts: washer and cap. You attach plastic washer to the bolt when securing toilet to the floor. ( you may have to cut the bolts with hack saw so they fit the caps ) Then, just snap caps over the bolts.

All has been fine with the toilet until last night. After a flushing water seemed to be seeping from under the toilet, this mormorning it seems fine and dry . What's the deal with this thing?

There's a problem with double sealing with two wax rings if you don't bevel the wax. When I was the warranty man and trouble shooter for a large plumbing company we used to get complaints. "The toilet does not overflow; the water reaches the rim and gradually subsides, leaving the waste and a small amount of water in the bowl."
As a rule in older toilets this would mean a blocked jet butI was getting these calls on toilets that we just installed in our new construction. So when we got a complaint that one of our new toilets was having a flush problem I went out on the call. After a few calls I found the trouble. When our installers set a toilet the wax ring would spread in instead of out. This choked down on the opening setting up a back pressure that stopped the siphon action of the flush.
The remedy was to pull the toilet and form the wax seal so it beveled out and would spread out instead of in blocking the drain opening. I would have this checked first. After our plumbers began to bevel the ring out out complaints stopped. Just thought I'd pass that along if you feel that you have to double seal your toilet. It sounda as though you may have a seal leak but first I would give it a few flushes and then take a piece of toilet paper and run it around the backside of the bowl. If it comes away with moisture on it the seal is fine and you still have a small leak out of the tank bolts. Good luck and let us know, Tom

Does that toilet use a gray, plastic, mounting ring that mounts directly to the floor ?