When flushing my toilet cistern tank. It will not flush every time, it some times take 3 or more presses of the handle before it will flush.

I'm not sure what you mean by "cistern tank."
Clough, A "cistern" is a toilet tank over in England. Tom

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Originally Posted by Mr Meaggy

When flushing my toilet cistern tank. It will not flush everytime, it some times take 3 or more presses of the handle before it will flush.

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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

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Originally Posted by speedball1

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

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Thanks, I just did this and now our toilet works great!

We were having the same problem and now it flushes every time. I did find something better then a knife to clean out the hole, I used a paint can opener. The kind that has that little lip on the end that you use to pry open the lid. It fit all the way in and used the lip to scrape the hole out.

Thanks again for the tip!:)

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I did find something better then a knife to clean out the hole, I used a paint can opener. The kind that has that little lip on the end that you use to pry open the lid. It fit all the way in and used the lip to scrape the hole out.

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Glad you got fixed up and thanks for the imput. I'll try the paint scraper next time. Cheers, Tom