[stu56r]

I recently had a plumber come out to unplug a toilet but now I have a new problem. Now the toilet begins to flush for a second by itself, then stops--this repeats approximately every 60 seconds.

He also installed a new water level float in the tank. Then, he returned a 2nd time, and installed a new flapper but that didn't change the problem (he charged me though).

The plumber claims that the flapper is not sealing and needs to install more parts to make it seal. He told me if the noise bothers me (it would bother anyone), he would return with more parts to install.

Even when I physically seal the flapper drain hole with my hand, the same flush problem continues, so I believe the problem has to do with the float mechanism. Can I adjust the float and solve this myself without paying for his 3rd visit?. or should replace the possibly faulty float mechanism myself?

Any advise will be much appreciated.

[hkstroud]

If you ever need a plumber again, get someone else.

Right now, remove the tank top and tell us if that little tube (usually black) that goes from the fill valve to the over flow pipe (the thing that the flapper is attached to) is attached to the top of the overflow pipe or is it stuck down inside the over flow pipe.

I am assuming that while you said "flush", you really mean the water comes on and refills the tank a little bit about every minute.

[stu56r]

Thank you for your help. I will definitely take your advise and use another plumber next time.

I turned off the water, drained the tank, and used the other toilet in our house. After the tank completely dried out, I noticed that the plumber had lots of blue glue/sealer on the brand new flapper as well as the opening where the flapper closes.

I used rubbing alcohol to clean it, although I'm sure there's a much better solvent because it took LOTS of scrubbing to clean it.

When I filled the tank, it works fine now.

Thanks again for your help, I appreciate it.