[irongoat81]

When I moved into my home 4 years ago I found the toilet tank to always be filling to the top and dripping into shaft in the middle. I tried adjusting the ball so it would not do that, but it still filled to the top. I replaced the guts thinking maybe that was the problem. The new guts did the same thing. Overfilled. Then I replaced the entire tank and that seemed to do the trick for awhile. Less than a year later... drip drip drip. It's overfilling again. Ah!
It almost seems to me to be some sort of physics issue, the way the tank is situated or something, but it looks okay. It seems to sit straight up. For the life of me I can't figure why it's doing this. Any ideas??

[massplumber2008]

Do the guts inside toilet look like this pic.. (borrowed from Speedball1)?

If looks like this valve AND you are sure it is filling to and into the overflow tube then you need to shut the water off at shutoff valve... hold VALVE BODY in one hand and push down on CAP... twist this counterclockwise about 1/4 turn... the CAP and the ARM will rotate. Then remove CAP and under there is a washer with a tiny hole... pull washer up and out... and see what you find.. clean this washer. Put rag over unit and pulse the shutoff to release a small amount of water to purge any debris that may be inline. Then re-install the washer, then the CAP (push down, rotate clockwise until aligned correctly)... turn water on and test.

If that does not do it you may need to replace the washer (fluidmaster sells parts at all home supply stores).

Hope this did it. If this helped, please RATE THIS ANSWER. Thank you

[speedball1]

Or do the guts look like this? (see image)

it almost seems to me to be some sort of physics issue, the way the tank is situated or something, but it looks okay. It seems to sit straight up. For the life of me I can't figure why it's doing this. Any ideas??

Are you on a pump or city water? I have a hunch,(and that's all it is) that sand or dirt may be getting your system and under the washer preventing it from seating all the way. This would allow water to continue to seep into the tank and overflow into the white overflow tube. Replacing washers, or even the entire ballcock, would wouk only as long as the system were clear of crud. If on city water this could happen if the city allowed dirt to fall into the line while under repair or if on a pump it could be pulling dirt up from the well. Just another slant on things. Regards, Tom

[irongoat81]

Or do the guts look like this? (see image)
Are you on a pump or city water? I have a hunch,(and that's all it is) that sand or dirt may be gettin your system and under the washer preventing it from seating all the way. This would allow water to continue to seep into the tank and overflow into the white overflow tube. Replacing washers, or even the entire ballcock, would wouk only as long as the system were clear of crud. If on city water this could happen if the city allowed dirt to fall into the line while under repair or if on a pump it could be pulling dirt up from the well. Just another slant on things. Regards, Tom

I thought I had fixed it but it's back.. I bent the arm on the ball to try to get the water to stop rising. It worked for a bit but now it's doing something strange. The tank isn't filling up at all! The water to the tank is turned on all the way but the tank is not filling up.. I wiggled the arm up and down a little which triggered the water to flow. Then once again the water fills past the water line and all the way into the tube. And keeps dripping over.
Does anyone understand what is happening with this toilet?

[ballengerb1]

You bent the rod too far. Unbend half of what you did. There is normally a screw on top of the ballcock that adjusts the water level. You want it to stop filling when the water reaches about 1" below the top of the overflow tube. You are only looking at a $15 part so time is money, if it continues to act funky just switch it out unless you want to try to rebuild it to save $10.

[irongoat81]

You bent the rod too far. Unbend half of what you did. There is normally a screw on top of the ballcock that adjusts the water level. You want it to stop filling when the water reaches about 1" below the top of the overflow tube. You are only looking at a $15 part so time is money, if it continues to act funky just switch it out unless you want to try to rebuild it to save $10.

It won't stop at the 1" line, which was my original problem. It just overflows. Maybe I need to purchase new guts, which is fine, but I foresee the same problem occurring. For whatever reason I can't stop my toilet from overflowing. I've done this three times now and the same problem keeps occurring. This toilet has been overflowing since the day I moved in. I originally gutted the tank and that did not work. I replaced the entire tank and that did not work. I've fiddled and adjusted and tweeked and nothing seems to stop the #@!* thing from overflowing. Ugh.

[ballengerb1]

Do you have a way to check your water pressure? It should be about 45 psi, you can connect a gauge at an outside spgot with a garden hose adapter.

[irongoat81]

No, I don't have a water pressure gauge that I know of. I think the pressure is okay.
You think that would effect the toilet overflowing?
I used to turn the water down for the toilet, to see if slowing down the water flow would stop the overflow. Didn't really work.

[speedball1]

Hey Goat,
Lift gently on the float rod, (the one the float ball's on). Does the water shut off? If not you have trash in the seat that's preventing the washer from seating. Try this. Shut the water off at the tank and unscrew the three screws on top and pull the float ball and stem assembly up and out. Place a sock over the open ballcock and turn the water back on for a moment to flush out the supply and ballcock. Look in the sock. Anything in there?": Back to you, Tom

[DocWid]

Thanks. This helped a lot. As a novice, I would add more detail that the black cap is attached to washer assembly. I was trying to just turn the black cap when in fact the assembly is attached to it. There is two grey notches on the top of the cap where the assembly snaps into it. I thought by twisting the black cap that would click out when in fact it is all part of the cap, so as you said, just turn the cap. Never having done this before, I hope this point of view helps someone else.

Once I got it apart, there were little silver metal nuggets between the gaskets. Pulled them out, cleaned washer, and worked great again. No hissing.

Thanks!

[speedball1]

Hi DocWid and welcome to The Plumbing Page at ANHD.com. You're responding to a 5 year old dead threads. Please check the date before you post. Thanks
Glad we could help and thanks for the update. Tom

[mwl1320]

I've had a similar problem on 2 of our 3 toilets for a couple months. The first was clearly a flapper problem. I eventually knew this because I could see water trickling down the inside side of the bowl which I concluded was coming from a poorly seated flapper valve. The flapper from the other tank had the same problem in this tank, so I tried the Corgi flapper with o-ring set. The o-ring is glued to the opening and the flapper fits perfectly. This problem solved... on to the next

The FLOAT on the other toilet wasn't popping up when the water level hit the top of the overflow pipe. )Both toilets are 7-yrs old) This was happening on one toilet, and a few weeks later started on the other. This, I believe is the classic "jiggle the handle" fix... if you want to wait around that long, which my wife does not. So our problem NOW is clearly that the float gets covered with water and doesn't popup shutting off the water so water goes down the overflow pipe. If I semi-vigorously push/pull the float up and down several times, it may work for a few flushes, but seems to eventually get stuck again.
I know nothing about this stuff - but my guess is replacing the guts inside the tank? My concern is it will open a new set of problems for me. I tried flushing the space under the cap - but I don't think it had anything there... it all looked clean.

[speedball1]

What type of ballcock are we talking about? Back to you, Tom

[IamTheMan]

Thank you for that first post back in February 2008. Our toilet LOOKED like it was working perfectly--with the float rising and the water stopping--but it would quietly and slowly keep filling the tank, resulting in overflows that would then leak out of the handle area and onto the floor. Everything looked right. The filling of water was so slow and quiet that I couldn't discern where the water was continuing to flow into the tank. All other posts elsewhere on the Internet spoke of problems with the float or flapper. But this Feb 2008 post did the trick. I was afraid to twist off the cap, but everything behaved as described above. Sure enough, there was a piece of debris under the washer. Removed it, wiped off the washer, let some water flush the line as described, and presto... fixed. Thank you again. Saved us a visit from the plumber and a day off to wait.

[hkstroud]

Congratulations on solving the problem.

resulting in overflows that would then leak out of the handle area

To prevent that from ever happening again, cut off the top of the overflow tube below the level of the handle.
That can be easily done by sawing it off with a hack saw blade. Remove the blade from hack saw and wrap one end with duct tape for a handle.
Hold top of overflow tube as you saw, they break easily.
Can also be easily done with a coping saw or a mini tubing cutter..

[afaroo]

Yep, as Harold say if you have a problem do as he says I am also adding the link for information how to set the overflow tube, Thanks.

John

Toilet Tank | Fix Toilet | Water Leaking From Top Of Toilet Tank