[vaflytyer]

This is a new toilet, just installed. It flushes fine, but the bowl does not fill all the way. When it stops filling you can hear water trickling and the level goes down. Any ideas why?
Thanks

[letmetellu]

Does the water level go down in the tank or does it go down in the bowl?
If it is going out of the tank there is two things I can think of that might cause the problem, one is, depending on what commode you have, there is a small tube that runs from the fill valve to the over flow tube standing in the middle of the tank. If this small tube sticks into the overflow further than it should, and that is below the water level that is in the tank, it will cause a siphon and some water will dribble out of the tank, maybe even to the point that the fill valve starts to run again without the commode being flushed.

The other is that the flush ball that covers the hole in the bottom of the tank is not making a good seal, it is possible that the chain going from the flush ball up to the handle is too tight and is holding the ball up some. Or the ball may be out of shape.

If the water is trickling out of the bowl then it is possible that you have a small hole in your bowl and that the water is leaking out until it reaches a level below the small leak and then it stops.

[speedball1]

If the water is trickling out of the bowl then it is possible that you have a small hole in your bowl and that the water is leaking out until it reaches a level below the small leak and then it stops.

Letmetellyou might have hit on the cause.
There could also be a factory defect in the bowl. Sometimes in casting the bowl there is a small bubble in the china. Instead of junking the bowl the manufacture will put a porcelain patch over the hole and send it on through. On occasion the patch will fail allowing the water to seep out of the bowl. If that's the case you would have a full bowl after you flushed and the bowl filled but some time later you would notice a drop in the bowl level. The only other thing might be if you dropped something in the bowl and cracked it. If you're worried about where the water's going, in both cases it drains back down into the sewer and not under the bowl on the floor.
To check the bowl must be pulled, filled and put up on saw horses. You can thes see if there's any leakage from the bowl. Good luck, Tom

[ballengerb1]

Did you do your own purchase and install or did you hire someone? Everything prior to me makes perfect sense but isn't your responsibility if you hired a pro.

[vaflytyer]

Thanks for the replies, the more I read the more I think there might be a hole in it.

The tank level doesn't change. Also, the water in the bowl never quite gets to the proper level and after the tank fills you can hear water trickle and the water in the bowl drops to the same level.

If you poor water in the bowl, you can also hear it trickle and the level will return to the same spot.

I installed it, so it looks like I either live with it or pull and replace.

Thanks again, this is a great forum.

[letmetellu]

When you pour water into the bowl and it rises to a point and then drops to a level and stays there for a while but very slowly lowers to the point where the level remains for hours. How long does this take? The reason I want to know is that if the water is just filling the bowl too full it will only take a few seconds for the water to reach the level it is suppose to maintain. But if it is taking thirty minutes for the water level to fall then you can almost be sure that there is a leak in the wall of the bowl and it is leaking out.
You say you might just live with it, I don't think I would I think I would make arrangements with where you bought it to get it replaced. Having low water in the bowl most of the time will leave you with a dirty bowl. Very unsightly.

[ballengerb1]

Yep, I'm thinking Tom has the correct desription of the problem. You may be stuck with the labor but the toilet should be returnable. Somebody makes a new version that uses 1.4 gal but I don't remember who at the moment. If I think of the name I'll come back. Only issue with water savers, some don't work as well as others. I install a lot of Mansfield and they flush great.

[vaflytyer]

Update:
I replaced the toilet with the low water and ended up with the same problem. Since I had an extra toilet on hand I replaced the last old style toilet. This made my wife happy, but this one also has lower then normal water in the bowl.

Both toilets with low water are on the second story of the house, a third identical toilet is on the ground floor and has no issues with water level.

I'm stumped... could it have something to do with the slope of the floor or the fact that they are on the second floor?

[letmetellu]

I don't think you problem has anything to do with the floor. I think the problem is strictly a problem with the flushing and the refill of the bowl. There are several things that can influence the flushing. One is the level of the water in the tank. Too much water can make the toilet try to flush a second time when it is flushed, too little water in the tank can make the toilet not carry all of the waste away when it is flushed. So I suggest playing with the water levels to see if you get different results.
I don't think you have mentioned if the commode has a refill tube or not. If is does not have a refill tube that makes it even more critical about the water in the tank when you flush it. If you commode happens to have a foam float on the chain that goes up to the handle you can adjust the distance that the foam is from the flapper ball, that might change the amount of water that stays in the bowl.
Let me know what the results of your trying different things.

[Stewdeus]

I had the same problem with the water level being low in the Kohler 1.6 liter toilet. I found that the white tube that was utilized to fill the toilet tank had come loose. The white tube or line was supposed to be attached to the top of black apparatus that opens allows to water to flow into the bowl. When not in place it just flops around and fills the tank outside its appropriate place, resulted in low water levels in the bowl. I knew something when I inspected the tank and saw that the tip of this white water hose had a black color and not secured. The line fits perfectly in the top of the drain apparatus. This should fix the problem.

[afaroo]

Hello Stewdeus,

Are you asking a question or you fixed your problems and sharing this with us, Thanks.

John