[info123seeker]

I have one of those low, squat, Koeler toilets that were popular in the early 90's (one-piece). I had the innards completely redone about 3 yrs ago. Worked fine until a couple of months back when it began periodically running. At first, it was once in awhile---now it's every flush. I replaced the flapper, but it didn't solve the problem. To make it stop I have to turn on a faucet in the house briefly. Occasionally, when the toilet is quiet and I turn on a faucet, it will run (not flush, just run) then stop 5 secs later. It also will stop if I raise the arm with the big black ball on it just for a sec. Any ideas? It's driving me crazy. I feel like the cobbler whose kids have no shoes, as my husband used to be a plumber before Alzheimers came calling.

[massplumber2008]

It sounds like some sediment got caught up in the fill valve. If you are handy we can help you fix this... if not, call a plumber in and it should be a quick fix!

Mark

[info123seeker]

It sounds like some sediment got caught up in the fill valve. If you are handy we can help you fix this... if not, call a plumber in and it should be a quick fix!

Mark

Mark,
Thank you so much for your reply. I don't speak 'Plumber-ese', but I have been surprisingly successful tinkering with various thingamajigits (technical term) around the house ever since necessity mandated it. If you could walk me through the process of cleaning out the intake valve, I'd be most appreciative.
Thanks.

[hkstroud]

if I raise the arm with the big black ball

To me that means you have a ballcock.

Mark may or may not agree but in my opinion it would be easier to replace the ballcock with a fill valve.

To do that you would turn off the water under the tank. Flush the toilet and hold the handle down until all the water that can, drains out of the tank. Using a small cup and sponge remove the remaining water.

Remove the supply tube between the stop valve and the toilet ball valve. If you have the chrome hard tubing, discard it. If you have the braided flexible supply tube simply remove it from the ballcock.

Unscrew the nut under the tank that holds the ballcock in place. If you have not removed all the water from the tank have a small container ready to catch the water when you pull the ballcock out.
Purchase a Fluidmaster fill valve shown below on the left. If you had the old hard supply tube, new purchase braided supply tube, probably 9" in length. Put fill valve in the tank hole and tighten with the plastic nut. Tighten hand tight and use pliers to tighten 1/2 to 1 turn more.
Cut the little black refill tube to fit between the fill valve and the overflow pipe. Put the refill tube on the fill valve and put the mounting clip on the other end. Clip the refill tube to the top of the overflow pipe.

Install the braided supply on the stop valve. Tighten hand tight and then tighten it another turn with pliers or wrench. Attach the other end to the fill valve. Tighten hand tight.

When purchasing the braided supply make sure you get one for a toilet, not one for a faucet.