Toilet flapper help please

[thatguy]

We have been in our house (built new) for 6 yrs in October.. So far I have already replaced the toilet flappers in 2 commodes at least once, maybe twice.. Now they are both leaking again (very slightly, but they are leaking)..

Why do they leak?

What is the best replacement for them?

Last time I bought 'adjustable flush' flappers from Lowes - they had an adjustment to control the amount of water used during a flush.. On one commode I was able to get it set so you it only used about 1/3 to 1/4 of the water in the tank to flush and still get a complete flush.. On the other toilet (same style, just a handicap height) will empty the entire bowl on every flush no mater how i adjusted it OR you didnt get a complete flush..

Suggestions on a good/better flapper?

Suggestions on a better 'flapper system' to just replace the entire ring/flapper system.

Brian

 

[KYErik]

How do the bad ones look? Are they warped? Getting stiff and cracking? Are you on a well or do you have city/county water? Do you use any type of submerged toilet tank chemical pellet? (10,000 flushes etc.) The cheap ones with beach can be hard on rubber seals.

Replacing every 3-4 years doesn't seem terribly unreasonable. I think 1-2 years would be unreasonable. Personally, I'd just switch try a different brand- or stop by the local plumbing supply store (where the plumbers shop) and ask them for what the licensed plumbers buy.

 

[BobRip]

This is not an unusual failure rate. Buying a better quality flapper does help. Well water may impact the life.

 

[RobertBrown]

Chlorine will make the flapper distort. It happened to me. If you have any type of chlorine water treatment or if someone is using some type of bowl treatment in the tank you may have this.
Get rid of any excess chlorine and you will find the clapper issue may subside.

 

[RoyJackson]

A temporary fix that works sometimes is to turn off the water to the commode, flush it and use a spong to remove as much water from the tank as your can.
Then clean off both the flapper and opening to the bowl...use a paper towel or old rag. Deposits from well water can prevent a good seal on the flapper.
If the flapper feels stiff when you're cleaning it...may as well replace it...so it wouldn't hurt to have a replacement on hand when you're cleaning. You'll need it, sooner or later.

 

[clemsonfor]

Usually you adjust the amount of water in a "flush" with the float. You just set it to cut off lower.In the old school ball float type this is just as simple as bending that brass or steel rod that holds the float. The newer or more expensive designs sometimes have vertically riding floats on the shaft the water fills from(fill valve) you then set this float height to the amount of water you desire, which corresponds to height of the water column in the tank. But with todays low flow sorry flush toilets (like what 1.3 gallons) i dont see why anyone would want to change them out? Unless your concerned with filling the septic tank with to much water?

Flappers cant help you there, its obviously something in your water. Whether your on a well (minerals) or on city water (chlorine) something is causing them to fail early. But i would think the rubber they use now would compensate for all these things? I been in my home (old home just new to me) for like 4 years at least one toilet i replaced flapper when we moved in as well as fill valve. I have not touched it since and as far as i can tell it dosent leak a drop, or so little i cant tell or worry? And i just bought the cheapest one (probably) that lowes or walmart sells, a $1 or $2 at most. All i can say it to get a new flapper and adjust the water to your desire with the float and save the money on those fancy flappers that dont seem to last 2 yrs?

 

[clemsonfor]

Yea Roy, i try to have most of the common toilet things on hand, flappers etc. Dont think i have a fill valve here, but at the farm i have everything to rebuild a toilet down to tank bolts and washers. It has one toilet in the house and its 30 mins to get parts on a weekend when were there. id rather just have them on hand.

 

[thatguy]

We are on a well and have used the in-tank toilet cleaners (with bleach) in the past.. So taht is probably part of the culprit..

I havent pulled any of the old one off yet, I was planning on buying the replacements first. But it would make sense to take a look a the old ones for an idea of the issue.. Ill do that soon..

The other day I didnt let the tank go dry and wiped down the ring and underside of the flapper thinking it may have a build-up of something causing the leak.. I did not pay attention to how stiff the flapper was though..

Thanks for the help

Brian

 

[chipsndust]

I just installed a new (replacement) toilet in my camp. I actually read all the instructions that came with it and it clearly states not to use any in tank chemicals.

 

[RobertBrown]

once my girlfriend decided to use pool tablets in the tank of all of the toilets in the house. Every bathroom smelled like a swimming pool. I thought she was cleaning with bleach or something and then the toilets started to go one after the other. I was fixing toilets every weekend and then I found a remnant of one of those tablets in the tank.
LUUUUCYY! :mur:
("I love Lucy" reference.....for those of us who are over the hill...Ricky Ricardo?)
She doesn't do that anymore. :dance1:

 

[tglass]

We have been in our house (built new) for 6 yrs in October.. So far I have already replaced the toilet flappers in 2 commodes at least once, maybe twice.. Now they are both leaking again (very slightly, but they are leaking)..

Why do they leak?

What is the best replacement for them?

Last time I bought 'adjustable flush' flappers from Lowes - they had an adjustment to control the amount of water used during a flush.. On one commode I was able to get it set so you it only used about 1/3 to 1/4 of the water in the tank to flush and still get a complete flush.. On the other toilet (same style, just a handicap height) will empty the entire bowl on every flush no mater how i adjusted it OR you didnt get a complete flush..

Suggestions on a good/better flapper?

Suggestions on a better 'flapper system' to just replace the entire ring/flapper system.

Brian

Go to Walmart, they sell a flapper and seat that will take you very little time to put in. the flapper is easy to figure out, the seat has an adhesive or plummers puty and is easily installed. There is no need to remove and replace all the hardware in one.

 

[kenmac]

We are on a well and have used the in-tank toilet cleaners (with bleach) in the past.. So taht is probably part of the culprit..

Brian

That's the problem. Being in the Plumbing Business for yrs. I love those tablets. Makes a good amount of work for me rebuilding toilets

 

[Bird]

September was 6 years we've been in this house and I've replace the toilet flappers in both toilets. We are on city water, very hard water, and do no use in tank chemicals, but the last flapper I replaced simply had one of the "ears?" or whatever you call it dissolved. I'd never seen that before.

 

[ray66v]

Many toilets now have proprietary parts, so "standard" replacement parts are not all the same anymore.

As everyone has said, in tank chlorine additives are almost always the cause of premature flapper failure.

A good quality flapper is the Fluidmaster, (available just about everywhere). They also make a flusher fixer kit for toilets where cycling on and off is a problem, which includes a new stainless steel seat. I have installed many of these and they always work well.

Plumbing Supply | Flush Toilet | Toilet Flappers - Fluidmaster

 

[thatguy]

once my girlfriend decided to use pool tablets in the tank of all of the toilets in the house. Every bathroom smelled like a swimming pool. I thought she was cleaning with bleach or something and then the toilets started to go one after the other. I was fixing toilets every weekend and then I found a remnant of one of those tablets in the tank.
LUUUUCYY! :mur:
("I love Lucy" reference.....for those of us who are over the hill...Ricky Ricardo?)
She doesn't do that anymore. :dance1:

you left off the '".... you have some 'splaining to do!"

 

[sodamo]

once my girlfriend decided to use pool tablets in the tank of all of the toilets in the house. Every bathroom smelled like a swimming pool. I thought she was cleaning with bleach or something and then the toilets started to go one after the other. I was fixing toilets every weekend and then I found a remnant of one of those tablets in the tank.
LUUUUCYY! :mur:
("I love Lucy" reference.....for those of us who are over the hill...Ricky Ricardo?)
She doesn't do that anymore. :dance1:

My wife had the same bright idea for the toilet at the cottage. I found out it didn't work when I heard the water pump not shutting off. Of course by then, the 3000 gallon water tank was empty. Luckily the pump was ok. Didn't well for the flapper or the metal parts. Flapper looked like a scallop.

David Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

 

[thatguy]

OK, bought a new flapper and got it installed yesterday and is suppose to be adjustable to save water, but that doesnt seem to make a difference no matter where the setting is. [:/]

The problem is that the new one closes too slowly (IE - the entire tank empties on a single flush). It wont close until the water level gets to the flapper level. (which is about 3 gal of water)

I have tried adjusting the chain thinking if it didnt come up so far it would close quicker - but that didnt help. I also noticed it had a hole in the lower flapper part that seems to fill with water as it flushes.. I even tried to make that hole bigger so it would fill quicker - once again, that didnt help either..

How do I make the flapper close quicker?

The flapper I replaced was adjusted so i it only used 1/3 to 1/2 of a tank of water per flush.. BUT it only lasted a year, so I was looking for something else to try.

Brian

 

[RobertBrown]

Sounds like you've got the clapper confused with the fill valve. On every toilet I know of the fill valve determines the amount of water in the tank, which is the amount of water that flushes.
Unless I missed something..... :scratchchin:

 

[RoyJackson]

Sounds like you've got the clapper confused with the fill valve. On every toilet I know of the fill valve determines the amount of water in the tank, which is the amount of water that flushes.
Unless I missed something..... :scratchchin:

I agree...I think he means the float. That's about the only thing that can be "adjusted" (by bending the rod).

 

[thatguy]

Sounds like you've got the clapper confused with the fill valve. On every toilet I know of the fill valve determines the amount of water in the tank, which is the amount of water that flushes.
Unless I missed something..... :scratchchin:

NOPE i am not confused about anything, this flapper is allegedly adjustable to control the amount of water released from the tank during a flush..

Our other toilets do NOT use a full tank of water per flush.. they only used about 1/2 to 1/3 of the tank per flush - which still gives a very adequate flush.. From a quick search it appears that the average toilet tank holds 2 to 3 gallons of water.

here is a fluidmaster - which what was just removed and only used about 1/3 tank per flush - but it didnt last long so I was looking for something that would better durability.. BUT I have the same flapper in another toilet and it also uses a full tank for each flush, and I could never get it adjusted correctly

Shop Fluidmaster Adjustable Toilet Flapper Valve at Lowes.com

On another forum they recommended adjusting the water level lower (like 1/2 a tank) - BUT it came from the factory not using a full tank per flush so I am hoping to achieve that again..

Brian