Recently I have been getting slightly incomplete flushes in one of the toilets. Not all the time. If I hold the handle down an extra thirty seconds (ie more water goes down), it works fine. But I shouldn't have to do this.

What could cause this? Have not replaced the flush valve or done anything else. Could it be a partial clog? I bought a special roto rooter hand device which will not scar the enamel; did not seem to help. But maybe I need to do it several times.

Thx

See if you can tighten the chain between the linkage arm and the flush valve. Sounds like the valve is not getting into the proper position.

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Jim

Will try. You are thinking it is not pulling it up far enough. Seems like the flapper just does not float long enough.

I am also astounded at the number of different flappers which they sell by brand toilet. Thought the old rubber black flapper worked for everything, the one with a little half football shaped protrusion below the flapper that fits into the discharge hole. I have a fancy one now that has a clicker on top for some kind of adjustment - think it regulates the amount of flush someway but I have it adjusted all the way. Just replaced it and was having incomplete flush before so it is probably not the problem.

I think he meant to say flapper instead of valve.

Your flapper needs adjustment. If its not staying open enough to allow the tank to empty then that's the observable problem. Adjust the chain one way or another. Or maybe the flapper is not right for the unit. Most flappers are indeed universal. Few are proprietary.

If you feel that is not the source of the problem, you may have a slight clog.

Use an auger.

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1979 300D 220 K miles
1995 C280 109 K miles
1992 Cadillac Eldorado Touring Coupe 57K miles SOLD
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1979 240D 140Kmiles (bought for parents) *SOLD.
SAN FRANCISCO/(*San Diego)
1989 300SE 148 K miles *SOLD

Maybe auger again; did it a few months ago without noticeable result. Going to get rid of the fancy flapper. Good enough for my dad, good enough for me.

OK, installed a normal flapper. Goodbye fancy, schmancy flapper (see pic).

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hows the water level in the tank before you flush.maybe there isn't enough water in the tank may need a float adjustment.

I often use this type to get it working.



The yellow float will slide up and down on the chain to get it in optimal position. The world of low flow toilets can sometimes be difficult. I don't fully understand why they work well for a long time and then suddenly give trouble. My preference would be for people to pay me to put in a $350 plus Toto.

But many don't want to make that investment. I support the notion of using as little water per flush as possible but I can't force people to buy a new one. The newer 1.28 gallon units are fairly advanced but the 1.6 gallon era saw many toilets that gave trouble. Since flushing twice also wastes water it makes sense to pull off a reliable flush with one push of the lever. If you hold the hard black rubber bushing in place on both sides of the yellow float you can pull the chain through and it will stay in place just on friction. With a little bit of playing with it, you can get the flapper to stay open long enough to get the job done.

A similar unit that uses a blue float and one of those tiny ball chains is a bit more difficult to use. This sort:

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

chrolrine in the water will rot the old black rubber flappers.If you have a older toilet it can be hard to find one,try old hardware stores.Newer toilets use the new plastic ones and have smaller holes.

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

Leak through discharge outlet is resolved with old fashioned flapper. Now back to the partial flush. Will keep an eye on it. Water level is fine; matches the line on the tank which was cast in at the factory. Toilet is Standard Cadet 7 March 1983. Do not see the gal flush number anyplace. Am guessing 1.6.

I may be wrong but I am not aware that you can adjust how long the flapper floats before it drops and plugs up the discharge outlet again. From observation it looks like if you pull it up far enough that the flush begins, it just floats until gravity pulls it down again. At least I cannot see a way to adjust the timing. That is why I have been holding it up an extra thirty seconds to get a complete flush.

It's a wide open field and a lot of different techniques are used. Most of them nowadays only let part of the available water in the tank out before the flapper falls down and stops the outflow.

Ofttimes a slightly different flapper will close too quickly or stay open too long with neither being optimal. The small float feature allows you to keep it open long enough to do a real flush. I think this business of a partially emptied tank came to be so that people would have the option of holding the handle down to flush an unusually large load to its final rest. Since most flushes are for liquid only, the default setting is minimal water.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

That is very interesting and sounds exactly like my symptoms. Will report how this old fashioned flapper works.

OK, with the new flapper I see that about 20% of the water remains in the tank before the flapper drops. I wonder if I could cut the hole in the below flapper protrusion a bit bigger and make it flush a bit more of the water?

Or is this about normal? Did they design the flapper to drop with 20% of the tank water remaining? Who knew there was so much physics involved in flushing a toilet?

I never thought I would become any sort of toilet expert. But it is an item that people will regularly pony up funds to get fixed or replaced. The new toilets, the higher-priced Totos, are pretty wild. They do better with 1.28 gallons then the earlier generation 1.6 units did.

I don't completely understand why some flappers close quicker than others. There are some that have the thing on top that apparently will keep it open until the water drains out of it. Others have the roundish thing with a hole at bottom protruding into the opening, the opening where the water goes out I mean.

I'm not sure what the function is of the round bulb thing with a hole in it. Or if modifying it would get better results. The yellow float thing has consistently worked for me and is cheap and easy.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

So with the yellow float thing I could adjust it to dump almost all of the water out with a flush? I think I could make one of those.

The fancy schmancy flapper that I just dumped had a clicker on top. I think I had it adjusted all the way to dump as much water as possible. However it for some reason would not seal. That is the main reason this has even come up.

If you put the float right down by the flapper, it will keep it open until most of the water has gone out. I'm sure you could fashion something that would work, the advantage for me with the store-bought thingy is how easy it is to slide it up or down to adjust it. That way I can get good flush action but not use excessive water.

Another thing to look for is age in the flapper. They get progressively stiff. The new ones are soft and flexible and seal well. I've seen old ones doing a slow leak many times. One of the main reasons that toilets won't shut off. I've also seen the rubber start to disintegrate, who knows why.

So saving a few bucks by not buying a new flapper with the yellow float included might not be good economy in the long run.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K