Sluggish toilet mystery, round 2, expert help needed.

[JRobyn]

..... There are valves within the toilet you cannot see without taking the toilet apart.

Really? Please provide some more explanation or evidence of this! I am not aware of any residential toilet designs, past or present, that have any valves other than the tank fill valve and tank dump flapper valve. By "taking the toilet apart", what do you mean? Removing the tank? Or diamond sawing the base apart?

Just curious.

- Jay

 

[kenmac]

Really? Please provide some more explanation or evidence of this! I am not aware of any residential toilet designs, past or present, that have any valves other than the tank fill valve and tank dump flapper valve. By "taking the toilet apart", what do you mean? Removing the tank? Or diamond sawing the base apart?

Just curious.

- Jay

Well, I have been a master plumber for some 30 + yrs and I would have to agree with you. I have no idea where these valves that are spoken of, are located either

 

[Don H]

Roots can intrude into the slightest crack in PVC pipe as roots seek water during dry periods.

Sometimes the internal valves in toilets wear out or become intermittently inoperable due to mineral deposits. In theory they can be replaced but in real life it is most difficult to reassemble without toilet leaking. When I worked in plumbing we always recommended replacing the entire toilet rather than the valves as being the low cost solution.

New one gallon per flush toilets are as good as old five gallon toilets. I have Kohler CIMARRON toilets ($225 +/-) in my five year old custom home and both have been faultless. Almost everyone installs high 'handicap' toilets these days. The old, low, toilets are too difficult to rise from.

If you take off the toilet be sure to have TWO wax rings available. Do not torque down the toilet to floor bolts too hard, toilet bolts are engineered to snap before the porcelain will crack. If you decide to take up the toilet I would install a new one. Toilets do not last forever. If your floor is uneven you may wish to run a bead of clear silicone calk around base of toilet after installation.

Mineral deposits can build up in the "S" trap causing paper to hang up creating clogs and causing slow flushing. There are chemical cleaners available to clean those out. Minerals in your water and letting pee sit in the bowl will cause deposits.

The only valve in the toilet is the fill valve. They are cheap and easy to replace. I replaced two the other day in under an hour, cost $8 each and no leaks afterwards.

I don't see any reason why you would need to buy a new toilet unless it's cracked or you want a different style or color. Of course your local plumber would love to sell you a new toilet.

 

[MossRoad]

Well, I have been a master plumber for some 30 + yrs and I would have to agree with you. I have no idea where these valves that are spoken of, are located either

I'm an amatuer plumber, but I've removed, repaired, installed many toilets over the years and I've never seen one with anything but a flapper in the tank and the fill valve. How would you even access anything other than in the tank??

I'd say pour a bucket of water into the bowl. If it goes down quickly, there is no blockage in the drain path and the problem is in the toilet tank (like the flapper isn't opening enough or the tank doesn't have the proper water level) or the passages from the tank to the bowl are plugged with debris/mineral deposits. If pouring a bucket of water in the bowl causes the bowl to fill up, there is blockage somewhere from the S curve in the toilet base or beyond. In that case, since the OP says they can't snake through the S curve, pull the potty and look in the hole in the floor! Then turn the toilet over and look into the S curve to see if there's blockage.

 

[dave1949]

I had a defective toilet once that came with house we bought. Lazy flush, snaking and plunging wouldn't improve it.

I took it outside thinking I must be able to find something in the S trap. Nothing. I set it on concrete blocks and poured water from a bucket. It wouldn't flush correctly, still very lazy. I never did know what ailed that stool, but a new one fixed everything. I think it was defective from day one, something wrong with the porcelain mold or whatever.

 

[lmalcomb]

We had a sluggish one (among the 4 we have) here in the basement. It worked fine if I just dumped a gallon of water from a pail into it.

Had Tim the long time plumber came out. Main thing he found was just some pluggage in some of those little holes around the inside of the rim by particles that had grown in there (due to sediment collection over time). He broke apart the little particles (don't recall how he got to them behind the holes underneath there), and it works fine now. You can use some chemicals to dissolve them, but they may kill the bugs in your septic system.

Ralph

l saw an old plumber fix the same problem just like that, I could not believe it !

 

[kenmac]

If the holes are stopped up in the bowl rim,then you should be able to tell be the flow of water. You can use stuff like CLR and other over the counter chemicals that will clear this up. Don't worry about killing off bacteria in your septic system. You could never kill all of them ,and they grow back very fast. Every time you flush poo poo down the toilet, you add fresh bacteria. I think (if your vent is ok) that you have some blockage in the S trap. Of course, I'm sitting behind this computer. Guessing

 

[MossRoad]

Some good burrittos will regenerate your septic bacteria fairly quickly....

 

[Cpjlube]

There are valves within the base of the toilet. I replaced them once, many years ago, under the supervision of the journeyman plumber I was working for. The toilet leaked after reassembly and we ended up replacing it. I cannot remember how I accessed them within the base. 'Twas many hears ago.

Wow......

 

[5030]

There are valves within the base of the toilet.

I replaced them once, many years ago, under the supervision of the journeyman plumber I was working for. The toilet leaked after reassembly and we ended up replacing it.

I cannot remember how I accessed them within the base. 'Twas many hears ago.

Most likely with a sledge hammer.....lol There are NO repeat NO valves in a toilet bowl.. S bend water/sewer gas trap, thats it.