Why is my toilet running? What to do with a constantly running toilet? Can I fix this myself, or should I hire plumbers to do such work? These might be the questions spinning around your head, right? In the following article, we are about to discuss the top 4 ways to stop and fix a running toilet.
A running toilet is one of the most annoying things that can happen to any homeowner. Running toilets may become a costly problem, and they can waste a lot of water. Besides, it can cause flooding and overflow, carrying waterborne diseases. Running a toilet also can cause severe damage to your house construction in the long run.
The Geological Survey of the U.S confirms that a single running toilet can waste 22 gallons of water every day. Considering the electricity bill alone, that's a colossal waste. Before we get into the solution, we will give a small insight into why it happens and what are the pieces of equipment needed to fix a running toilet yourself.
Every Toilet is similar. When you push the switch or pull the handle, water starts to pour into the toilet tank. Then that water lifts afloat, which shuts off the valve when that float rises to the water surface. When you are not pulling or pressing the toilet handle, a column float attached to it opens the flapper chain inside the toilet tank. And when the flapper is opened, the water is flushed down to the toilet bowl.
The leading causes of a running toilet are faulty overflow tube, broken flush valve, leakage in the fill valve, crack in the flapper seal, broken flapper chain, toilet handle dislocation, problems in the toilet fill valve, wrong adjustments in the fill height, incorrect adjustment to the flush valve, flapper chain being too short, faulty overflow tube, malfunction in refill valve, problems with the adjustable float cup, and many more.
Running toilets may not seem as much, but they can be pretty expensive to fix by professional plumbers. With a little bit of effort and some tools, you can select your running toilet yourself. We are enclosing the pieces of equipment needed to fix a running toilet-
If you have gathered all the tools required to perform this feat, you should first turn off the water supply and wait until the tank empties. Once the remaining water has been cleared completely, you can proceed to the next step.
This will allow you to inspect the toilet tank without running the toilet. Then remove the tank lid and take a look around. You now see the main components responsible for your toilet's water control.
Check all the components, including the fill valve, overflow tube, flapper, and water height, carefully to address the problem. The mechanism can be slightly different for older toilets than for newer toilets. But you will be able to identify the issue if you give it a little more effort.
The fill valve is an essential part of a toilet tank that is capable of refilling the tank after flushing the water. This refilling continues till the water fills the tank to the fill-level mark. Whenever the water exits the tank, the fill valve starts to refill the tank. It creates a continuous water level refill, ensuring a solid flush every time.
The exiting of the water supply can be because of both the normal flush cycle and leakage. Over time, the fill valve can be worn out of the alignment fill valve, causing a leakage. If the water is leaking for some reason, the fill valve continues to do its job endlessly, which can cause unnecessary water usage.
For your running toilet, the first thing you can do is check the refill tube. First, take the tank lid off and identify the fill valve and the tube. The fill tube is a small and flexible tube connected from the fill valve to the overflow tube.
If the fill tube is misplaced, it can lead to weak flows and constantly running water. You should check whether the fill tube is adequately connected to the fill valve or not. If not, you should try reattaching it. It can save you a lot of money if you can do it yourself.
The float valve or float ball is a mechanism where it automatically maintains the height of water in the toilet tank. It contains a valve that is connected to a hollow. The hollow is a ball that floats in the water.
The hollow is connected to the flush valve with a float arm. The float valve maintains the height when the water level rises to a certain float height by shutting off the water supply line. The water level must be moderate enough to create water pressure in the flush valve.
First, you should identify and adjust the float cup to set the water level correctly. If you set the water level too low, the water pressure will not be sufficient, and it will cause a weak flush. Therefore, the flush will be ineffective.
Similarly, the excess water will fall into the overflow tube if you set the water level too high. The flush valve will not be able to shut because of the excess water resulting in a constantly running toilet. You should check whether the fill height is set moderately or not. If not, set the fill height correctly.
Flappers are small rubber plugs installed at the bottom of the toilet tanks. The primary function of a toilet flapper is to allow the water stream to flow when you flush the toilet. It is connected to a handle or chain. It ensures a stronger flush by a suction effect in the toilet bowl.
Whenever you press or pull the handle, it lowers the flapper and allows the water to flow into the toilet. If the flapper is not sealing correctly or adjusted, it leaks water from the tank, enabling a continuous water supply into the toilet bowl. The flush will not be strong enough if the water drips into the toilet bowl all the time.
You should check the flapper whenever you try to stop a running toilet. Especially for old toilets, the toilet flapper is responsible for running the toilet most of the time. If your toilet flapper is not adjusted correctly, you should install a new flapper or ensure that the flapper is sealing correctly.
If you have an old toilet, check if the flapper chain is causing the trouble. If the flapper chain is tangled, it will cause a constant flow in the toile cycle. You should change the flapper chain if it's too short. We recommend changing your damaged old flapper and getting a new one.
The following blog contains some handy ways to stop a running toilet and fix it yourself. Toilets are an essential part of our life, and we use them every day. What happens when you use something regularly for an extended period? It can malfunction.
A running toilet is one kind of malfunction that happens quite often. Plumbing issues like running toilets are not to be taken lightly as they can waste a considerable amount of water, especially in public restrooms. Similarly, in house toilets, it can increase your water bill.
Sometimes silly reasons are behind the cause of a running toilet which you can fix yourself and save money. Before you call your nearest plumbing services, we recommend you should take a look yourself and check the following components we have mentioned above. And if you have tried out the following steps already and still your toilet continues to run, we recommend you should hire an expert plumber for the job.
We strongly advise you should hire QUEEN CHARLOTTE PLUMBING for the job. We promise to provide you with safe, secure, reliable, licensed, and highly trained professionals to do all of your toilet work.
QUEEN CHARLOTTE PLUMBING
Location: 8424 Old Statesville Rd Charlotte, NC 28269
Call us at 704-707-3339
