bricks, rubble and water savers in a toilet cistern

[christhewelshman]

My mother-in-law's toilet was leaking at the flush outlet from the cistern. I dismantled it and found that the water level was two inches above the line – the cistern had been going down on to two bits of brick, one large pebble and a piece of rubble at the base of the cistern, and the balllcock's progress was hampered by two water savers (like large bags of salt). Over the years this had presumably forced the plastic ball higher so that the water filled two inches above the line, defeating the object of having water savers in the first place. In any case with the design of the sewers in the area, it is important for the waste to be flushed through with a fair quantity of water, otherwise blockages can occur - she was told this the last time a Dynorod man had to come out and clean the sewer. With the high cost of cleaning since the council service was farmed out, I would have thought that a little bit extra spent on metered water was worth it. There’s also the hygiene issue – not to be indelicate, my mother-in-law gets diarrhoea and sickness quite often, so needs a full flushing toilet.

I am interested in other people's view of why the seals, or rather the sealant, had failed after all this time.

My best guess as to the cause of the leak is that the plumber who installed the toilet (about 15 years ago?) used plumbers’ mait which gives a good seal but hardens with age. Every time the toilet was flushed the bricks, which have sharp edges, bounce up and down. Every now and then the corner of a brick would hit the base of the flush valve, loosening the seal. Just an idea.

I dismantled all this and re-assembled without the bric-a-brac as it were, and used Fernox sealant, which is flexible, so should be able to stand rough treatment. It would be better if whoever put the bricks in didn’t put them back. And you are only supposed to put one water saver bag in anyway, not two. I have uploaded a picture of what was in the toilet cistern.

Oh, and of course the isolator tap sheered off in my hand, it had obviously not been used in decades and had been painted over many times. A job for another day I think.

 

[doitall]

Interesting observations.

The 2 x half house brick and a few rocks is a super idea, in fact I have some in my toilet cistern at the club, they certainly don't jump about though.

The high water level is because the ballcock washer is worn out and needs replacing, then you can re-adjust the level to the line.


Routine service and you should be MinL favourite SinL, unless you you muck it up then the old bat will be on the warpath.

 

[Charnwood]

Half-house bricks and a boulder bobbing up and down while the cistern refills? Only if you are filling it with a jetwash.

They are heavier than water and would not move during the normal re-filling operation of a cistern.

 

[christhewelshman]

Half-house bricks and a boulder bobbing up and down while the cistern refills? Only if you are filling it with a jetwash.

They are heavier than water and would not move during the normal re-filling operation of a cistern.

Yes, you are both right. I now suspect that my mother-in-law had been drinking and fell on the outlet pipe (the toilet is not close coupled), dislodging the outlet seals.

Another irritating thing about this job was that I tried to turn the toilet service tap off - the old fashioned type of tap - and sheered the tap handle off. Any advice whether it would be better to replace the tap internals or replace the whole thing with a modern service valve, which would use compression fittings as the pipe is imperial. I have loads of unused old taps around which I could cannibalize to replace the existing tap internals (I am just trying to save time spent at my mother-in-law's).