. Rubber gloves (if its messy than get some that go up to your elbows if you can find them)
. 2 five gallon buckets
. Goggles or safety glasses
. Plumbers pliers
. Screw driver
. old towels
. large Tupperware container
. wrenches (size depends on what bolts were used)
. Plunger
.some cash for new parts (or sticky fingers)
Before we begin with the solutions to problems, it may be helpful to understand just how a toilet works. All the parts rely on one another and when one is out of wack. The whole toilet won’t function properly.
Here is a detailed picture of a standard toilet.
Ok, well first we will start off with the most basic problem, a clog. If your toilet is clogged you’re going to be having all the shit and piss stuck in the bowl and flushing the toilet will just make it overflow or make the water rise almost to the very top. If the water is rising quickly in the bowl and about to over flow you can stop this by opening up the back of the toilet and push the rubber plug down which is letting all the water flow down or immediately shutting off the water supply to the toilet If your clogged toilet has water all the way up to the top of the bowl and it won’t go down then you may need to bail some out of it before you plunge. Get one of your 5 gallon buckets and put it next to the toilet. Grab a cup you don’t mind loosing and put on your gloves. Start to bail out water into the bucket until the water goes down enough where if you are plunging it won’t splash water everywhere. Once this is done (if you even needed to do it) take your plunger and put the suction end over the hole in bottom of the toilet. Push down on it to get a suction gasket and then begin to push up and down on the plunger vigorously (don’t break the air seal) try to plunge for about 5 seconds and pull out the plunger. If the clog is removed then the water will suck down.
If it doesn’t, then you didn’t fix the clog. Keep trying to repeat this process a few times. If you still have no luck then you may need to get a little dirty. For this next step I recommend you get your rubber gloves that go to your elbows ( can be substituted with using two bags that newspapers come in doubled up.) and your safety glasses. Using a bandana or a mask may help too because its gonna smell….like shit. The glasses are just to help prevent urine or feces from splashing your eyes. When you are ready stick your hand in the hole and reach down as far as you can to find what may be clogging it. If you can pull it out then do it. If not then you may need to rig up something with a coat hanger to help fish it out. Here is a side profile of what a toilet looks like and where the clog may be stuck at. If you are unable to pull out the clog your next move should be to try to push it all the way through. If you haven’t in a while, you may want to use drain-o or a similar product to clean out your toilet once you have removed your clog.
Problem # 2 My toilet won’t stop flushing. This is the original problem that we faced when our toilet first broke. There are a few reasons this may be and the first ill start with is the *float arm broke. (See above picture A). When this snapped off due to being old and rusty the water kept pouring into the toilet and stayed on auto flush.
This was due to that *float arm* breaking, this part controls the right amount of water that needs to be filled into the back of the toilet, a quick fix for this is to grab where the float arm broke from the *ballcock valve* and lift up. This will stop the water flow. You can stick a spoon where your hand is and weigh the other end of the spoon down with a toilet plunger. Now the float arm in picture (A) may not be what you toilet has. Some toilets are what are shown in picture (B). Depending which toilet you have will determine what parts you may need to buy. Even though the part may still be fully intact, it may just be broken and needs replacement to stop the water from constantly flowing.
-The fun part-
As I mentioned before
Whether you have toilet (A) or (B) depends what part you need to buy. The overall method of replacement will be the same for both, just hooking up the parts will be slightly different. A good way to remember what it is supposed to look like is to take a picture of what you’re about to work on before you actually take it apart; it may help when putting it back together.
Tools you will need: large bowl, towel, plumbers pliers, scissors
Step 1- get the new part you need for your toilet
Step 2- shut off the water to the toilet. This is done by turning the water shut off switch located under or next to the toilet clockwise.
Step 3- flush the toilet so the remaining water in the back drains out.
Step 4- place the bowl under where the water hookup is connected to the toilet.
Step 5- unhook the water supply line from the toilet (make sure water is shut off) some water may drain out of this
Step 6- unscrew bolt at the bottom of the toilet connected to the part which you are replacing, usually you can just do this by hand but if it stuck on too tight try to use your plumbers pliers (try not to strip the bolt or break it. The bolt us usually plastic) after this is unscrewed more water should drain out into your bowl.
Step 7- remove the broken part from the toilet, unhooking what may be necessary if anything
Step 8- take out your new part and replace it in the same way the old one was. There may be a piece of rubber or plastic tubing which the water flows through that may be too long if this is the case you may need to cut it to the proper length as the old one was. As the purpose of this part you are replacing is to keep the proper water level in the back of the toilet and to stop water from constantly flowing you will probably need to adjust the right height of your part to match the old one. Different brands may have different ways of doing this so I suggest just reading the directions for it.
Steps 9- follow these directions in reverse to complete the job.
This video helped me out for this task: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZSMmy_LLT8
Another reason that your toilet may not stop flushing is due to a broken (or just needed to be adjusted *flapper).
The flapper is the part which lifts up allowing water to flow out of the tank into the toilet bowl allowing it to flush, it functions the same as a plug you use in a tub to take a bath so the water stays in the tub. Try to look into the back of the tank and see if the flapper is resting tightly in the hole or if there is a slight gap in it. If there is a gap it can be from the chain attached to the flapper being too short and simply needs an adjustment to allow the flapper to rest properly, or the flapper is too old and needs to be replaced. Replacement of a flapper is simple. Just turn off the water to the toilet, flush the remaining water out, unhook the old flapper and install the new one.
Problem 3- the toilet takes forever to fill back up.
For this problem there may be a couple of reasons. Maybe the *water supply valve* somehow got turned down causing only a little water to be flowing through. Try to turn it more to the left to open up the water flow. If this does not work then there may be a clog in the tubes.
Step 1- turn off the water
Step 2- drain the tank by flushing the toilet to ensure there is almost no water in the back.
Step 3- remove the toilet *fill valve tube*
Step 4- straighten it out and hold it up to the light to look through it. If there is a clog then you won’t be able to see light on the other end. If there is a clog then try to use a pipe cleaner or a thin rod to clear out the clog. If you don’t have any of these at hand try to pinch the area where the clog is to loosen it up then run sink water through it.
Step 5- if the fill valve tube is clear then the problem may be a clog in the *bowl refill tube*. Try to repeat the same process as step 4 with this tube. If you still cannot find a clog then your refill or ballcock valve may be broken and needs to be replaced. For this refer to problem 2.
Problem 4- Leaking Toilet Bowl
For this you will need a towel, wrench/ratchet, a new *wax ring (see parts guide at the back of this zine) and gloves
Another problem is discovered when you stand up and realize that your socks are wet. Water leaking out onto the floor from the base of the bowl is indicative of a few different problems. While it could mean that the porcelain has cracked, it's not very likely that this could happen without you knowing it. Something would have to hit the toilet quite hard for this to happen.
Most likely, this leak is cause by a faulty wax ring. If a toilet is not bolted to the floor firmly, it will rock ever so slightly whenever someone sits on it. Over time, this subtle rocking motion will cause the wax ring to work loose. Don't worry; this is something you can fix.
Shut off the *water supply* to the toilet and then flush it one more time. This should empty both the tank and the bowl. Unhook the water supply and then loosen the bolts that hold the toilet to the floor. Once you have it loose, simply pull straight up on the toilet and lift it off of the drain pipe where it is seated. The old wax ring should be left behind on the floor. Get a pair of gloves and remove it.
Hopefully you were thinking ahead and got a new ring before you pulled up your toilet. A new wax ring shouldn't cost more than $3.00. Set the new ring in place and then put the toilet back into place. Push down on the toilet firmly to make sure that the new wax ring is correctly seated, and then bolt the toilet back down to the floor, making sure that it is tight enough to keep the toilet from rocking. Be careful though, as you can crack the porcelain if you over tighten the bolts.
Read more: http://www.doityourself.com/stry/repairtoiletproblems#ixzz14RFnl4Fz
Problem 5- broken flush handle
This is another problem that we faced a few days after we moved in. I’ll be honest; we still haven’t replaced the handle. You don’t have to do this and the toilet will still work fine if you just pull the chain which is attached to the handle every time you want to flush. You can even attach the chain to a wooden spoon or stick and lay it across the back of the toilet and just pull the spoon every time you want to flush
If you want to make your toilet look nice though then this is how to replace the handle.
Tools you will need: new flush handle, wrench/pliers
Step 1- remove the back toilet cover
Step 2- unhook the chain attached to the old handle
Step 3- remove the nut attached to the handle on the inside of the tank (this is a reverse nut so you want to turn it clockwise to remove it)
Step 4- remove old handle, it should just pull out
Step 5- install the new handle, remember that the threads are reversed
Step 6- reattach the chain to the new handle
Step 7- flush it to make sure it works.
Now it may come to a point where you can no longer fix your toilet and you have to replace it with a new one. This is actually a lot simpler than it seems. First thing you need to do is to shut off the water supply.
Step 2- flush the toilet and get as much water out as you can.
Step 3- unhook the water supply line from the toilet
Step 4- remove the bolts attaching the toilet to the floor
Step 5- rock the toilet back and forth to break the existing wax ring
Step 6- lift the toilet up off the bolts attaching it to the floor and set it to the side.
Step 7- using a scraper or putty knife, scrape off the remaining *wax ring left on the *flange
 |
| *Wax Ring |
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZz1zih7_xo((((video
Step 9- after a new wax ring is in place you can install a new toilet, just line up the bolts with the holes in the toilet and push straight down.
Step 10- re attach the toilet to the floor and hook the water supply back up.
*toilet flange* the flange is a plastic or metal ring that will be around the hole where the toilet sits on the floor.
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