It is done. The toilet's floater valve has been replaced, and the misbehavior has disappeared. Before, the tank would fill until the "balloon" kicked in* and tipped the valve to the "off" position, then the water would start up again for no apparent reason until the tank was overflowing out through the flush handle. At a guess, the floater valve was just old. Replacing the assembly was a matter of watching a 90-second-long tutorial, then grunting as I got into awkward positions (with my paunch in the way) to do all that unscrewing and re-screwing... et voilà—with a new valve assembly, the toilet seems to be working fine. I flushed the tank several times to be sure, and everything seems to be working. To minimize the Murphy, I'll check on everything again in a week, then if I remember, in a month. Meanwhile, I'll be on the lookout for stray drips. For the moment, though, it seems I can do my business in relative peace. Praise Cthulhu! How shall I celebrate this minor victory?
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*On the modern valve I got, it's not a balloon like in the old toilets. It's basically an inverted plastic cup that traps air beneath it and acts like a balloon. The assembly I pulled out was the same. No balloons anywhere.
Ah. The joys of working on a toilet. Especially if one is of a "larger" stature. It is a true joy. I can't tell you how many times I've "changed the guts" of toilets in the house. It is always so fun. Even more fun when you have to replace the wax ring under the toilet. That is sheer bliss.
ReplyDeleteAll this being said, today I need to get with son or wife and change the exterior floodlights on the back of the house. Half of them went out at some point over the weekend and it is awfully dark out when the dogs get their last potty break of the night.
Mike,
ReplyDeleteI think my leakage problem is related to the wax ring.