Our water is sometimes a bit mucky so we do sometimes add calgon to the washing machine though never sure it does any good. Anyway we now have a sticking toilet ie after flushing the closing valve sometimes gets stuck and water continues to flow into the pan. Is there something we can add to the cistern to clean out the muck without harming the fosse. Vinegar bicarbe? I have a long time ago changed the cistern and even put in a new toilet but I 'd prefer not to do it again
The design of syphon commonly used in loos now are prone to this. In fact in an article about wasted water through leaking loo valves, a guy in the trade reckoned that the new type of valve will inevitably start to leak and that the design will have to revert to the old ball cock system to cure the problem of vast mounts of water being wasted through trickling loo valves.
Limescale [and any other solids] accumulates on the rim of the flush exit. It doesn’t seal shut when the tank is refilling and thus you see the tell-tale ripples in the loo as the water continues to try to fill the tank.
If the supply to the tank is easy to cut off with a service valve on the pipe, it’s a simple job to remove the cistern from the loo, remove the valve and clean it up with vinegar and an old toothbrush.
Emptying the tank to dry and lashing a litre of vinegar/Limelight onto the valve and leaving it to work - and cleaning round it with the toothbrush - saves removing bits. I doubt you’ll cure the problem by simply adding something to the water in the tank - not concentrated enough to dissolve the limescale.
Siphon, you are showing your …they are basic wash down pans now. The nasty plastic bits are v lightweight and the seals often get gunked up. Stick your hand in and put your fingers under the flush washer when you lift the flush mechanism, if its rough feeling replace the washer. Most un click these days but turn the water off first.
I have added a few grams of thick copper wire to give the centre a little more weight in the past.
The quality of those flush mechanisms is really appalling these days - flimsy, too lightweight to seat properly for long, even the twist-fix ones don’t seat properly. We’re fortunate enough to live in a scale-free water supply area, I can’t imagine how annoying it must be in areas where scale is an additional problem to live with.
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We just replace them… they are plug and play fittings. A couple of euro’s.
(I point out that in most other areas of life we are very parsimonious, especially about plastic. But sometimes life’s just too short…)
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You can just replace the washers. Then polish your hallo knowing you have done your good deed for the day
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Thanks for all the suggestions .I’ve got my vinegar so I’ll start cleaning this afternoon. Trouble is it’s our only toilet so if it falls apart I’m in trouble so maybe I should get a spare cistern just in case.
You wont need a whole cistern, just a flush valve. If it does fall apart you can just pour water from a bucket to flush away while tou go shopping for a flush valve. Bying the same one means a quick click to fit the new one otherwise its a bigger job requiring the removal of the cistern and a pair of large water pump pliers.
Finally been forced to sort out the toilet. The problem is I still can’t get the lid off which has never happened to me before. Followed instructions from the internet and removed the buttons and there should be a fat screw underneath but there isn’t. Anyone familiar with this type of cistern?
Try turning the outer plastic ring
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I misread the title as Stinking toilet. I am glad I was wrong.
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Yes basic single capacity flush mechanism.
That’s how all the ones I’ve ever seen work.
I’m a big fan of binning the push-button (rod and cable activated) flush systems for the even simpler pull button ones. Several less pieces of cheap plastic to fail and easier to use for people who don’t have the finger strength of a Kung Fu master.
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You’ve saved me a job, NotALot. I was planning to bin my pull-up unit because it seemed a little crude. But you make a good point – simpler is better. I’ll have to find another project to use the time you’ve saved me. Thanks.
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It was just stuck tight and my fiddling has finally enabled me to unscrew it. By the way a quick fix suggetion on a video of just turning over the washer didn’t work for me as the washer is too badly worn. So I’ll put in a new unit today and hope for the best. Thanks for the helpful advice
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I do sometimes use a word I know for an object, in another lang, if I can’t rememeber the Eng one. Sifón is Spanish for these ’ nasty plastic bits’. Or just adopt the foreign word, as ‘balon’ has replaced ‘immersion heater tank’ and 'dechet for ‘recycling centre’.
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