Leaking fill valve on toilet

shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Support your community
Advertise with us
Plumbing Forums

Help Support Plumbing Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Q

Qmavam

Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2023
Messages
16
Reaction score
9
Location
USA
I spent the extra money on the old style toilet fill valve pictured below. I was tired of fixing the newer plastic valves.
Well 3 or 4 years later the fill valve started leaking, first it sounded like a frog croaking and then just became a hiss.
I pulled it apart and tried lightly abrading the flat washer of the valve, to remove a slight groove that had formed where it pressed against.
It wasn't much, but worth a try. That didn't help. So, I thought extending the float ball rod would help, (a little more leverage). I bought some rod
and max'ed out the length, no touching the side or end. Nope, no fix. So, after a search, I found a seal kit, I installed it and still it leaks.
This is a bit of a rant, I'll buy a new value, but is there long lasting recommendation?
Thanks, Mikek
flush valve.jpg
 
havasu said:
Love the rant. Also love that fill valve, but mounted on a wall, in a shadow box picture frame, would be a better solution in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Hmm, shadow box, maybe I can get some of my money back!
 
I made a trip to Lowes, while there, I also picked up a FluidMaster 400-002. "THE QUIETEST AND MOST POWERFUL!"
I can hardly wait! Although, maybe sometime this week.
 
Ok, I bought a new flush valve and installed it works fine. However as I was taking the old one out to the mighty fine junk storage, with it in the sun and in a position to see better, I noticed a square hole where the repair seal presses. I recognize that as similar as something that came in the rebuild kit I bought. I thought it was a was just an extra part in a generic kit to repair more types of valves. The seat where the rubber piece sits is also replaceable. So, the fact that I never throw anything away came in handy, in that I found the plastic seat piece and installed it. Now the probably likely to work old valve is in storage, but I have to wonder if the rubber will still be good 10 years from know when my new valve goes bad. Oh well, $#it happens!
P.S. my water bill was $40 high than normal, should have fixed it sooner.
 
I used to keep all the old stuff I replaced and kept all the shipping boxes thing s came in because I have sort of a pack rat mentality. My wife convinced me to change my ways and I’ve never looked back.
 
I'm wouldn't call myself a packrat, but I have my shop/shed stocked with many items I have saved over many years. Yesterday I needed some sheet aluminum for a test my son was doing, In the 70s I had saved some 10" x 12" aluminum cover plates from a dozen pieces of electronic equipment that were scrapped. Sadly I only had a small piece left, I have used it all in one project or another over the years. I salvaged a bunch of Neon Sign transformers over 30 years ago, My son had an electrostatic project at work and I pulled several from my storage and we built a system with my stock. My hobby is electronics, I have many electronic parts saved from over the years, It makes projects much easier when I don't have to wait for parts. It seems often when I do throw something away, I later regret it. To each there own! My 29 yr old son is always amazed when I have a specific part that is needed.
 
One of my hobbies is electronics, too, all the way back to 1964 when I got my novice amateur radio license. I love building things, modifying things and have even designed a few pieces of gear. I was an ET in the Navy during Vietnam and then went onto a 35-year career with the FAA as an electronics tech, etc. I have to admit that it’s very, very difficult to throw electronic parts out especially vacuum tubes which I still use even today.

I miss Radio Shack!
 
I'm a little younger, just missed the tube era, first electronics class was 11th grade in 72. However I just recently did my first tube project. My son is doing some electrostatic experiments for his work, I set him up with a neon sign transformer and a high resistance multi tap voltage divider, to see how different voltages worked. Then we found pulsed DC in some articles. We are working at 12kV, so I didn't want to build it with Mosfets and blow up a bunch trying to get it right, so, I went with a TV horizontal flyback tube 6BK4 because it will handle a much higher voltage. I got a lot of help on an audio forum, LTspice Tube subcircuits were put into a model of my circuit and I built it and it worked out of the box. I'm driving the grid with a function generator so now we can test from 4Hz to 100Hz maybe higher, with a square wave and different pulse widths. It was a lot of fun!
 
Last edited:
You know with all respect to your rant, I understand. My parents' home was torn down 6 months ago. It was built in 1966. There were NO settling cracks. All interior doors were square. It had the same entry door when built with the same door knob and lock. As a kid, I never remembered my dad fixing toilets. Ever. The only thing he had to do was constantly replace screening on the screen door, but that was a cat problem. Such is life for a dad.

My house was built in 1989. I've rebuilt toilets a dozen times, replaced numerous entry knobs and locks due to metal failure, etc. Without being overly harsh, I just wonder what it's like to work and design products at fluid master.
 
The fluidmasters and flappers in my toilets are 9 yrs old and still working great.

But I concede everyone will not have that experience. There are many factors that can cause toilet parts to fail.
 
Ya, I wonder if they are as long lasting as 50 years ago. That is why I bought what I thought was an old style valve assy. I truly don't remember how long ago I put it in, but my thinking is it should have lasted longer. I wrote this replacement date it the tank so, I'll know next time.
 
Last edited:
Qmavam said:
Ya, I wonder if they are as long lasting as 50 years ago. That is why I bought what I thought was an old style valve assy. I truly don't remember how long ago I put it in, but my thinking is it should have lasted longer. I wrote this replacement date it the talk so, I'll now next time.
Click to expand...

Installation conditions play a part in how long parts last. It’s not always the part that fails fault.
 
Two - I agree, but it's a dang toilet. This is NOT rocket science, or flooring or foundations. We're talking about a valve in a toilet. If I install the kit wrong, it leaks from the base of the tank. If it's running, perhaps a siphon issue. Otherwise the flapper is leaking at the base of the tank. The flapper and the rubber base are wear items. They sit in water of unknown chemical content and then start to "leak" because they cannot make a good seal.

I'm not bitching - just trying to understand the issue with the OP. The metal frame is pretty, but this all comes down to the valve assembly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top