I’ve noticed lately that my toilet doesn’t fluch as vigorously as it should. When it is flushed, even with nothing but water in it, the water goes down, makes a slow gurgling sound and slowly refills. Often, it barely refills at all.
The water feed to the toilet is opened all the way, so it’s not from a lack of water that the toilet is suffering.
So, do I have a clogging problem, or is it a problem with one or more of the components of the toilet itself? Any suggestions on diagnosing this, short of calling a plumber?
I went looking for some sort of drain cleaner that would be safe for use with toilets, but I haven’t found one yet.
Have you opened the tank and looked inside? If the bowl is hardly refilling, something is wrong with the refill tube from the tank. You also may not getting enough volume quicly enough on the flush to provide the pressure for a good flush.
If you haven’t done so as yet, crack open the tank top, look inside, and clean the innards out good. Check for any blockages in the tank.
I may have misunderstood your description, but I think the problem is on the other end of the pipes: I think you’ve got something plugging the drain.
Normally, when extra water from the tank to the bowl provides enough weight, the water in the bowl surges out over the hump in the trap, emptying the bowl quickly. The tank is still supplying water and the surge has gone on, so the remaining water in the tank begins to fill up the bowl. In a partial blockage, the water in the bowl never surges out. The extra water from the tank simply trickles past the blockage and slowly over the top loop of the trap. There is usually enough siphon action to get the water in the bowl nearly drained, but the extra tank water simply follows the flow and is siphoned off, leaving a partially emptied bowl that only fills at the speed of the tank’s refill pipe (slowly).
Try plunging the toilet as you flush it and see whether the water suddenly rushes out and returns to normal service. (Depending what your 3-year-old has been up to, it may take two or three tries.)
Thanks to both of you for good suggestions- it sounds like you’re on to something, tomndebb.
One problem I have with the plunger, however, is the funky shape of the bowl - it’s more oval than anything and makes it difficult to achieve a good seal. No big deal, though.
Do you think I should snake it? And are there any toilet-drain cleaning products out there?
There are plungers designed to fit into that opening. They look like regular plungers with a “collar” around the open end.
A snake is also a plausible tool (and I generally find it frees the clogs more easily). Best again if you getthe kind specially made for the job. A “closet auger” (i.e., toilet = water-closet) feeds the metal snake through a plastic tube with a 90 degree bend at the bottom. You handle the tube, which makes things a trifle more sanitary. More importantly, that bend helps insert the snake head into the proper position to begin, and the tube keeps the metal snake from scratching up the visible inner surface of the bowl.
I avoid snakes (correctly or incorrectly) because all the ancient plumbers I know always claimed they would scratch the bowl. There may be non-metal snakes out there (or your bowl may be old enough to not worry about)–your call.
There are several drain-cleaning products made by Drano, Liquid Plumber, and their competitors. They are into the second or third generation of these things and claim they are safer and less likely to harm plumbing. OTOH, they are not going to work well on a big glob of toilet paper, plastic, or cloth in any event, so you could try them, expecting to have to plunge or snake later. (And since they always have some nasty chemical, even if it is not the original caustic lye, you’ll have to flush the toilet many times to clear the chemicals out before you attempt to plunge or snake it.)
There are also a few pressurized cans of stuff to clear drains that you push all the way into the drain and trigger. I have no idea how well they work or whether you have to provide extra padding to seal them.