One of our toilets flushes incorrectly. There is a distinct “blorp” noise (sounds just like a big air-bubble escaping, like when a 5-gallon water jug releases the air bubble when you take a cup). This sound comes from the “little” hole, the one nearer the, uh, operator of the toilet. The water fills up to near the brim, though it doesn’t actually overflow, and stays there.
The water does eventually drop, it takes about 5 minutes. If I drop a match in the bowl, it will stay there throughout the entire process, so there isn’t a lot of force. Yet liquid waste does dissapear (perhaps this is just dilution).
The water in the reservoir does not fully drain during the flush, it goes down about halfway. The floater and pipe cover (whatever that is called) both seem fine, they are aligned correctly.
Assuming you have a standard US style toilet, it sounds like you have a couple of problems.
First, the tank should drain fully into the bowl. I don’t know all the correct terms, but there is a hinged flapper that covers the drain hole in the tank. When you pull the lever, it pulls a chain that opens the flapper and allows the water to drain. The flapper in ingenious in that it has a sort of a float that causes it to stay up until the water is drained, then it closes and allows the tank to refill. Your flap is not staying up. You should open the tank and watch what happens to see why. Something may be sticking or worn out. The toilet will still flush, albeit weakly, so onto the next issue.
Second, the bowl should drain. You probably have a clogged trap, which can be snaked out or use some liquid drain cleaner (liquid is OK for standing water).
Here is but one page from a site you would find helpful.
Bend the metal wire the round float is on down so the water shuts off earlier. There is also an adjuster screw on most toilets on the stem tube where the water comes in, this screw adjust the water level. The water is dumping into the overflow because the level is too high. Newer toilets have the float directly on the stem tube, so you won’t be able to bend the wire, but there should be some method of adjusting.
Sounds like the vent pipe might be clogged, or you have a partial clog in the toilet. I’d start with snaking the toilet and if that doesn’t fix it, snake the vent pipe. If neither of those fix it, you either have a clog farther down the line or something that allows the snake to pass freely but closes when water pressure hits it (like a lid to a jar). Since both toilets are probably using the same waste line, with the same vent pipe (assuming the bathrooms are back to back) chances are it’s a problem specific to the toilet. If the snake doesn’t fix it, and you don’t feel comfortable removing the toilet, call a plumber.
The upper reservoirs on some of the newfangled low flow toilets do not empty all the way with each flush. If you have a clog in the siphon leading to the sewer line, the most common cause of slow bowl-drainage, a thorough plunging should take care of it. However, if you’ve got a toothbrush or tennis ball stuck down there, snaking, or disassembling the stool (shudder), might be necessary.
I think CookingWithGas is on to something. If your flush valve has lost some of it’s boyancy, it will cause exactly the flushis interuptis that you described. Depending on the toilet, it’s an easy replacement.
I had a problem with my toilet where the tank wouldn’t empty completely and the bowl wouldn’t fill with enough water. It turned out that I just had to move the lever attached to the flush handle a little towards the back of the tank. Otherwise, the chain attached to the flapper wouldn’t lift all the way up, and I was getting an incomplete flush. I’m not sure if that’s the same situation as yours, though.
[TMI alert]
Sounds like your lavatory is blocked (in terms of the slow emptying). I just moved from a flat with a NIGHTMARE lavatory.
Either the effluent pipe actually had a smaller diameter than that of the average turd, or there was cement or something blocking it, I will never know. Basically, unless the user literally had a “runny tummy”, the thing would block.
The landlord blamed loo paper/tissue, but that was rubbish. Repeated experiments of flushing before wiping proved that paper was not the issue.
All types and forms of stools (save as I have mentioned above abnormally soft or runny ones) would block this lavatory. And several users of this lavatory, of varying ages and genders experienced the blocking problem.
[/TMI alert]
Anyway - the solution: buckets of hot water, and lots of them. Use water that is as hot as possible, and just keep the lavatory filled up to the brim (to maximise the pressure). Add a dash of washing up liquid, and/or drain unblocker if you have it (the liquid NOT the granules, they’ll just worsen it, even if you leave it overnight, believe me) and just keep adding water to top up, as it slowly drains.
Eventually something should give, and the water will suddenly go down fast, often with a glug glug glugging at the end, depending on the shape of the u-bend.
Living with the nightmare lavatory has made me somewhat of an amateur toilet surgeon. Don’t get me started on the crapness of the cistern. Suffice it to say, for several months I virtually replumbed and reengineered the entire thing with gaffer tape and polyfiller.