More plumbing fun (or I'm starting to sound like a broken record)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Ever since Roto-rooter last came out, my toilet has been acting funny - taking a long time to fill and making strange noises. I thought it was my imagination until the other morning when it screeched upon flushing. (Poor Shilla ran in to confront the obvious attack with his tail about 3 times as large as usual! :smiley: ) So I asked my brother (my source for all house repair knowledge) how hard it was to replace the mechanism. He told me it was very easy (but didn’t offer to do it, dammit :slight_smile: ) But, I already had a lot to do this weekend, so I decided to wait until next weekend.

Which of course means that it decided to stop working completely. Last night. After I had gotten ready for bed.

Envisioning getting dressed again and going out into the cold to Wal-mart, I decided to poke around a little bit to see if I could spot an obvious problem. (I’m actually pretty good with mechanical stuff, so this isn’t as dumb as it sounds) I had previously determined that this gadget that the float is attached to and has screws is where the water is supposed to be going through and not working very well, so I carefully take this apart. Last time I checked it, water flowed through this very well, but last night almost no water was flowing at all - just a little drip. So I was investigating this (and trying to figure out how this part comes off) and found an odd, irregular piece of plastic where the water is supposed to be coming from. I tug on it gently and sure enough the water starts going faster. Voíla, this must be it!

Yep, that was it. One more tug and the water was coming out full force… straight up :eek:

Yep, I flooded my bathroom again. :smiley:

After I turned the water off, (thank god they have a valve right below the tank) put everything back together and turned the water on, my toilet worked like a charm.

The plastic that was plugging the mechanism was a small piece of plastic film. Either

[ul]
[li]It was in the pipe they replaced as part of the last call and it worked it’s way into the mechanism[/li][li]The guy thinks I’m hot and sabotaged my toilet so he would get called back. ;)[/li][li]I just destroyed my toilet and it will stop working completely the next snowstorm we have. Hmmm, maybe I should replace the mechanism after all[/li][/ul]

2

That’s right Zyada. You show that toilet who’s boss. :wink:
Pretty funny stuff.

3

I find that it helps me, in similar situations, to reflect that nobody ever died from having to use a a 5 gallon plastic bucket lined with a Hefty sack as a toilet for a day.

(Put lots and lots of paper towels in it, to soak it up, do only two or three trips per Hefty sack, and when you’re done with it, double bag it inside another Hefty sack and put it in the trash. Not environmentally sound, I admit, but it helps me not to panic when I’m about to dismantle the toilet again, and it’s sure not gonna be fixed any time soon. It beats trying to squat and pee in the basement drain.)

And P.S.-- always turn the water off FIRST before you do ANYTHING, even pull on a little piece of plastic. That’s what the little handle under the potty is FOR. But you know that by now, don’t you? :smiley:

4

Yep, DDG - I’d have to say that lesson has soaked in.

<groan> :stuck_out_tongue:

5

We’re not handy at all, and called the plumber to fix the apparent leak from my toilet. He said, “The gasket under the tank is leaking. $270 to rebuild, or $327 for a new toilet.” OK, we’ll get a new toilet. (It will come out of the rent.) This is on the 22nd. On the 24th, the carpets are still sopping wet. Call them back. If they come on Christmas it will be $95 emergency call. Fine, come on the 26th. They come and tighten something the first guys didn’t. The 29th the carpets are all wet again. Maybe it’s just the padding is soaked. By Sunday we’re sure it’s leaking AGAIN. But we have to go to Sister-in-law’s house.
Monday is a holiday. I call them this morning. No one will be home after 4:00 pm! When do they call? 3:50. My husband tells them to have someone there before noon. Please come fix your f***ing mistake! I’m sick of wet towels…

6

If sympathy helps you…

my shower is trying to be bath tube…
the water is warming my toes while I shower and I expect it to overflood the bathroom next time I use it…

dodgy