Toilet fills by itself?!?

Andrew21 · Jul 27, 2008

Hey all,
I was over a friend's house and her toilet just fills itself. I could be wrong but I think there's a leak somewhere (flapper?) and it just refills when the water level gets too low. Should I replace the flapper? If so, what else should I replace?

Thanks all!

Gary Swart · Jul 27, 2008

They key is the refilling occurs when the water gets too low. That means the water is leaking past the flapper and the fill valve is doing what it is supposed to do when the water gets low. I think if you replace the flapper all will be back to normal.

Sponsor · 2022-01-29T12:20:58-0800

Redwood · Jul 28, 2008

In most cases replacing the flapper does the trick.
Sometimes a flush valve can be bad or, the bowl refill tube from the fill valve to the overflow tube can be too long and inserted too far down in the overflow tube causing siphoning.
Make sure the the seat of the flush valve is clean and doesn't have a chunk of something caught on it when you replace the flapper.

Fubar411 · Jul 28, 2008

I just replace the entire toilet innards. The Oatey kits are like $20 and you get a new flapper, fill tube, everything. You end up solving a lot of problems that are coming along anyway.

hj · Jul 28, 2008

why?

I just replace the entire toilet innards. The Oatey kits are like $20 and you get a new flapper, fill tube, everything. You end up solving a lot of problems that are coming along anyway.

I hope you are not a plumber padding the bill by doing all that extra labor. I have not had occassion to replace the plastic flush valves more than a couple of times in 55+ years, and when it had to be done it was because the customer had broken it during a repair. All that is needed is a new flapper, unless the overflow pipe has been damaged.

Marc46 · Jul 28, 2008

In my mothers old house with standard flapper toilets,.......unlike the Mansfield ones that I am having a problem with

,...........she was notorious for putting chlorine "tablets" in the tank.

After a short while the concentration, especially in the lesser used ones, would curl up the edge of the flappers until they would not seat any longer.
Toilet would leak, and fill, over and over.
Replace the flapper and all should be well, and if your friend is using strong chemicals in the tank, tell them to stop, or to just replace the flapper annually.

Redwood · Jul 28, 2008

Marc46 said:
In my mothers old house with standard flapper toilets,.......unlike the Mansfield ones that I am having a problem with,...........she was notorious for putting chlorine "tablets" in the tank.

After a short while the concentration, especially in the lesser used ones, would curl up the edge of the flappers until they would not seat any longer.
Toilet would leak, and fill, over and over.
Replace the flapper and all should be well, and if your friend is using strong chemicals in the tank, tell them to stop, or to just replace the flapper annually.

No! Just tell them to stop!
There are other rubber components that in tank bowl cleaners damage and some are notorious for plugging up the internal water passages of the toilet like that "Blue Glop' smurfy looking stuff. On New toilets I believe with all manufacturers that use of in tank bowl cleaners void warranties.

If you feel compelled to use a bowl cleaner use the Fluidmaster Flush~N~Sparkle system which bypasses all the rubber tank components and is sent directly down the overflow tube.

Marc46 · Jul 28, 2008

Redwood,
Very true!
I don't use anything,......nor does my mother any longer.
Colored water doesn't really do anything for me!

Andrew21 · Jul 30, 2008

Thank you all. I'll buy the kit and replace the entire innards. I'll keep you posted. Thanks again.

Redwood · Jul 30, 2008

No Andrew!
Just replace the flapper!

Andrew21 · Jul 30, 2008

Redwood said:
No Andrew!
Just replace the flapper!

oh..ook. Thanks. Will do just the flapper.. =)

hj · Jul 31, 2008

why

Thank you all. I'll buy the kit and replace the entire innards.

You haven't been listening have you ? At least Redwood finally got your attention before you went hogwild and created new problems for yourself.

Andrew21 · Jul 31, 2008

hj said:
Thank you all. I'll buy the kit and replace the entire innards.

You haven't been listening have you ? At least Redwood finally got your attention before you went hogwild and created new problems for yourself.

No HJ, I sit here and just peruse the forums just to waste time.

Of course I've been listening but I was in a rush looking at the forums and doing other things also.

As you can see from the previous posting that I will replace only the flapper. No need to point out a flaw here in the forums. I don't do that to you.

Redwood · Jul 31, 2008

I love those kits...
One of 2 things happen...
Either the customer buys the kit and then common sense prevails and they call me. Then I pull the fluidmaster 400A out of the kit and use that along with the proper flapper and a supply line off my truck.
or,
The customer has gone well over their head and is trying to put the tank back on a close coupled toilet but they can't get the tank tightened down in place. In this case I make a lot more money and still use only the fluidmaster 400A out of the kit along with the proper tank to bowl kit that didn't originally need changing, flapper and supply line off my truck.

I like the possibility of extra money!

Toilet fills by itself?!?

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