A simple question: are the water lines that go to the toilet tank all the same size?

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Elocs

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I put in the new toilet today and everything went well up until the very end when I connected or tried to connect the water line to the tank and just could not get it done, I couldn't get it to thread and connect.

Is this because the female water line connection is plastic and on the tank the threads are metal? Why can't I get it to thread so I can tighten it up. I've left it and come back to it a couple of times but I cannot get it to work.
 
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If you have a flexible supply, make sure you aren't using Tefon Tape.
A flex supply will have it's own seals at the ends, and something like tape will prevent you from threading up the 7/8" nut to the tank fill valve.

That, and it helps if you are left handed. And don't drink and then try to connect the flex line. You're going to need your wits about you, oh for sure.
 
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Elocs

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If you have a flexible supply, make sure you aren't using Tefon Tape.
A flex supply will have it's own seals at the ends, and something like tape will prevent you from threading up the 7/8" nut to the tank fill valve.

That, and it helps if you are left handed. And don't drink and the connect flex line. You're going to need your wits about you, oh for sure.

No, I'm not using teflon tape on the flexible supply. I am not left-handed but because of where the line is being next to the countertop I have to use my left hand and there is no room to get my head in there for a good look. For some reason I just cannot seem to get the line to thread on the metal end coming out of the tank.

When my frustration level got too great I decided it was time to just walk away for awhile and try again. My hope is that it will just magically begin to thread the next time.
 
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Oh my God!

A new toilet needs a new supply line.
Quick question if you can answer this. How much will it cost to replace the lower portion of the drywall in your home, the padding under the carpets, the floors under your kitchen cabinets and resetting them, and then painting?
Is it going to be worth more then $6.00 to you?
One day you might come home to niagara falls pouring through your home, but dude, you saved six bucks. Go back. Go back and get a new supply line now. You must, or I will bust you.


Did you at least use new wax?
 

Elocs

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Oh my God!

A new toilet needs a new supply line.
Quick question if you can answer this. How much will it cost to replace the lower portion of the drywall in your home, the padding under the carpets, the floors under your kitchen cabinets and resetting them, and then painting?
Is it going to be worth more then $6.00 to you?
One day you might come home to niagara falls pouring through your home, but dude, you saved six bucks. Go back. Go back and get a new supply line now. You must, or I will bust you.


Did you at least use new wax?

I had no idea that I needed a new supply line. I watched numerous YouTube videos about how to install a toilet and I don't remember any of them saying I needed a new supply line, and to replace that is simply not intuitive. To me it seems to be a hose that should thread to the tank just like any hose, old or new, will thread to my faucet outside my house. Unless I had gotten it threaded and well fastened to the tank I never would have left on the water.

Yes, I not only used a new wax ring but I bought a better one than what came with the toilet.
 
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None of the YouTube video's that I have seen were done by competent plumbers. Most I've seen are by homeowners playing doctor with tools that they found in the garage.
There is nothing in them that I would want my kids to see. I don't want em picking up bad habits.

Tubing bursts when you are at work. Not while you are looking at it.

Here's looking at a burst washer hose. Good thing there was a door to drain the water out.
This is an old post I found. Water 3" deep in the basement.

That's carpet you're looking at.

flood_2.jpg
 
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JohnjH2o1

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Try connecting the supply to the toilet first then to the valve. You may be able to see the valve more easily.

John
 

Elocs

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The YouTube videos I watched included ones from Home Depot as well as the HomeOwner series, so I kind of reckoned they were at least competent. I also reckon that tubing could have burst anytime in the last 10 years. All the videos simply said to connect the supply line and to make sure it did not leak and that's what I attempted to do, but I could not even get it to start to thread well enough to connect it.
 

Elocs

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Try connecting the supply to the toilet first then to the valve. You may be able to see the valve more easily.

John

Bingo and Hallelujah! Yes that easily worked. Even though it was after 10 p.m. I thought I would try it out since you are a plumbing contractor for 49 years and I reckoned you knew what you were talking about.

Thanks a lot.
 

Jimbo

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Glad you got it done! Taking a deep breath like you did is often effective when things are not going quite right.

For the basic questions...there are very few things in plumbing that are universal fit or work "like the old ones".. BUT the 7/8" ballcock fitting on toilet tanks has been the same for probably 75 to 100 years. Some of our "historians" may be able to tell us if a toilet EVER used something different???

The reason someone recommended a new hose is that they do go bad sometimes, just from old age.
 

Elocs

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Glad you got it done! Taking a deep breath like you did is often effective when things are not going quite right.

For the basic questions...there are very few things in plumbing that are universal fit or work "like the old ones".. BUT the 7/8" ballcock fitting on toilet tanks has been the same for probably 75 to 100 years. Some of our "historians" may be able to tell us if a toilet EVER used something different???

The reason someone recommended a new hose is that they do go bad sometimes, just from old age.

The hard thing was trying to do it left handed when I could either look at it or try and thread it. It was that bend in the line that kept me from blindly getting it threaded onto the tank. Once I removed it from the other end and put it on the tank first it went easily. It was just so frustrating to do something that appeared that it should easily work that made me wonder if the sizes were actually different.

I understand the point about having a new hose, but my question in point was about how to get the supply line attached to the tank so I could see how it and if it was working properly (as well as being able to use it at the time).

Toilets and the ones we have in our homes that are largely unchanged in all of those decades. When I was a kid I used to watch the radio and now there are 5 foot tv screens as well as watching video on your cell phone, but the toilet I use is pretty much the same as the one I used nearly 60 years ago.
 

Gary Swart

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You mentioned you used a better wax ring than came with the toilet. Let me guess. This "better one" has a plastic funnel that goes into the flange. If that is true, then you may or may not have another problem. Wax rings with funnels often cause problems. Most plumber prefer the plain ole wax ring without "improvements". If you did replace the supply line as advised, I hope you didn't fall for another useless piece of junk. The Watts Flood Safe supply lines frequently fail. The best lines are those with metal mesh.
 
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