Old Style Flush Valve

[Kiko]

My parents have a really old toilet with a Douglas style brass flush valve. The threaded rod that screws into the flapper ball had broken in half, and I found a replacement threaded rod and flapper at a plumbing supply shop.

When I screwed the rod into the flapper as far as it would screw, it seemed very loose, so I screwed it beyond the threads a bit, which didn't seem quite right. It still seems that this flapper will unscrew by itself after a while.

Did I do something wrong, or is that as tight as you can get these things?

[Kiko]

Has no one here ever worked on one of these before??

[Terry]

These may need a backing nut to keep them tight.

[jadnashua]

Adjusting the length of the rod sticking out is sometimes the only way to adjust the water level (by making the whole thing longer or shorter). SO, there may not be a stop. And, to keep it adjusted where you want it, you may need to have a nut on the rod as well that you tighten up against the float to help hold the position you've set. Or, it could be poorly engineered foreign made stuff where the sizing is not held to proper tolerances...there's too much of that sort of stuff around, unfortunately.

[johnjh2o1]

Remove the lift wire guide arm and through out the lift wires and use one of these.

http://korky.com/Flapper2001BP.html

John

[Kiko]

Jadnashua, there is a stop. It just comes too soon (after only a couple of turns). That's why I screwed it beyond the stop into the rubber to try to tighten it more.

Terry, I'm not sure I can find a backer nut to fit this, since the threaded lift rod has such a tiny diameter (~1/16").

John, do you really think a universal Korky flapper can replace this?

[johnjh2o1]

Jadnashua, there is a stop. It just comes too soon (after only a couple of turns). That's why I screwed it beyond the stop into the rubber to try to tighten it more.

Terry, I'm not sure you can find a backer nut to fit this, since the threaded lift rod has such a tiny id.

John, do you really think a universal Korky flapper can replace this?

That what it's made to do.

John

[Kiko]

I would think that if you replaced this old, screw-in flapper with any modern flapper, it would never reseat again once the toilet is flushed, since there is nothing to lock it in place on the flush valve.

I might just wrap some teflon tape around the threads of the lift wire to tighten it up.

[Jerome2877]

would think that if you replaced this old, screw-in flapper with any modern flapper, it would never reseat again once the toilet is flushed, since there is nothing to lock it in place on the flush valve.

I might just wrap some teflon tape around the threads of the lift wire to tighten it up.

They work great, remove the arm attached to the overflow tube and slide the flapper down to the bottom, hook up the chain and your done. Its tight enough that it will stay in place.

[hj]

There are some Douglas valves, American Standard especially, which will NOT work with a rubber flapper. Your rod or ball must be defective, because when both are made correctly the rod does screw in and stop at the correct spot. IT has NOTHING to do with the water level or anything else except flushing the toilet.