Jvstevens
Member
I replaced a leaky fill valve and worn flapper valve on a Kohler San Raphael one-piece toilet last week. After doing this, I couldn't seem to get the toilet to flush properly. The water would just swirl a long time in the bowl and then maybe (not always) go down at the very end. For a long time, I thought it was an issue with the flapper (and/or the way its mounted), but nothing I did (changing flapper make, adjusting chain length) made a difference. Then I started to think that the drain might be plugged so I plunged the toilet bowl many times, but nothing improved. I did notice during plunging though, that a lot of fine, undetermined "debris" was floating around in the bowl afterward. I thought it might be possible that it was coming out of the hole in the bottom of the bowl where the flushing water comes out, so I took my little plastic "Zip-it" drain tool and ran it up and down that hole several times, and more debris came out. I guess it was scale or deposits of some type. After I did this, the toilet flushed great! I was quite happy and amazed that I was able to solve the problem, as I was close to calling a plumber to come out. But, I'm still puzzled about the whole thing:
1) Was it just a coincidence that the blockage in the bowl "hole" happened at the same time as the other parts were replaced? Or could there be some possible connection/causation?
2) Is this a common problem with toilets (i.e blockage of the bowl hole)? I don't think its anything I've come across before or heard it mentioned as a possible problem for a poorly flushing toilet. I've cleaned scale out of the little bowl wash holes before, but its seems hard to believe that this big hole would have so much deposits in it that it would inhibit proper flushing.
Insights from anyone are much appreciated!
1) Was it just a coincidence that the blockage in the bowl "hole" happened at the same time as the other parts were replaced? Or could there be some possible connection/causation?
2) Is this a common problem with toilets (i.e blockage of the bowl hole)? I don't think its anything I've come across before or heard it mentioned as a possible problem for a poorly flushing toilet. I've cleaned scale out of the little bowl wash holes before, but its seems hard to believe that this big hole would have so much deposits in it that it would inhibit proper flushing.
Insights from anyone are much appreciated!