Mineral accretions in bowl making flush ineffective

Hey guys,

I'm an electrician with nothing but respect for plumbers. Hard work that requires brains, from what I see.

Help me out with my toilet? It has been in place for about 11 years. The main flush comes from a jet at the front, the bottom of the bowl. This shoots straight at the exit at the back of the bowl and carries away the solids.

Over the years there has been a mineral build up. A few years back I identified this at the input, and I drained out the water and chiseled it off. The flushing improved substantially.

Recently I tried the same thing. There now is a substantial build up on the exit. I am assuming that the build up exists all the way up the exit to the top of the water level. I don't see how I am going to break that off and regain function. As it stands, I rarely have a successful flush these days.

Any thought?

You could try full strength white vinegar. I use that to get the calcium build up out of my tea pot.
If that is not strong enough you could use muriatic acid, just be careful and use plenty of ventilation.
This would be a great excuse to get a new toilet.

Eleven years ago, low flow toilets were still trying to figure out how to make them work. Many were not very effective and gave all low flow a bad name. Today, technology has improved them greatly. Many on this forum prefer the Toto toilets. There are many models to look at, and prices have a wide range. Fortunately, all of them perform quite well. With the mineral problem you have, it would be wise to select a model with the CEFIONTECT treatment. Cost a bit more, but does help with the cleaning.

Also, you might consider a water softener if your water is that hard.

For removing limescale, I like phosphoric acid. It used to be the major active ingredient in Lime Away. [/I]If you don't find it , Klean Strip Phosphoric Prep & Etch has that as its active ingredient. It is much easier on the lungs than muriatic acid. Expect to not find it in the chemicals area but in some other (paint? tile?) area.
From the MSDS: Phosphoric acid {Orthophosphoric acid} 35.0 -45.0 %
That's stronger than is commonly used for cleaning limescale. Easier on the skin than HCl, tho I would be careful to not put it on your skin.

Vinegar is milder but safer.