Re: Plugged, slow toilet RESOLVED

A month ago (8/30/05) I posted the following message. I had a few replies, all good suggestions, thank you very much. The problem is resolved. See below the message for the summary. Starting a new thread so maybe it can be read by the people that helped me.

Here in our condo we own the toilet because it is not "original". We do > not > own the plumbing behind the wall or under the floor. Condo maintenance's > main job is to insure that all problems are the owner's problem only, > never > theirs. > > This is an ongoing problem for weeks now. The toilet will seem fine then > be plugged. Usually what happens is I use it in the morning before work, > errrrrr use it kina "heavily". One or two flushes later it seems fine. > Off I go to work, wife goes to use it & WHAM it's plugged & requires > vigorous plunging. > > Once when it was "slow" I rented a closet auger & reamed it for a while, > feeling no obstructions & it had no effect on the problem. Our Condo > maintenance guy claims it is the toilet. We called in a company that > quoted 24/7 service at reasonable prices. The guy did not seem to be a > plumber to me, just a hard worker. For surprisingly cheap $130.00 he > spent > about 30 minutes using a closet auger & a plunger & got it flushing > normally > again. I am unsure if the reaming did anything as he also plunged like a > maniac. > > The toilet became plugged a few days later. > > All the reaming I do does nothing. Only plunging seems to help. When > it > is working, it flushes well, swirls & everything goes down in a single > flush. After "heavy use" a plug does not show for a couple flushes. > > Question: > In a professional plumber's opinion, is this some sort of toilet issue or > an > obstruction downstream? >

The main thing was to pull the toilet. So I got my wax ring & "a no-burst braided supply line" as recommended. I got one of them "polymer braided" hoses from Home Depot. I am surprised to see the stainless steel braided hoses as I have seen what chlorine can do to stainless steel. My wife is a bit of a germaphobe & uses lots of bleach on the bathroom floor (& a whole lot of other places). Hard to believe that they are using stainless in this application.

Had to replace the guts on the water stop, 35 years old & frozen on. Pulled the toilet. Poured 5 gals of water down the hole. No problem. Damned if it ain't the toilet. Wife tells me she wants a new toilet. So this time I go to Lowe's as it was closer & they got one on sale. I get it all out of the box & take the tank off the old one & toss it, pour what water was left in the old bowl down the hole.. Then & only then do I actually LOOK up into the outlet hole on the old bowl. There, right there stuck at the outlet, is what looks like an old black flapper thing from the inside of a toilet tank. Must of been there since we moved in. Obviously, the closet auger was able to push right past it then it would re-seat itself just enough to slow the flow down to a crawl.

I decided to just go ahead with the new toilet rather than trying to get it all back into the tore up packaging & return it. I could have saved the $100 by re-installing the old throne, but what the hell, as long as my wife is happy. New toilet is not bad at all, a surprisingly good flush for a low water throne. The way the tank could rock with only the 2 bolts holding it was scary but once it filled with water it was solid.

Anyhow, thanks all for your suggestions.

Reply to
Bruin
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A couple of notes -

  1. I know of no one goofy enough to crawl under a cabinet or a toilet and hose down their supply lines with liquid chlorine bleach. Most folks either don't wash their supply lines at all and/or they have enough sense to use an ammonia based disinfectant.
  2. Your tank should not be "rocking to the point of being scary". If you are careful, most brands can be tightened to the point that they are very secure and stable. However, over tighten and you'll be back on your way to the parts store for a new tank or bowl.

Bob Wheatley

Reply to
Bob Wheatley

In the packaging there were labels & instructions in many places warning to not over-tighten. It said to hand tighten then only one half a turn more with pliers. I went about a full turn, only because I figure that I got weaker hands than average. Even so it did not appear to be stable, but as I said, once I filled the tank, it appears to be solid.

BTW, when my wife cleans the floor, as she did when I completed the installation, she used bleach & water, about a cup to a gallon of water. The fumes alone would attack stainless steel. She also keeps chlorine based cleaners under the sink in the kitchen. Again fumes alone would attack the stainless. Helped a friend tear out then install a kitchen cabinet & the stainless steel braided water lines were horribly corroded. We were both surprised one of them had not yet burst. Thin stands of stainless holding a water tube from bursting is chancy at best.

Thanks again Bob, you were one of the original that posted suggestions. Ain't the Internet great!

Reply to
Bruin

Reply to
Ned Flanders

OK COOL A REAL USENET FLAME.

Actually Ned, over & over again, I have thanked you guys for solving my problem. I reposted a follow-up summary just to thank you guys. What more can I do?

Stupid is as stupid does & I will tell you one thing I know, using cheap, thin, stainless steel strand anywhere near chlorine based products, which means any plumbing application, is stupid. Regardless that it is "recommended". Recommended by whom? A braided stainless steel hose manufacturer?

Using stainless steel strand in other applications such as hydraulic is acceptable. What is good about it is it's durability to external damage from movement & friction. Not something to worry about in a plumbing application.

It seems that gas connector manufacturers are coating their stainless steel gas connectors. THAT is a GOOD idea. I am absolutely positive that manufactories do not add cost to their products without a good reason. As a material engineer for an automotive supplier, I am telling you from experience. Stainless steel corrodes. Using it in a household application is insane.

However, it does depend on type of stainless steel. Some expensive alloys, such as Hastelloy C276, is actually used for chlorine fluid transfer. No way could a $5 hose use that type of alloy.

Reply to
Bruin

the end of your post, the part you went and looked up facts before you hit the send button was where you started to figure it out. Stainless comes in different flavors, your bathroom is not going to be a harsh enough condition to make that rot out quickly. If your bathroom floor is that gross then you have much more serious problems to worry about than that.

So what it comes down to is you are just guessing without professional experience. I am a person who has seen this product used in 100's of applications and have seen what it takes to make it rot out / fail. where do you get off acting so sure when you know you are guessing?

Reply to
Ned Flanders

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