Push button toilet flush problem

[Keiron Carroll]

I have one of the new type push button toilets I installed just last year in the bathroom and have noticed in the last month or so that there is a continuous trickle of water flowing from the rim into the bowl and every now and then including throughout the night a subsequent top-up sound heard. There seems very little in there to go wrong, is there a diaphragm I wonder at the very seat of the central fixings which could possibly be leaking?? I haven't a clue how this new type flush system works and would appreciate any help from those more enlightened. It's a two button arrangement and has a 'float' connected to these buttons indirectly. I have to say it all looks very very flimsy. I'd also appreciate any web site url's which show this kind of arrangement so I can learn a bit more myself. Many thanks in advance.

Keiron Carroll

[Broadback]

I will be interested in the answer. I have one about 3 years old after flushing fills up then overflows for about 15 seconds, not a problem just a waste of water. I have taken it apart and can find no obvious problem.

[Mark S.]

Mine is a single button type but I was never happy with the float arrangement due to the slim ciston not actually being big enough for the float to float freely so it tends to stick against the mechanism or wall.

The water comes from a plastic tube in the middle of the top bit, imagine a Kerplunk type object sat in the top and that's it. You push the button and it opens the bottom bit and the water flows out so the seal could be leaking.

Mine's due to the internal overflow doing it's job when the float sticks. Still beats it overflowing under the bath like it did before I replaced the suite. ;-)

Mark S.

[graham]

The problem often arises from a build up of lime scale around the discharge pipe from the systern into the toilet. The rubber seal can no longer completely close off the pipe.

A few months ago, there was an inventor on television. He has developed a device to solve this problem.

The device is mechanical. When you flush, the systern fills with water. When the systern is full the water stops flowing and it trips the device. The unit will not allow any more water to enter the systern until the flush handle is depressed. This means that the systern will not keep refilling in the middle of the night whilst water is leaking out.

Surprise to say that the inventor said no one was interested in the idea. The water companies wanted people to use more water so they could charge them for it. The toilet manufacturers were not interested as it would amount to an admission that their equipment would eventually start to leak.

The inventor never indicated the likely cost of the unit if it went into production. Presumably a repair of the current unit on several occasions might work out cheaper in any case?

Graham

[Chris J Dixon]

Odd that it is only comparatively recently that this type of valve has been permitted. AIUI the risk of water wastage was the reason they were never previously allowed. Looks like they still haven't solved the problem.

Chris

[alexbartman]

I am an amateur but have had experience of this recently. M understanding is that instead of a traditional overflow pipe which use to exit the cistern towards the top and go to either a soil pipe (o directly outside), the new flush valves have an internal overflow wher water can trickle through the big hole in the middle top of the flus and into the pan.

The float valve - which does the same job as a ball valve can sometime get stuck - especially if you have a slimline cistern. You need to mov it up and down by hanbd and check that the wall of the cistern is no stopping its free movement. If it is free, you need to adjust thi float valve so that it cuts the flow when the water level is around th

6L mark (It think this is a UK standard). Mine was fixed after muc trial and error - but is fixed now because I have since fitted two mor

- and apart from all the instructions being in italian and looking lik the illustrations had been drawn by a 4 year old they both failed. I replaced them both with a Fluidmaster float valve - c. £10 from B& and have had 18 months free from any trouble. I was also advised tha these are both low pressure and high pressure compatible, but main pressure was preferable. I have no mains water freed to either, bu they work a treat nevertheless

-- alexbartman

[John Stumbles]

Is it a multikwick (blue and yellow IIRC)? Are you in a hard water area?

your description it sounds more like a flap valve but the one I've seen - can't remember the name off the top of my head - doesn't have a two part button.)

[Chris Bacon]

These things are, as they say, pants. Water wasters.

[John Stumbles]

Not tried the fluidmasters or other flap valves. I agree drop/flap valves have a failure mode in which they can let by whereas syphons' only failure mode is simply not flushing, so in that respect they're A Bad Thing (and presumably why they were resisted by the Powers That Be until recently). It's a pity no-one makes conventional syphon valves just a bit shorter than standard so they can be used to convert a standard cistern to internal overflow.