Cistern Syphon

Lift the syphon out and remove the plunger from the bell. Cut a piece of heavy polythene to fit inside the size of the bell. A piece from one of those thick carrier bags you get in the shops.

METHOD.

Place carrier bag on a table edge, spead out flat. Lay the bell housing of the syphon on the carrier, making sure the polythene stays flat.

Draw around the bell housing with a marker pen to get the correct size for your cut out.

While the bell housing is still in place on the carrier bag, push the plunger rod down through the hole in the bell housing, keeping it as straight as possible, and mark the centre of the cut out for the centre hole that fits over the plunger rod.

Cut out all the bits you need and re-install.

You'll find this to be the cheapest and best repair kit on the market. And it'll last just as long as the original one did.

Otherwise I think replacement mechanisms are pretty standard. I bought a Wickes own brand one.

Chris R

Great - thanks BigWallop. Now why didn't they show that on Blue Peter when I was younger? I will give that a go tomorrow.

I was a little afraid to just buy any old mechanism. I'd already been through a major palaver trying to get a cistern lever a few years back. The Ideal Standard lever is anything but standard!

JW

"John Whitworth" wrote: Great - thanks BigWallop. Now why didn't they show that on Blue Peter when I was younger? I will give that a go tomorrow.

--------------------------------------------------- Make sure it is not biodegradable (as much of the plastic carrier bag material is now) otherwise you will be replacing it again soon whereas as a proper polythene syphon diaphragm should last for years.

I did it this morning using what I thought was a fairly thick Next carrier bag. It wasn't...

Tomorrow, it will be re-done using the plastic from our rabbit litter bags - that's far thicker - and looks like it will be around for hundreds of years in landfill! ;-)

JW