Toilet Bowl Water Level

[Mike]

I have just bought an old 3 storey house. It has toilets on the second and third floors. The toilet on the third floor works fine. The one on the second also flushes with no problem but the water level in the toilet bowl slowly drops over a couple of hours. Both toilets flush into the main vertical stack in the house. I have tried flushing the second floor toilet, letting it fill to its normal level and then flushing the third floor one to see if it is causing syphoning action but it has no effect on the second floor toilet level. Other than this there appear to be no other weird plumbing problems. The waste plumbing is ABS. Any ideas?

[Speedy Jim]

There could be a crack in the bowl which isn't visible from above. That would let water trickle into the floor, where you may or may not see it. Possible defect in the bowl internal passage which lets water trickle out of the trap and down the drain. Sometimes a piece of cloth or string will get stuck in the bowl trap and act as a wick, letting water trickle down the drain.

Snaking the bowl *might* eliminate the last item as a possibility. Otherwise, I'm afraid the toilet should be pulled up for inspection.

Jim

[Jim Mc Namara]

Perhaps - but from my 30+ years of plumbing experience - I believe Speedy Jim is right on target with this one.

Jim

[Mike]

Thanks for the help. Guess I'll remove the toilet and take a closer look at it!