toilet leak

Hi gfretwell,

Thank you for your purposefully helpful post for badgolferman, where the signal to noise ratio on this newsgroup is overwhelmingly spam & trolls, so I only happened to see this when I was looking it up for badgolferman (where I generally converse with badgolferman on the Apple newsgroups where he knows me to be honest, open, detailed, and always up front with facts, like you seem to always be).

Sometimes I have good experiences with warranties for home items, e.g., Fiskars is great - you just send them a photo & they send you a replacement

But some outfits require you to send in the item for them to inspect it, which seems fair enough, but which ends up meaning the warranty is worthless for items which cost almost as much to ship as to replace.

Did Kohler require you to send in the old flapper valves? o Or just a photo of them?

I think I have about a dozen somewhere in a box, all worthless to me.

I received a suggestion to shut off the water and let all the water out except for what remains, then put food coloring in the tank. That trick confirmed water was leaking past the seal to tank of the flush valve when the colored water showed up in the toilet. I bought a new Fluidmaster Universal flush valve and installed that. It comes with its own flapper.

The problem remains. It still leaks exactly the same as before. It looks like it's leaking through/below the front of the the flush valve seal. I also noticed bubbles clinging to the front of the valve. I have taken some pictures which you can view below. I didn't see any cracks in the tank or anything else. Any suggestions welcome.

Did you also unbolt the tank from the bowl and replace the separate tank to bowl gasket ??

Like these:

I took the tank off the bowl and checked the tank to bowl gasket, bolts and washers. They were all fine and supple. There is no leak out of the tank onto the floor, only into the bowl. How would the tank to bowl gasket cause a leak into the bowl? The water has to get past the flush valve to tank seal.

Doesn't that lead you back to the overflow tube? A crack in it maybe?

The flush valve assembly and its seal has been replaced. The overflow tube is part of that. Remember that I have let all the water out of the tank except for what's left below the lip of the flush valve. The overflow tube isn't even part of the equation at this point.

I am assuming you only replaced the fluidmaster and the flapper - not the flapper seat and the standpipe? If so check the seat the flapper seals to and make sure it is clean and smooth. Also make sure the level is set properly on the fluidmaster so no water flows into the standpipefrom the tank

If the gasket between the seat and the tank is bad the tank has to come off and the seat, standbipe, and gasket will all need to be replaced. I've found USUALLY just giving the seat a good rub-down with a scotchbrite pad and a bit of CLR solves the problem

The instructions on the last fill valve I changed said to set the fill level at 1" below the overflow tube height. Does the leak stop if you let the tank fill only halfway somehow? Dump some food coloring in the tank just to be sure.

I think what the most recent (immediately above) post is suggesting is that sometimes, the weight of a full tank of water presses the flapper valve down enough to prevent a leak that otherwise might occur if there's only an inch or so of water above the flapper valve. Is the chain between the flush lever and the flapper valve taut or is there a little bit of slack. Sometimes, there's just enough upward pull from the chain to cause a very slow leak. Try adjusting the chain just one link longer and see what happens (unless you've already tried that without success). As a final thought, I've seen repair kits that include an add-on flapper valve seat with a strong but flexible adhesive on the bottom side. Supposedly it can solve a leak when the only other alternative is to unbolt the tank again and entirely replace the existing flapper valve seat. Never needed to try it so I can't report how well it does or doesn't work.

I am thinking of putting a bead of silicone between the flush valve rubber gasket and the hole of the tank. It must be leaking at that point.

On Wed, 18 Nov 2020 16:21:51 +0000 (UTC), badgolferman posted for all of us to digest...

I would go to the plumbing supply store and get a genuine U/R flapper, bowl gasket and brass tank bolts. Might want to get a new supply hose too. Make sure the shutoff valve works before staring any major work like removing the supply line or tank bolts.

On Sat, 21 Nov 2020 22:47:03 +0000 (UTC), badgolferman posted for all of us to digest...

It's probably the flapper. I will post a link to help you determine the part you need. Sometimes this "universal" part just doesn't do the job. I know I am coming in late but trying to help... Let us know when you achieve man over machine.

On Sun, 22 Nov 2020 20:36:32 +0000 (UTC), badgolferman posted for all of us to digest...

I would nor do that. Get a kit like Peter suggested. I believe you are correct in your thinking the seat may be the problem.

I'm told Universal-Rundle is a very old brand and it's hard to find to parts for it. Everyone I've spoken to recommended I give up on the toilet. Nothing I can do will seal the flush valve screw to tank junction enough to prevent water getting past the seal. I bought a new toilet with dual flushing today for $89 and will install it tomorrow.

On 11/23/2020 3:43 PM, badgolferman wrote: ...

??? What would that look like for <$100???

Probably something like this:

It's missing the little flush handle where all the germs gather after people use their right hands for other things.

On Mon, 23 Nov 2020 21:43:43 +0000 (UTC), badgolferman posted for all of us to digest...

That's one way, it may be best. Choose carefully, everyone here has their favorites. Don't get flushed ;)