Two actual home repair questions

[Kurt Ullman]

Yeah, I know, I am about the last person anyone would have thought would ask an actual on-topic question. Here goes: I have an electrical outlet by the pool that is tripped and won't reset and there is a small red light on it that is on and stays on. Replace or wait a day or two (I got like 8 inches of rain over the last

48 hours to it might be just wet. The toilet is running. It doesn't have a ball, but rather one of those ring thingys. Sometimes I can just lift the ring up and it stops, so I was wondering if there was some kind of adjustment I could make or if I need to replace the assembly. Even then it appears that the flapper is also not seating properly. I replaced it and it does stop if I push down on it. Is it likely that I need to clean off the outlet so it seats better or something else going on?

[hrhofmann]

The seat the flapper pushes against may be cracked or worn. You may have to replace the entire float, flapper, and seat assembly. But, there are seat repair kits available that fit over the current seat, but they are hard to find and I don't know how well they work.

[RBM]

It could just be wet. You could try putting silicone sealant on any threaded knockouts on that box. I also drill small weep holes on the bottom of a rain-tight box.

[DerbyDad03]

Sealant on the knockout should wait until the box has dried out/the problem is determined. No sense sealing the moisture in!

Obviously you'll kill the power at the breaker box before drilling weep holes. (Nothing personal, I'm saying it just in case.)

Of course, we're making the assumption that the problem is at the box. Are there any devices downstream of this (assumed) GFCI receptacle that might have tripped it? There may not be anything plugged into it, but it could be serving as the protection for downstream devices.

[Kurt Ullman]

I never noticed the small red light before. That doesn't tell me anything new?

[Borrall Wonnell]

Lifting the ring will stop more water from entering the tank. This is not your problem.

The flapper is your problem, it is letting water out of the tank. Clean the flapper and the area where it is sealed. The easiest way to do this is to drain your tank. Turn off the water supply and flush.

You may need to try a different flapper. I've found the best ones have a rubber cup (air trap) on the bottom. Even if it seems that there is no leak, you may still have a slow leak. To test, turn off the water supply when you have a full tank. Come back in an hour to check the water level. If the tank is still full, you've fixed your problem.

Also, flapper chain length is critical. Make sure it isn't too short or you'll continue to leak. If it is too long, you'll have to hold it for a longer period of time to get a full flush. HTH.

[Malcom "Mal" Reynolds]

I've had similar problems with my toilet. Turned out that some dirt had got in the top of the tower part of this. Cleaned it out and it stopped leaking

[Mark]

extra points for anyone that can identify a COMMON cause to both or these problems..

Mark

[Kurt Ullman]

I changed the flapper and it isn't fitting well and definitely still leaking.

[Kurt Ullman]

I have done that a couple of time and REALLY don't want to again if there is other alternative.

[Larry Fishel]

You most likely got the wrong size (or type) of flapper. Measure the hole and look at how the flapper attaches and go get the right one. If you have the old one and are pretty sure it's right, take it to the store with you.

Don't bother trying to figure out what else might be wrong until you have a new, correct flapper installed.

[Kurt Ullman]

This would be the fourth one in six weeks between my house, my kid's house and my in-laws. I am SO trying to avoid that again if at all possible. (grin).

[DerbyDad03]

Or spend a little more and buy a dual-flush mechanism and save water.

Or spend a little more than that and buy a new 1.28 gallon flush toilet, complete with new innards and be done for years and save money on water too!

[Gary H]

[snip]

In my case, the food coloring is MUCH better. I have that here.

[Evan]

+1...

I also see many electricians apply a bead of silicone caulk along the upper edge of the box before installing the rubber gasket and cover plate...

~~ Evan