My toilet was taking a while to fill up and making a loud high pitched noise whenever the water filled up the tank. Thinking there was something wrong with the old floating ball tank valve, I replaced it. I came to find out that was not the problem and it was instead the shut off valve feeding the water into the tank. There must have been something wrong with the guts of the valve to cause so much noise and restricted water flow, maybe debris or something.
The other day I finally find some time to disassemble the shut off valve. It is soldered on to the copper pipe that comes out of the tiled floor of the bathroom. I found a broken rubber washer on the outlet side of the valve that had migrated through the valve from the internal stem that seals the flow from the pipe. The local hardware store had nothing remotely near the size of the washer I needed so the guy suggested replacing the valve. I was not too keen on cutting off the old one and putting a compression fitted type on there so I asked to see the washers for myself. I found washers that were the correct outside and inside diameter sizes but too thin. I bought two washers and stacked them to make the approximate thickness required. Total cost = $0.36.
I have put the valve back together and everything seems to work fine for now. Did I do anything that will get me later? Should I consider replacing the valve anyway?