Cistern does not fill up - until cistern lid removed

[Moo]

I don't know a huge amount about plumbing / toilets, so I'm hoping someone can help me with this.

Recently the toilet cistern has not been filling up. This is easily resolved by simply unscrewing and lifting the cistern lid, and then it fills up without me having to do anything else. It's an intermittent problem, but it's a pain having to unscrew and lift the lid before I can flush it! The toilet I have is a Bellavista Stylo push flush.

Can anyone help explain to me what the problem is and how I can prevent it?

Thanks.

[Sparks]

Can you take a picture of it with the lid off?

If so, don't post the picture here, as that's not allowed, just upload it to something like

and post a link to it here.

Sparks...

[Roger Mills]

The float valve must be getting jammed against the edge of the lid, and it gets released when you remove the lid.

[Moo]

Here is a link to pictures with the lid off. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Moo]

I will check the float valve. Another bit of information: during the last day there has been an intermittent trickle of a small amount of water into the toilet bowl.

[edalerichard]

When you say is it isn't filling.. Safe to say the lid is making no difference. Assuming , you haven't turn the water off before taking lid off...With the bottom, black, cup-like , float in that position it should be filling. Check that it moves freely up and down and at its highest position is not getting jamed against the side of the cistern. Another possible is a bit of crap in the valve. I had a toilet not fill, and a piece of lead shot hadwedged itself firmly into the regulator. Never had a fluidmaster apart..but I think the upper black cup thing should come off and there will be a diaphram washer and a plastic reducer there.Just check those.

> Thanks.

[Heliotrope Smith]

If the trickle is intermittent then it is most likely to be overflow. Adjust the water level in the cistern to stop this If it is continuous then that would point to a bad seal on the outlet. If this is the case then grasp the valve near the base and give a twist and lift it out and clean up the large sealing washer and replace. You can do this with the water switched off or on.

[Andy Hall]

Ah a Fluidmaster.

I've had a couple of these in the past and found them to be poorly made. The float can stick in the bottom position, the top or in between.

I messed around with one carefully removing bits of plastic moulding flash from tha parts and it was still poor.

In the end I slung it out and replaced it with a Torbeck. These do not have this issue.

With all of these equilibrium valves, make sure that you flush them through as recommended before putting the cap on the front. If a piece of grit gets stuck in the needle valve, they can misbehave. This can happen with the fluidmaster as well, but I think you have the stuck float problem instead or as well.

[A.Lee]

When you say is it isn't filling..

snipped loads

I had to change one of these this week, as it was leaking, and to compound it, the overflow was leaking, so the bathroom floor was soaked. Anyway, i tried to take it apart to see what type of washer it had, and I just couldnt prise the top off. I gave up and went to a plumbers merchant who said they hadnt seen one the same as that before (just the same as in the pic,) but sold me a generic replacement, which JUST fitted in the available space, though the OP's cistern looks to have a smaller syphon than the one I had to squeeze it past. Cost around £12, and once fitted worked well. Screwfix do one very similar:

Alan.