I have a close coupled, toilet pan and cistern. The cistern is flushed by a dual-flush knob in the lid of the cistern.
It is making slightly strange noises, and there is sometimes a leak after flushing, that runs back into the pan.
I can not lift the lid of the cistern to see what is happening. I assumed that the chrome ring around the flush knobs was screwed in or something, but I can not move it!
How do I get into the cistern, please?
PS I am not really a diy type person, but needs must!
It's screwed in. They are, unfortunately, quite common.
As Jim says, unscrew it. Try wearing rubber gloves for extra grip.
The leak into the pan is either the fill valve not shutting off properly, or the flush valve seal leaking.
If its a short 'spurt' of water into the pan which then stops, they just do that :-)
I'd guess the flush valve is a SIAMP like this;
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If so, its a bayonet fit so you can push & twist like a light bulb & it will come out (turn water off first).. There is a black rubber seal at the bottom. A 'PROPER' plumbers merchant will probably have them e.g. not B&Q/Homebase.
The chrome ring WILL come off. But if you are having problems with this it is unlikely that you will be able to fix the problem. With respects it is best that you ring your nearest local plumber.
Bill Wright wrote in news:l9b3ed$4tp$2 @speranza.aioe.org:
Many will not have the spares and will want to fit a new bog. Easier for them - more profit for them - and you won't have time to choose what you want. Unfortunately now there are too many types of mechanisms and plumbers don't take the time to understand them - a sharp intake of breath and they will say it is one that was never any good and you need a new one.
That would be my preferred option, but past experience show that the plumbers around here are not interested in small job, and in our out of town location. They will either not respond to a phone message, or promise to call, but never appear!
If you live in the middle of nowhere then you really should have some emergency cover. I know somebody who has that British Gas cover, his wife took it out despite his feeble objections. His bog was doing exactly the same as yours. Out comes the British Gas guy and fits new innards. No charge. The cover is not cheap. Food for thought?
A loo at my mum's house does this sometimes, usually after someone has done a thorough flush rather than a quick one. On her loo, the buttons push air down a flexible tube to the flush valve which I think is in the bottom of the cistern; I suspect that the air spurt inflates something which then lifts some plug that blocks the flow of water to the bowl. Anyway, the thing that lifts doesn't always reseat itself into the recess it would normally sit in... and so there's a route out of the cistern to the bowl, through which there's s steady flow of water.
The loo concerned has a concealed cistern so that even when the access panel is levered off the enclosing box it only gives one limited access to the cistern. I've found though that I can sit on the seat and stick my hands into the cistern and feel around in the central plastic assembly until I can
- just - reach the top of the part that lifts to allow the flush to happen - it seems to be a hollow(?) cylinder that's quite a few inches tall. A bit of a jiggle and one can hear and feel it slot back into place at the foot of the cistern. Then, I find I have to wait a few seconds before pressing an air-release button works again... but it does.
It's a nuisance; the only good solution involves replacing the cistern & valve with something more reliable which will be costly - I'd probably do it if it were my house but mum would want "a proper plumber" to do it so that the cabinet and the wc-to-cabinet cosmetic seals are all redone nicely and the whole thing still looks pristine.
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