WC not flushing properly

[dison]

My daughter has recently moved into a new flat. The toilet takes about 3 - 4 attempts pushing the handle down & making a gurgling noises before it will flush. How can I fix this for her?

Andy.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

The diaphragm needs replacing. That's the bit that acts as a piston to lift up the water. Means stripping down the cistern, but it's fairly straightforward.

[John]

It sounds like the diaphram has torn in the flushing syphon. This is located in the bottom of the cistern in the large rectangular part you can see when you look in the cistern. If you are lucky (more likely on a new / modern toilet) you can disassemble these from inside the cistern, after flushing and turning the water off first of course. If you're not so lucky then the cistern needs to be removed from the pan which is held on by two nuts, sometimes wing nuts, which are *bound* to be rusty and need cutting off, then the whloe flushing assembly is removed from the cistern by undoing the large nut on the bottom of the cistern. You will then see the diaphram (rectangular piece of polythene type material).

Just one thing to try before ANY disassembly etc, is make sure the linkage wire between the handle spigot and the plunger is pulling up in a vertical plane. My Mum had the same problem and when I went over prepared to do all the above I found the linkage was pulling at an angle, lined it all up and Robert's your mother's brother, been flushing OK now for over 12 months.

HTH

John

[Richard Porter]

There are three possibilities:

1. water level too low;
2. syphon worn out or damaged;
3. handle linkage loose or worn out.

If he water level in the cistern is low then adjust the ball valve to raise it (if there's no adjustment screw or other means of adjustment you will have to bend the rod). If the ball c*ck itself is scaled up it may be shutting off too early. If necessary fit a complete new ball c*ck.

The syphon may be worn out and is letting in too much air past the actuating shaft or letting too much water flow back past the piston. Assuming it's the usual type of cistern coupled to the pan by a short pipe you can buy a new syphon unit from most DIY stores, builders' merchants and plumbers' merchants. If it's a close coupled cistern you'd probably need to get the correct part and that won't be quite as simple to fit.

If the handle is very sloppy it may not be pulling the piston all the way up. Check that the retaining screw round the bush is tight and that the linkage is tight. Again you can buy new handle assemblies if required, but tightening up the screw that secures the lever to the shaft may be all that's required. If the lever length is adjustable (i.e. it's a rod that slides through a clamp on the handle shaft) then making it a bit longer may help.

On the other hand if the whole cistern is totally knackered get the landlord to fit a new one or at least agree to pay for it. They're not that expensive.

In short, take the lid off and see why it's not working properly.

[D]

Check the water actually comes up to the line before ripping anything out. A low water level would create a similar problem.

[Ian Stirling]

Heavy duty clear plastic polythene sacks (jewson) make good washers. (you may need to trim them unless you have an unusually large flush.)