Sometimes, the chain that connects the rod with the flapper is too short, it won’t allow the flapper to close completely and water will leak into the toilet bowl. The excess water is constantly flowing out of the tank and down the drain. We want help you become smarter, happier homeowners and we share all the tips and tricks to help you take owning a house to the next level. When your toilet is running it means that the water from the tank is flowing into the bowl one way or another through the drain valve (see the causes above). This can happen on older-model toilets that have a ball float rather than a float valve. Check the items mentioned to see where the water leak is coming from. If the chain is too short, the valve will always open when it is not needed and he water rinses in the tank continuously. Follow answered Aug 19 … A running toilet shouldn’t be ignored for too long. On occasion, your toilet’s fill valve may have a leak that is causing your toilet to run … Remove your existing flapper from your toilet tank by disconnecting the hook from the trip lever arm and removing the arms of the flapper from the flush valve. If the chain is too short, it won't let the flapper fall into the full open position. If your flapper appears in fine condition, check that the chain going to the toilet handle isn’t too short. Once the … An out-of-position flapper will cause a toilet to constantly run after flushing, whether it is due to the length of the toilet chain or another issue related to the toilet chain. It is important that the chain is the correct length. If … Click Here for Maintenance and Service Parts, Adjust the Amount of Water in a Toilet Tank, Class Five and Ingenium Flushing Systems in Toilets. Disconnect the bad flapper valve. Adjusting the chain can solve this problem. When you depress the toilet’s handle, you’re also raising the chain. I don't understand how to fix this. But if the chain is too long, the valve cover will not pulled up when you remove it, and water cannot drain. What’s worse is that your toilet if left for too long, can start to add up to serious dollars on your water bill. By replacing the fill valve you may have set the float cup too high and that is why it’s now running constantly. The chain has to be just right, for everything to work. The flapper chain connects to both the flapper and the toilet’s handle. If your toilet is running it’s best to stop it as soon as possible. Luckily, adjusting the chain is easy. We may receive a referral fee if you sign up through the referral links on this site. Click Here to Find a Local Professional Plumber, How to improve your toilet flushing power, How to unclog a sink (kitchen or bathroom). To fix a toilet that keeps running follow these steps. If there seems not to be enough slack, adjust the chain so that the flapper can sit all the way down on the valve. Remove the tank lid of the tank and put it somewhere out of the way where it won’t get damaged. A chain that is too long, may interfere with the flapper closing completely. There should be some play in the chain, but not enough to where a pull of the flush handle won't lift the flapper up from it's seat. If there is any kind of gap between the flapper and the hole, there will be a hissing sound. This post may contain affiliate links which go towards keeping this site running. Your refill tube should sit on top of the overflow pipe or else it could cause your toilet to constantly run. If that happens, you’ll need to replace it. Doing so ensures the flapper or canister valve seals properly and provides the correct amount of chain length for a proper flush. This page may contain affiliate links. Here is what you need to inspect. If it is too short, the flapper will likely not be able to settle on the drainage hole and create a proper seal. It connects in 2 … During other times, the flapper chain maybe just too long. Another thing that could result in is ghost flushing. Leaky Fill Valve. One simple readjustment by hand can make your flapper-chain combo do its job. The flapper chain is what allows the flapper to lift up-and-down as required when the toilet is flushed. To correct this issue, adjust the chain that is attached to the flapper or canister flush valve. Once the tank starts to fill again, the flapper will slam shut. You’ll know this if you feel tension when you push the handle. Raising the chain lifts the flapper, allowing water to flow into the bowl. Improve this answer. You need slack in the chain, but not so much … You can get clips (or if you purchased a toilet fill valve you may have one already) and you want the tube to be sitting just above the tube, otherwise it will pull water from the tank into the tube. If the canister flush valve or flapper in a toilet does not lift high enough, it will drop down too soon and provide an inadequate amount of water, causing a poor toilet flush. Luckily fixing a running toilet is very easy to do and can often be done without a plumber. However, the lever shouldn’t be too short too long. The lever can break or crack over time. What’s worse is that your toilet if left for too long, can start to add up to serious dollars on your water bill. Use a screwdriver to adjust the height of your float cup so the toilet stops running. The flapper chain connects the flush lever and the flapper. This can happen if the toilet float arm is bent or the float ball is stuck above the water level. Next, check the flush valve (what the flapper sits on) for any cracks or damage. If the chain is too short, it may prevent the flapper from closing and making a seal, which would allow water to leak into the bowl. If this is the case, you will need to replace the fill valve with a newer model. If the chain is too loose and the flapper doesn't completely seal the hole, move the paperclip to a chain link closer to the toilet handle or add another 1 to 2 paperclip links. Sometimes, the chain has too much play in it. The toilet flapper (such as these) is a rubber paddle that covers the flush valve opening at the bottom of your toilet tank. If it has simply come disconnected, find the hook or closing loop connector on the ends. If that linkage is too long or too short, it can cause a problem. If the chain is too short, it won’t have enough slack to allow the flapper to settle on its seat. When you depress the toilet’s handle, the chain lifts the flapper up. A toilet lift chain that is too short or too long will also always fall off in frustrating fashion as … We exist to make life easier for homeowners. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. When the chain is long, it will get stuck between the flush valve and … The flapper is a large semicircular sheet of rubber that sits over the hole that releases the water from the tank into the toilet. If the chain is too long, it may double over or form a kink that doesn't allow the flapper to reseat properly after flushing. The reason for this is that the refill tube is too long and is creating a syphoning effect from the tank into the overflow tube. There are lots of things that can cause a toilet to run constantly, but if this issue is caused by the lift chain, it’s because the lift chain is either too short or too long. The refill tube is too long. Share. There are three things that can cause your flapper to have problems: the chain is too long, the chain is too short, or the flapper has gone bad. Advertisement . If the chain is too long, it won't lift the flapper enough. If the links have been bent, try to bend them back carefully with needle nose pliers. If none of these are your issue, you may need to bring in a professional plumber to help you with further identifying the issue. The problem may be that the flapper chain is one or two links too short and doesn’t allow the flapper to seat properly. If the refill tube is too long the water will go from the toilet tank to the overflow valve causing your tank to continuously run. I am not a financial advisor, banker, money manager or anything else of that sort. Generic or universal flappers are often too lightweight to drop securely back into place after a flush. ), Tile Calculator: Estimate Your Tile Project for Free, Final thoughts on how to fix a running toilet, Turn off the water supply at the shutoff valve below the toilet, How to fix a toilet tank that isn’t filling up. You can see that the chain is too short if the flapper is continuously pulled even when the flush lever is already at rest. (2) Drain the tank by … This means they let too much … If the chain is too long, the flapper won't lift all the way and will drop too soon, resulting in an incomplete flush. It’s a fairly cheap repair and easy to do. If the toilet flapper stays up for too long, this is usually because your toilet has been fitted with a generic or universal flapper instead of one that was manufactured for the particular brand and model of your toilet. If you see any damage on the flush valve it will need to be replaced. Your toilet running constantly can be a source of aggravation. (1) Turn off the water for the toilet at the toilet water supply valve. Ultimately the reason is that there is water leaking from the tank into the toilet bowl due to a faulty part or a water level being too high. Drain as much water from the tank as you can. Another reason for the flapper not closing is that the chain going from the lift arm to the flapper is too short. After you’ve adjusted it or attached the new flapper, turn the water supply back on and flush the toilet a couple of times to check that the chain isn’t too loose to start the flushing process. Is the flapper chain set too short/tight? Doing so ensures the … If it has too much slack, the flapper may not raise up all the way when the handle is pushed. It also has a chain that is attached to a mechanism that lifts it up when the toilet flushes. Method 2 of 2: Replacing Your Toilet Flapper Valve. If the chain is too short, the flapper may not close all of the way, allowing water to leak into the bowl. The opposite can also happen if the flapper chain is too long. 1). Make sure that it is connected to flapper and trip lever, it is not broken, and none of its links are bent out of shape. Lifting the flapper allows the tank’s water to fall into the toilet bowl, triggering the toilet’s flush. Sounds like the chain is too short. To prevent all the water from going from the fill valve straight down the drain, you … When you press the handle to flush the toilet, it lifts a chain which in turns pulls up the toilet flapper and releases the water from the tank into the bowl. If the chain is too tight, try removing the hook lever to the … This site to be for entertainment purposes only. If the chain is too long, it might fall under the flapper and break the seal. Here’s. You can either call our … If the chain is too long or too short, it could interfere with how the flapper sits in the tank and create leaks. Another thing that is less common is that the overflow pipe is cracked. Or they are otherwise unable to create a perfect seal. Unhook the chain at the flapper end by using a needle nose pliers to pry open the clip holding the chain to the flapper (Fig. Potential problems with this flapper include having a chain that is too short or long. Inspect the flapper and make sure it is free of any build up, removing the build up could solve your problem. If the float cup is set too high water will keep running into the overflow pipe causing water to continuously run. To fix this adjust the float arm in the float ball to the right level so that it shuts off after the water it’s the soul level on the tank. The toilet chain is used in the majority of toilet designs to lift up the flapper, allowing water to rush from the tank into the bowl, flushing the contents of the toilet bowl into the sewer. There will be a screw on the top of the fill valve that can adjust the height of the float ball. It should only have a small amount of slack. A more modern type of flapper is a rubber one, which is a simple and dependable design. The toilet fill valve’s job is to take water from your supply line and deliver it to the … 10 Things to Look for When Viewing a House, 50+ Things to Look for When Buying a House, Buying Your First Home With Unshakeable Confidence, 20+ Critical Things To Do After You Move Into A New House, How Much Rent Can I Afford? How do you fix a toilet that keeps running? Please see our, Your toilet running constantly can be a source of aggravation. Related: How to fix a toilet tank that isn’t filling up. Now, press the toilet handle down until the … It’s also a good idea to know what type of toilet you have. This is often the case when you have a toilet that keeps running intermittently. If the chain is too short, it prevents the flapper from easily falling and completely closing the hole so the tank refills. There are a few types of flapper chains, but they all serve the same basic function. A toilet handle is directly connected with the flush rod, which you can identify by opening the tank and lowering the handle. W hen a toilet's flush is too short or the toilet runs continuously, the problem may be with the flush handle linkage. If the chain is not attached correctly (or if it is too long or too short), this can hinder the flapper’s ability to completely seal the hole, thus resulting in a randomly running toilet. Until you get a longer chain, unfasten the short one—it’s often clipped to an “arm” inside the tank—and re-attach it using a paperclip or a few paperclips, if need be, to add length. If the chain is too long or too short, it could interfere with how the flapper sits in the tank and create leaks. If the chain is not connected to the flapper, … This is the tube that runs from the toilet fill valve into the overflow tube. This could be due to the fact that the flapper is worn out and it’s not for me to properly seal on the drain. The lever in a chainless toilet flapper looks like an arm that is attached on the toilet flush handle from one end and a rod on the other end. It's like the flapper just flies up and sort of floats around until the water level gets low enough for it to lose buoyancy and go down again. The chain connecting the toilet flapper to the flush handle is the source of many flushing problems. The flapper has to come up past vertical, so that it's out of the way for the full flush. The flapper chain connects to both the flapper and the toilet’s handle. Please seek a professional for any real advice. In most models, this is done by pressing the handle, which lifts the chain inside the tank using a simple lever. Fix your toilet flapper’s length. If the flow stops when you touch the flapper, check the spot where the flapper seats. Examine the flapper chain. If the chain is too short, on the other hand, the flapper lifts too high and doesn't drop back into position. When you inspect the float valve the casing could be cracked causing water to continuously leak out of it. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. (Use plastic-coated paperclips if possible; they’ll last longer.) If there looks like there is build up give the flush valve a wipe to see if the build up can be easily removed. The toilet tank flapper is a simple toilet part, a ... a short or stuck flapper chain can make it impossible for the rubber seal to flush correctly. 1. The chain should not be loose; allow for only one or two lengths of slack in the chain. The flapper should be free of any residue or build up. The main source for a toilet to keep running is that the flapper isn’t properly closing. Your toilet could also be running if the water level in the tank is not enough or if the water is too much. It could be that the chain is sometimes getting stuck in between the flapper in the drain valve and other times it’s not. … (Free Rent Affordability Calculator), Mortgage Payoff Calculator (your new debt free secret weapon! While a toilet that runs constantly isn’t bad, it is money running down the drain. Repair the leak once you have identified where the water is leaking using the methods above. To investigate a bad flapper, you’ll first need to turn off the water supply and then flush the toilet to drain the tank of water. A functioning flapper will raise and lower smoothly and settle back over the flush valve without creating gaps. The slack in the chain could get caught in between the flapper and the drain valve causing the flapper not to seal properly and the water will continue to run. Your toilet will be running for one of several reasons. I have tried attaching a float to the flapper chain, but adjusting the float hasn't made a difference one … It will tell you whether the problem is a weak seal or something more innocuous, like a chain that’s pulled too tight. If you have a newer model the float cup on the float valve may be set too high and you will need to adjust it to a lower water level. If you check the length of the connection and is too long or too short, the exhaust valve will not work as it should work. Similar to the ball flapper, this one needs the right size chain in order to function … This will cause the water to leak through the overflow tube and down into the bowl causing your toilet to continuously run or cycle running on and off over time. The chain should not be loose; allow for only one or two lengths of slack in the chain. If the toilet chain is too short, it will also be too tight to comfortably allow the flapper to take its position as the seal in the water tank. If there is not enough slack in the chain the flapper will not fully close and the seal won’t properly form causing water to go down the drain valve and into the toilet bowl. In very vintage models, the chain is very long and hangs outside the toilet where it's used in place of a … Raising the chain lifts the flapper, allowing water to flow into the bowl. If you find that your toilet runs sometimes and doesn’t at other times. 3. Ghost flushing is where it sounds like your toilet is flushing on its own every so often. The tube should be sitting just above the overflow tube. This flapper resembles a cap that sits on top of the overflow pipe. This means that there is something in the toilet tank that needs to be fixed. If everything else seems in place you will need to replace the toilet flapper. The toilet flapper is controlled by a chain that is connects the toilet handle to the flapper. A Leak in the Fill Valve. When you depress the toilet’s handle, you’re also raising the chain. 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