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Need some help- my toilet is broken! When I flushed, the water went down the drain and when it came back up it was way lower than it was originally. The strength of the flush is very weak now, I am afraid to even flush toilet paper down it.
I live alone and am a young female with no family or friends nearby. I really do not want to call a plumber b/c I can't afford it.
What are some ways I could go about fixing this myself? I'm not exactly sure what's wrong, and I don't want to screw it up even more.
Sounds like you aren't getting a full 1.5 gallon flush out of it. It needs the tank on the back to be full to the top of the float in order to get enough force to pull the water down into the sewer line. Consequently, it uses the water from the tank to fill the bowl before the next flush.
Take the top off of the back of the toilet tank at the top.
Don't put anything in the toilet and flush it again.
Observe how it fills back up. There will be a little chain to a suction cup at the bottom of the tank. That suction cup should close the tank to start refilling. There is also a float (the big black ball) in the tank... as the water fills up, that float should raise until it gets to the right level to fill up the tank and then that float will close a valve to make the water stop filling the tank on the back.
Check to make sure that when you flush, both the suction cup opens all the way and allows the water to exit the tank, and then verify that it suctions closed before it starts filling. Also verify that the tank fills up. You can lift up and down on that float arm to and the water will turn off and on.
If all of that is working correctly, my guess is that you have a small leak in the suction mechanism and you didn't flush for awhile. The water in the tank leaked out and the float didn't go down with the water level so it never refilled the tank.
Report back after learning the inside of the tank and what you see happening.
I did all that, but couldn't figure out what was wrong...everything looked ok to me.
There is no ball though. I definitely do not have a float ball. I do have some weird plastic thing...
Hmm... when you flush it and then wait for the tank to stop filling, does it do the same thing? Is the next flush weak too? Have to wait for it to stop filling and flush right away.
Hmm... when you flush it and then wait for the tank to stop filling, does it do the same thing? Is the next flush weak too? Have to wait for it to stop filling and flush right away.
I don't know...I am at work right now. All I know is when I flush, it fills up the toilet and then sucks the water back in until barely anything is left. The flush is very weak, toilet paper barely goes down. It isn't a normal level of water in the toilet. The flush isn't powerful enough for...ummm, #2.
Five gallon bucket - tub or shower to fill - pour into used toilet to flush until problem is fixed. Take 3 photos of the inside of tank (left, right, straight down), post here.
Sounds like a partial clog. A Good plunger should fix that problem (the kind that has the lip on it- not the cheapo red one that looks like a trumpet horn).
Location: Visitation between Wal-Mart & Home Depot
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I think you may have a clogged vent stack. The vent stack is a piece of pipe that will project through the roof vertically; you should be able to see a little "chimney" sticking up through the roof and you may be able to identify which one goes to that toilet if you know about where the bathroom is from outside the house. Can you see a birds nest in there? Maybe wasps or mud daubers? Is this a house you own? An apartment? A rental? Old or new house?
Nothing worse than having your toilet "Take A Dump..!"
Sorry, couldn't help myself...!
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