About speedball1 Expertise About me: My Plumbing Expertise: I retired from plumbing after a lifetime in the trade. all phases from service and upkeep to construction, both residential and commercial. I am qualified to do anything in plumbing from fixing a leaky faucet to drafting a set of plans for a commercial shopping center and supervising the construction. My last five years were spent as a trouble shooter for a large plumbing company. I took on all my companys complaints. I have been a expert on the plumbing page at Askme.com. In a field of 200 experts my rating was number one. You may also find me at Answerway.com and AskMe Help Desk.com. This is fun for me and if I can help anybody out that`s iceing on the cake. Degrees & Certifications: As for degrees, I don`t have any. Just a Journeymans ticket, but hey! How about fifty years experience?
Experience Life Experience? Hmmmmmmm! Ran away at 15 and joined a carnival, Navy at 17 Merchant marine at 19 I've had a hellava life.
Question I had a plumber replace the fill valve, flapper, bolts, washers, and supply line in my toilet about 2 months ago. For the past two nights, the toilet will run for a few seconds. I have also noticed that there seems to be a 6 hour time span between the last flush and when it starts to run. I put food coloring in the tank this morning and it took about 2-3 hours before the water in the toilet started to turn blue. My plumber told me that the part we didn't replace (flush valve?), can last 30-40 years and usually don't need replacing. I prefer to fix this problem myself. Any idea what could be going on?
Thanks... Michelle
Answer Hi Michelle, The only way food coloring can get to the bowl is past the flapper and the flush valve. The fact that it takes so long for the color to seep down leads me to believe that if the flapper's ok and there isn't any humps, waves or trash on the flat side then the fault must lie in the seat itself. Take your fingernail and run it all around the seat. Any rough edges or nicks? If so you've found your leak. To smooth out the seat, shut the water off at the angle stop and drain the tank. Now take a fine grade sandpaper or sand cloth and smooth out the rough edges. Now turn the water back on and test overnight with the food coloring. Hope this helps and thank you for rating my reply. Tom
