I know we have a few plumbers in the house.

westmassguy

1st, I'm not ignorant when it comes to plumbing, I was an HVAC Tech for many years, trained by some pretty smart people, and I'm pretty handy.
I have an American Standard "Hamilton", one piece toilet, model # 2092. It's probably 10-12 years old. I've replaced all the internals on this thing, and it's driving me nuts. There's a leak between the tank and the bowl. It's very slight, but enough for the fill valve to have to top off every 5-10 min. At first I thought it was the fill valve, so that was replaced with a Fluidmaster Anti Siphon Valve. Then I replaced the flapper, 1st with a Korky universal, then an actual American Standard flapper. That didn't work, so I just replaced the entire flush valve, with the correct American Standard replacement. It's still leaking.
There was no sealant or putty when I took the old flush valve out.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

FestYboy

What lead to replacing the internals to begin with? The slow tank leak or something else?

westmassguy

Tank leak

pitdogg2

have you tried the food coloring trick at night?

pitdogg2

have you tried the food coloring trick at night?

DaveHo

The tube that shoots water into the flush valve overflow tube. Make sure that it does not exit below the water level in the tank or it will siphon water.

FestYboy

A quick look says a small bead of silicon at the flapper base to tank interface should do the trick. I suspect there's some etching at the flange that allows water to pass.

Viking64

1) Dynamat Xtreme on the inside of the tank.

2) New caps, resistors, inductors in the float.

3) Loctite the seat to the bowl.

4) Replace copper SDA pipe between upstairs toilet and downstairs toilet.

motorhead43026

M80 and flush, problem solved. That will take care of the small leak anyway.

mrbigbluelight

Well, that may have not been the MOST helpful bit of advice, but still ..... that was pretty good.

The other dawg's advice (pitdog) will tell you a lot right away.
Go to the supermarket and get some good ol' red dye. Dump the whole bottle in the tank. Wait 10 minutes and observe.
If you see red in the bowl, it's sneaking by the flapper base.
If you see red on the floor, or on the lines leading to the fill valve, you have a leak where the fill assembly attaches to the tank.

I say put the whole bottle of red dye in the tank to avoid wasting time and to help eliminate some guess work.
"I think I see where it's leaking from" goes out the window if you use enough dye to really see what's happening.

As an hvac guy, you could dump some liquid R12 in the tank and get your sniffer out.


BTW, I assume that the toilet is "self-fllushing" occasionally because the actual level in the tank is going down.

westmassguy

pitdogg2 wrote: »

have you tried the food coloring trick at night?

I know where the water is coming from.

DaveHo wrote: »

The tube that shoots water into the flush valve overflow tube. Make sure that it does not exit below the water level in the tank or it will siphon water.

It doesn't.

FestYboy wrote: »

A quick look says a small bead of silicon at the flapper base to tank interface should do the trick. I suspect there's some etching at the flange that allows water to pass.

I saw that as well, but it puts the toilet out of commission for long time

westmassguy

mrbigbluelight wrote: »

Well, that may have not been the MOST helpful bit of advice, but still ..... that was pretty good.

The other dawg's advice (pitdog) will tell you a lot right away.
Go to the supermarket and get some good ol' red dye. Dump the whole bottle in the tank. Wait 10 minutes and observe.
If you see red in the bowl, it's sneaking by the flapper base.
If you see red on the floor, or on the lines leading to the fill valve, you have a leak where the fill assembly attaches to the tank.

I say put the whole bottle of red dye in the tank to avoid wasting time and to help eliminate some guess work.
"I think I see where it's leaking from" goes out the window if you use enough dye to really see what's happening.

As an hvac guy, you could dump some liquid R12 in the tank and get your sniffer out.


BTW, I assume that the toilet is "self-fllushing" occasionally because the actual level in the tank is going down.

I wish I had a full tank of R12. I could sell it, remodel both bathrooms and still have money left over.

westmassguy

Viking64 wrote: »

1) Dynamat Xtreme on the inside of the tank.

2) New caps, resistors, inductors in the float.

3) Loctite the seat to the bowl.

4) Replace copper SDA pipe between upstairs toilet and downstairs toilet.

Too many soldering fumes for you

westmassguy

motorhead43026 wrote: »

M80 and flush, problem solved. That will take care of the small leak anyway.

I may pop one in my mouth if this keeps up

pitdogg2

westmassguy wrote: »

motorhead43026 wrote: »

M80 and flush, problem solved. That will take care of the small leak anyway.

I may pop one in my mouth if this keeps up

That sure would wreck all the good work the Doctor just did

mhardy6647

motorhead43026 wrote: »

M80 and flush, problem solved. That will take care of the small leak anyway.

Good point; there are two ways to mitigate a small leak, and he didn't specify which way he wanted to go with it.



I like the siphon idea suggested earlier -- although I've gotta say that my knee-jerk response, given what he's already done, would be to say "replace the terlit". They're not that expensive and they're not that hard to replace (as long as one resists the temptation to overtighten anything when installing!).

DaveHo

Casting flash on the flush valve seat? Since it's new there won't mineral build-up, but just for gits & shiggles take a mr clean magic eraser to the flush valve seat & put a light coating of plumber's grease or vasoline on the flapper surface that mates with the flush valve. Still leaking?

westmassguy

pitdogg2 wrote: »

westmassguy wrote: »

motorhead43026 wrote: »

M80 and flush, problem solved. That will take care of the small leak anyway.

I may pop one in my mouth if this keeps up

That sure would wreck all the good work the Doctor just did


So the water is coming from the flap area? is it getting under the connection there?

Yes I believe so. I'll have to find some type of sealant

westmassguy

DaveHo wrote: »

Casting flash on the flush valve seat? Since it's new there won't mineral build-up, but just for gits & shiggles take a mr clean magic eraser to the flush valve seat & put a light coating of plumber's grease or vasoline on the flapper surface that mates with the flush valve. Still leaking?

The seat is smooth as a baby's behind. I even applied pressure with my finger to the flapped to seat it. There's either a hole in the ceramic, or it's leaking under the flapper valve. It's basically a large compression seal. It's just not sealing. I even tried rotating it, maybe find a sweet spot.

FestYboy

Rtv would do it (shorter dry time) or, hot glue!!! Not sure why I didn't think of it earlier, it almost instant and won't damage anything.

pitdogg2

I was having the same problem with my mom's. like you drove me nuts, I ended up replacing the darn thing. Those Kohler aqua pistons are very nice. I have had one for 7yrs. never have had to replace the gasket. I bought one for my mom and never looked back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJL71uNmCeo

Moose68Bash

As Dr. Hardy advised, it's time to cut your losses and replace the whole toilet -- unless, of course, it is a vintage American Standard that has a unique soundstage that cannot be matched by any contemporary replacement.

Viking64

There's nothing like mating a vintage American Standard to your "Power Port".

westmassguy

I just hate replacing something, that's in perfect shape otherwise. This really isn't rocket science, we're not talking rocket motors here. Only a couple of moving parts.

westmassguy

Vanilla double post

mrbiron

Wow....didn't know know you had actual plumbing way out there. Learned something new today. Good for you!

Spray flex seal on the inside of the tank.......

Where does it leak to? On the floor...In the bowl...Worm Hole?

pitdogg2

mrbiron wrote: »

Spray flex seal on the inside of the tank.......

this may just be the ticket.....

westmassguy

mrbiron wrote: »

Wow....didn't know know you had actual plumbing way out there. Learned something new today. Good for you!

Spray flex seal on the inside of the tank.......

Where does it leak to? On the floor...In the bowl...Worm Hole?

We just got indoor plumbing last year. Still roll the sidewalks up at night though.
Leaking internally from the tank to the bowl

mrbiron

OK....well since you aren't drinking out of the toilet (if you are then that has to stop immediately) i'd look at flex seal. Pull the flapper, coat the bottom of the tank, and be done with it.

You really are attached to this toilet. Most "sane" people would chuck it for another.
Since you just got plumbing, i understand the connection.

FestYboy

I know you have a hot glue gun... Put that thing to use!

westmassguy

I may try the flex seal. I thought of making a sealing gasket out of plumbers putty, but you can't use it on porous ceramic