A plumbing disaster in the pm

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retro-man

Well-known member
Bronze Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2007
Messages
1,648
Location
- boston,ma
So we are both having flooding issues with toilets lol. I was at work yesterday and heard a strange noise coming from the basement. I went down to investigate opened the basement door and water every where. Ok where is it coming from. I checked all over and walked over to the bathroom and the toilet is overflowing the bowl like a fountain. The sewer ejector pump is running but ceased. I unplugged it for a moment then plugged it back in and it starts right up. It ran for about 4 minutes so there was a lot of water backed up in the system. I take the cover off the tank of the toilet and the chain had come off the handle and bar that raises the flapper. The chain went down under the flapper so it could not seal so the water was running continuously. Pulled the chain back up so flapper could seal and the water stopped. Went to reconnect the chain to the handle and much to my amazement the arm that it attaches to was rusted and part of it broke off and went down the drain. I am suspecting this is what got caught in the impeller of the ejector pump and siezed it. Went to the store and for $4.98 replaced the handle and bar with a plastic one. Many shop vacs full of water later it was cleaned up. Turned the heat up in the basement turned the dehumidifier on and a floor fan for the night and all was dry in the morning. Everyone should check their toilets and replace that metal bar with a plastic one especially if they have an ejector sewer system. My plumber is a great guy and real busy but is coming out Sunday morning to take the ejector pump out and clean the bottom of the tank. I don't want that piece of metal moving around and causing this again. Water water everywhere.
Jon
 
Well, whatever location is right.

Glad I don't have a below grade toilet. The ones above grade are problematic enough.

I did have  a recurring problem with the American Standard lowboy in the master bath. After I replaced the OEM flush valve seat (it's big and unique to A.S.) and associated stuff a few months back, every once in a while it would fail to stop flushing. One day I came home from work and found it had been running all day. I tried a number of fixes, but the one that worked was snipping off the extra ball and socket chain that runs from the flush arm to the flush valve flapper. Apparently the inch or two of extra length was getting hung up on an edge of the flapper assembly and preventing it from falling back onto the flush valve seat. Since then, no more unwanted flushes.
 
What is it with plumbing issues lately?
 I could see how this could happen. The chain that went to the old flapper in our toilet was metal, and very rusted. The handle you speak of is plastic, so fortunately we won't have a problem with that. The new chain is plastic. Shouldn't rust out.
 
I replaced all of my flush valves with the plastic ones that DO NOT need to use a chain....the flush lever goes thru the top and also allows me to STOP a flush in the event of an overflo/backup.....the link shows the chain, the top slot is hidden in the rear of the diagram.....under $10.00

also theres labeling on my basement toilet: Sewage ejection in use, do not flush bulk items, feminine products or paper towels!

http://www.lowes.com/pd_247823-143-..._4294801339_4294937087_?Ns=p_product_prd_lis_
 
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