Toilet Troubles

[rp2813]

Matt, why do I get the sense that you would know more about this than most people?

Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

Thanks for the advice, I'll be checking water flow before I do anything radical.

Ralph

 

[mattl]

Funny.....

(hope it helps though...)

 

[rp2813]

You know, with the first flush this morning (it behaved perfectly) it's clear that plenty of water is going into the bowl. I'll have to check the vent pipe once the heat wave here breaks. It's too hot today to go on the roof. It's the intermittent nature of the problem that has me stumped.

Thanks again for all the suggestions.

 

[spankomatic]

The toilet that keeps you in suspense...

This thread reminds me of "Lets Make A Deal" with Monty Hall.LOL

Is it door

#1 The vent pipe that is clogged
#2 The float device with a hole in it
#3 Dental floss
#4 City Sewer system backed up
#5 Paranormal (toilet is haunted)

We will be right back,right after this HEAT WAVE. (JUST LIKE A COMMERCIAL)

We are all on pins and needles....tic tic tic

This is better than T.V. (no cable bill)

 

[pulsator-power]

It sounds like the float mechanism to me... You can get a replacement at Home Depot or Lowes pretty inexpensively.
If you're on a well it's not good to let it keep running
because your well can go dry.
Jerry

 

[peterh770]

I have had this happen several times in the toilet at my laundries. It is usually something in there that partially blocks the passage. The snake goes right by it, but when material is flushed, it gets hung up on the object until it dissolves away. Got to take the bowl apart and go fishing up in there to get it out. Could be a cell phone, part of the TP spindle, a toy... You got to go fishing for the prize!

 

[sudsmaster]

It could also be an obstruction inside the toilet itself.

When I was in my teens, I tried to dislodge a clog with the toilet brush. The head of the brush fell off during a flush and got sucked into the toilet, where it lodged halfway.

After much commotion the plumber the landlady hired said he had to replace the toilet - he couldn't get the brush head out from the labrynth. I was in the dog house for quite a while about that one.

I mention this because at the estate sale someone may have inadvertantly dropped something into the toilet and tried to flush it through. There are fiber optic cameras available that might help you determine if that is the case. A snake might not detect the object, if it's only a partial blockage. And snakes can damage the porcelain of the bowl.

I also recall a news story in recent months of a sewer line blockage at a local college. Turned out to be an iPhone that someone had accidentally flushed. They used some sort of special device to travel the sewer pipe with a camera - many yards - and the TV showed the picture of the iPhone lodged sideways in the pipe.

Who knows? Maybe that's where those machinist squares went ;-)...

 

[xyz]

I'm no plumber at all but we once had to call a master plumber out to an old house I once lived in. Seemed that a squirrel has stored acorns year after year down the vent pipe until it had completelt stopped the thing up. I can't even remember what my plumber did but will always never rule out such a thing happening again.

 

[rp2813]

Well, it's behaving well enough for now that I'm hesitating to pull it. And Rich, I do think it's an obstruction more than anything else. Since we may be blowing up that bathroom, I may wait it out.

I think I may have found something like those squares, but am not sure. Not the same ones, but I'll check 'em and get back to you Rich.

Jim, you crack me up! And come to think of it, I know this toilet has swallowed its share of dental floss over the decades. Hmmmmm. . .