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I learned something new about plumbing this past week.
The toilet in my master bathroom was occasionally "running", or filling for a brief few seconds. Not very often, but indicating that something needed attention.
The water level was fine so it had to be a leaking ball, or "flapper", valve. This particular toilet, a Koeler, has a parts diagram on the inside of the tank cover, so I snapped a picture of it with my phone and entered it into my Lowes shopping list.
Lowes has about 5 different ones in stock and of course none for Koehler but I picked up a universal one anyway and installed it. The old one had a foam blob on the chain just above the valve and I didn't think anything of it. I tested the action, and everything seemed satisfactory so I tossed the old assembly in the trash.
A week later my wife complained that the toilet wasn't flushing properly. I demonstrated to her how to do it, press and hold the handle for about two seconds. 'Why should I have to wait for two seconds, I never had to before?' I explained to her that the new valve was a different design, but she would have none of it. Then she went on-and-on about how two seconds per flush adds up over a life time.
(My wife has many virtues, but patience is not one of them. She will freely admit this.)
So I ordered, then installed, a Koehler replacement, with the foam blob on the chain. The blob creates just a little bit of buoyancy on the ball, so it opens quickly. Since this is a "low flush" model, I had to move the blob farther down the chain to increase its buoyancy.
No more two-second delay. Happy wife.
The toilet in my master bathroom was occasionally "running", or filling for a brief few seconds. Not very often, but indicating that something needed attention.
The water level was fine so it had to be a leaking ball, or "flapper", valve. This particular toilet, a Koeler, has a parts diagram on the inside of the tank cover, so I snapped a picture of it with my phone and entered it into my Lowes shopping list.
Lowes has about 5 different ones in stock and of course none for Koehler but I picked up a universal one anyway and installed it. The old one had a foam blob on the chain just above the valve and I didn't think anything of it. I tested the action, and everything seemed satisfactory so I tossed the old assembly in the trash.
A week later my wife complained that the toilet wasn't flushing properly. I demonstrated to her how to do it, press and hold the handle for about two seconds. 'Why should I have to wait for two seconds, I never had to before?' I explained to her that the new valve was a different design, but she would have none of it. Then she went on-and-on about how two seconds per flush adds up over a life time.
(My wife has many virtues, but patience is not one of them. She will freely admit this.)
So I ordered, then installed, a Koehler replacement, with the foam blob on the chain. The blob creates just a little bit of buoyancy on the ball, so it opens quickly. Since this is a "low flush" model, I had to move the blob farther down the chain to increase its buoyancy.
No more two-second delay. Happy wife.
Pressure regulating valve for the house had failed.
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