Cause of toilets running for 4-6 seconds several times a day
by
Fran Bacak
I have 3 toilets in my home, and several weeks ago, all 3 started running for 4-6 seconds several times a day. They don't run all at the same time, nor can I say that they run every day. But it's worrisome that something is really wrong. They were all installed in 1995. Any reason why they all would start doing this about the same time?
Anyrea
Anyrea
2 answers
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What causes this can be two things. One if they are all doing it can be a pressure issue somehow being to high. If you feel the pressure in the house appears to be higher then it normally is, that can be the cause. If your on a well, check it. The other reason why toilets auto fill every once and a while is the flapper is leaking ever so slightly. This can be from wear, sand or silt on the flapper or the edge where it closes onto, Build up of hard water on that same place where the flapper connects to the edge of the tank pipe, or the flapper is simply worn out. What is happening is the water is ever so slightly leaking out of the tank into the bowl. If you check the bowl look to see if there is some movement in the water. If you are having a hard time seeing it, put some bright food color into the tank and swish it around just enough to color the water. Wait a short while and look in the bowl. If your seeing some color in the tank, Change the flapper. Its about a $7 part. And will take about 10 min to fix. Turn off the water on the toilet or the house, flush the tank let the water drain out. The old flapper should be connected by a round ring or a few rubber tabs on the tube that its connected to. Remove the old one and replace with the new. Be sure to wipe carefully the round edge where the flapper comes into connection with to assure a tight fit. That should be all that is needed to fix the toilet. Reconnect the new chain to the handle and your done.
Woodbridge Environmental Tiptophouse.com
on Oct 07, 2014
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This happened to me recently, 2 toilets (different times). One toilet was just as Woodbridge said, the flapper was worn out. Replaced it and everything was fine. The other was an issue with the chain that moves the flapper. When I looked closely, the chain didn't have any slack when the flapper was down. In short, it didn't fully seal the hole and water slowly leaked out. I loosened it one link and all was well.
Robert Jones
on Dec 18, 2014
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