Troubleshooting a Broken Toilet

Fix a Broken Toilet Yourself

If you’ve got a broken toilet problem, you’ll be happy to hear that many toilet problems can be fixed quickly and easily. We’ll troubleshoot your broken toilet in no time so you know if you need a plumber or if you can handle the fix yourself.

How To Troubleshoot a Broken Toilet

Follow these simple steps to identify what exactly is wrong with your toilet:

Turn Off The Water

Look under and behind the toilet bowl for the water shut off valve, which will look like a silver lever. Turn it to the off position (which is usually to the right). This will prevent more water from coming into the toilet.

Flush The Toilet

You want to flush the toilet to remove as much water from the bowl and tank as possible. This way you can get a good look at the inner workings of your toilet.

Remove The Tank Cover

This way you can get into the tank to see what’s going on.

Check the Inside of The Tank

When you look inside the toilet tank, you’ll see a flapper, a chain (which will attach the flapper to the flushing lever), a flushing lever and a ball float. Check each of these parts over.

If The Flapper is Not Sealing Properly…

Look to see if the flapper is defective (it may be cracked or warped), you may need to replace the flapper. You can get a new flapper at your local hardware store for very little cost. Remove the flapper from the chain and remove the refill tube (which will be inside the overflow tube), and change out the flapper. Reposition the refill tube and attach the chain to the flapper.

If The Ball Float is No Longer Functioning…

Get a new ball float at the hardware store. Remove old, defective ball float and attach new.

If The Chain is Broken or Defective…

Oftentimes the chain will break or come loose from the flushing lever or the flapper. Reconnect the chain to either the flushing lever or the flapper using a pair of pliers to cinch the chain tight. If the chain is broken, replace the chain with a new one (found inexpensively at a hardware store) using a pair of pliers. Sometimes when you replace one of the other broken parts, you’ll find the existing chain is no longer the right length, meaning you’ll need to adjust the length of the chain. Experiment to discover how much chain you need for the flapper to work properly.

If The Handle is Broken…

Remove the nut from the handle so you can remove the broken handle. Remove the metal hook and determine if it also needs to be replaced. Thread the new lever through the square hole (where the handle used to be) so that the handle looks normal again, and use a wrench to tighten the nut on the inside of the tank. Attach the metal hook to the chain (attached to the flapper). If the arm and hook gets in the way of the ball float, bend the arm and hook gently so it won’t interfere with the ball float function.

If You’re Still Stumped, Let E.R. Services Help!

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