Reasons Why Your Toilet Refills on Its Own

It’s an annoying problem—your toilet constantly runs and refills on its own. This can result in a lot of water usage, which will show up in unwanted ways on your monthly water bills.

Here are just a few of the problems that could cause your toilet to constantly run or to refill on its own. When you notice any of these problems popping up in your home, it’s a good idea to contact a plumber in Vacaville, CA who can come out and fix the problem quickly for you.

Water trickling into the bowl

If you start to hear your toilet refilling itself, as though it’s just been flushed, this is a problem we in the business often call a “phantom flush.” The cause here is usually a very slow leak from the tank going into the bowl. Usually the problem is a bad flapper or a bad flapper seal, but it could be other issues as well that can be hard to diagnose without analyzing in person. A good solution is to drain the tank and bowl and check the flapper seal, then replace the flapper if it can’t be cleaned or is worn and damaged.

The bowl slowly empties when flushed

A toilet that has a weak flush and a slow-emptying bowl generally has clogged holes underneath he rim of the bowl. You can take a piece of curved wire and poke each flush hole in an attempt to clear out any debris that might be stuck in there. A coat hanger wire should be sufficient, and a small mirror should also help you look under the rim if you want to see where you’re going without having to put your head down into the toilet bowl.

Water is trickling into the tank

If you hear a long hissing sound that comes from your toilet, this issue is probably caused by water that’s trickling into the tank from the supply line. Here, the parts that are most likely to be at the root of the problem are the refill tube, the ballcock and/or the inlet-valve assembly. The hissing probably comes from water that comes through the inlet valve. You should make sure the float is working properly, and that the refill tube isn’t put too far down into the overflow tube. If these fixes don’t work, you’ll need to replace the assembly.

You have leaky seals

There are at least five seals in most standard toilets that have the potential to leak. In all of these circumstances, you should identify which seal is faulty and then either replace or tighten it. The largest seal is between the bowl and tank, and a broken seal in that location will result in a massive leak. The other seals aren’t going to cause leaks that are nearly as large, and you might not immediately notice them.

For more information about common toilet problems and leaks, reach out to a plumber in Vacaville, CA with ABC Plumbing today to schedule an appointment.

Categorised in: Plumber