My toilet, a few times a day starts running water for a few seconds then stops. How do I fix it?

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Slow leak going from tank to bowl.

    It fills up enough for the float to cut off water to the tank

    But a tiny little drip is going from tank to bowl.

    Over long enough time, the tank is low enough the float valve fills it up a little. Then stops.

    Cycle repeats.

    If you really care. You can replace the flap stopping tank>bowl. Maybe replace all the guts while you’re at it.

    If you have hard water, you can just rub the flap/gasket with some vinegar and that might be enough.

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        What you also want to do is pour vinegar down the tube in the tank that water sprays into

        That feeds into the “jets” the water gets into the bowl from. Overtime those ports will crystalize over and it’s a huge hassle. flushing with vinegar that way will break it up before it fully clogs. And if some are clogged, the vinegar just soaks in there till the next flush

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Definitely try just wiping it off first tho…

        Just the flap and the gasket it seats into, wipe it down with a wet paper towel, see if it still does it

        You can also try adjusting the linkage (chain length) sometimes a flap “floats down” slowly because there’s still some water. And that might be causing issues.

        Anytime you fuck with a toilet, you want to try the least invasive methods first and work your way up.

        Shit can get out of hand quickly and you may end up replacing everything and still experiencing the same issue.

      • roofuskit@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Every single hardware store has the replacement parts. You can likely replace the entire working insides for about $30.

      • Hugh_Jeggs@lemm.ee
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        4 months ago

        You might want to say which part of the planet you’re in. Americans just assume everyone has the same medieval plumbing they do, but the vast majority of people don’t