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Toilet Valves
Tuesday, August 21. 2007
Sorry for the long delay in posts but I've been lazy.
Jess had noticed that sometimes when you flushed the toilet it would never stop refilling the tank. It wasn't causing a flooding issue but it was running through more water than it should. If you walked into the bathroom during one of these non-stop episodes you would hear running water. For the record it was Jess that noticed this. I had no idea that anything was wrong until Jess explained the entire situation to me.
Jess explained this situation to her father (who owns a hardware store) and he showed us what we should get to fix it. After her last trip to her parent's house in NH, Jess came home with a brand new valve that I would need to install (yay me).
For a few weeks the new valve sat around waiting for me to gain the courage to install it when Jess finally told me we had to get it done. I opened the box, read through the instructions, and familiarized myself with the parts involved. It seemed easy enough but I'm a programmer not a plumber so anything could happen. Step 1 was "Remove the old valve". While the instructions to install the new valve were detailed and easy to follow, there was nothing that explained how one would remove the old valve. I shut off the water, took the cover off the tank, and found a way to empty the tank but it took quite a bit of effort to get the old valve out.
-The old fill valve.
Of course even though the water was off and the tank was empty there was still water to be spilled. When I finally disconnected the water supply from the old valve water began to spill all over the bathroom floor. It wasn't a lot of water so I kept working (sitting in the puddle). Oh yes I almost forgot, I BROKE THE OLD VALVE while removing it from the toilet. This became the "point of no return" because I could not stop and put the old valve in if I managed to screw up.
Once I had the old valve (and it's associated pieces) out, I followed the instructions to install the new one. It took all of 5 minutes to install the new valve using the easy to follow instructions. I reattached the water supply, turned on the water and the tank began to fill up. I watched closely as the water began to rise hoping it would shut off as planned and I wouldn't have to clean up a gigantic mess. The water shut off just as it should. I made a slight adjustment to the water level and flushed the toilet a few times to make sure it was working properly. Amazingly everything was working. The only problem was the sediment that was kicked up during the process was making my toilet water an orangy-brown color but a few flushes cleared it up.
-The new fill valve.
Once again I have managed to prove to everyone that I'm not 100% useless when it comes to fixing things in the house. Who knows what will be next.
Jess had noticed that sometimes when you flushed the toilet it would never stop refilling the tank. It wasn't causing a flooding issue but it was running through more water than it should. If you walked into the bathroom during one of these non-stop episodes you would hear running water. For the record it was Jess that noticed this. I had no idea that anything was wrong until Jess explained the entire situation to me.
Jess explained this situation to her father (who owns a hardware store) and he showed us what we should get to fix it. After her last trip to her parent's house in NH, Jess came home with a brand new valve that I would need to install (yay me).
For a few weeks the new valve sat around waiting for me to gain the courage to install it when Jess finally told me we had to get it done. I opened the box, read through the instructions, and familiarized myself with the parts involved. It seemed easy enough but I'm a programmer not a plumber so anything could happen. Step 1 was "Remove the old valve". While the instructions to install the new valve were detailed and easy to follow, there was nothing that explained how one would remove the old valve. I shut off the water, took the cover off the tank, and found a way to empty the tank but it took quite a bit of effort to get the old valve out.
-The old fill valve.
Of course even though the water was off and the tank was empty there was still water to be spilled. When I finally disconnected the water supply from the old valve water began to spill all over the bathroom floor. It wasn't a lot of water so I kept working (sitting in the puddle). Oh yes I almost forgot, I BROKE THE OLD VALVE while removing it from the toilet. This became the "point of no return" because I could not stop and put the old valve in if I managed to screw up.
Once I had the old valve (and it's associated pieces) out, I followed the instructions to install the new one. It took all of 5 minutes to install the new valve using the easy to follow instructions. I reattached the water supply, turned on the water and the tank began to fill up. I watched closely as the water began to rise hoping it would shut off as planned and I wouldn't have to clean up a gigantic mess. The water shut off just as it should. I made a slight adjustment to the water level and flushed the toilet a few times to make sure it was working properly. Amazingly everything was working. The only problem was the sediment that was kicked up during the process was making my toilet water an orangy-brown color but a few flushes cleared it up.
-The new fill valve.
Once again I have managed to prove to everyone that I'm not 100% useless when it comes to fixing things in the house. Who knows what will be next.
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