PSA Check your toliet tank seals

Platapus · 02-12-19, 02:55 PM

No joking, being serious here

If you have a two piece toilet, especially one a few years old, check the seals on the bolts securing the tank to the toilet. If they look funky replace them!

Costs about $20 dollars and is so easy even I can do it.

Why?

A coworker of mine just had one of the seals on one of the bolts fail. This caused the water to drain out of the tank. But it was not just the 4-5 gallons in the tank, the lowering of the water level triggered the tank flowing mechanism and it ran for hours. She had a hundred gallons of water if not more all over her house when she got home last night.

The seal must have failed that morning.

This is a case of where an ounce of prevention can avoid hundreds/thousands of dollars in damage. It happened in her upstairs bathroom so she has floor/ceiling damage.

Check those seals! They do not fail safe!

Jimbuna · 02-12-19, 02:58 PM

Uncanny, I saw mine leaking a year ago and changed the seal.

August · 02-12-19, 03:43 PM

Changed mine after developing a leak a few years ago.

MaDef · 02-12-19, 03:47 PM

a general rule of thumb never use the 'automatic toilet tank cleaners" either ( the cleaning tabs people place in the tank), the chemicals shorten the life of the seals.

Rockstar · 02-12-19, 05:23 PM

Wow welcome too the twilight zone. Mine was leaking last night had to tighten up the tank bolts.

Aktungbby · 02-12-19, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rockstar

Wow welcome too the twilight zone. Mine was leaking last night had to tighten up the tank bolts.

Wait a sec!

tanks....seals....bolts.....water?? Like this is great mystery to diehard

'rs?(THINK DAMAGE CONTROL) Don't stop with the upper tank bolts BBY; do the base gasket

at the floor sewer-pipe too and check the floor bolt's for CORROSION too! No sense doing...a half-assed job as long as you're already on your knees, wrench in hand

Commander Wallace · 02-12-19, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

Wait a sec!

tanks....seals....bolts.....water?? Like this is great mystery to diehard

'rs? Don't stop with the upper tank bolts BBY; do the base gasket at the floor sewer-pipe too and check the floor bolts for bowl too! No sense doing...a half-assed job as long as your already on your knees, wrench in hand

leave it to you to explain this with a degree of eloquence.

I'm sure I saw something similar when I watched Das Boot this past weekend. I replaced a few seals in the bathrooms over the summer as part of routine maintenance while replacing the float mechanism and other pieces in the toilet as well.

Rockstar · 02-12-19, 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

Wait a sec!

tanks....seals....bolts.....water?? Like this is great mystery to diehard

'rs?(THINK DAMAGE CONTROL) Don't stop with the upper tank bolts BBY; do the base gasket

at the floor sewer-pipe too and check the floor bolt's for CORROSION too! No sense doing...a half-assed job as long as you're already on your knees, wrench in hand

All those years of drills and Damage Control training went into action. I sounded GQ, the wife manned DC Central while I set secured the source and made repairs. We had that flooding under control in no time!

After Action Report revealed it was a new head and the installer (me

) hadn't tightened the fasteners all that well to begin with.

Platapus · 02-12-19, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaDef

a general rule of thumb never use the 'automatic toilet tank cleaners" either ( the cleaning tabs people place in the tank), the chemicals shorten the life of the seals.

I have heard that also.

em2nought · 02-13-19, 11:30 AM

I don't think anyone EVER had to replace those seals until they started being made in China.

It's a bit comforting to think that this is what the Chinese Navy has to look forward to with every system on board having an inferior gasket or seal. Unless they're only sending us the junk, and keeping the good stuff for themselves?

I just replaced a set a few years ago, first time I ever heard of anyone having to do that.

Aktungbby · 02-13-19, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by em2nought

I don't think anyone EVER had to replace those seals until they started being made in China.

^WELL CONSIDER: U LIVE IN EARTHQUAKE PRONE CALIFORNIA-CONNECTED BY A REPLACED 50' 4" DIAMETER SEWER LINE TO THE KNOWN UNIVERSE IE: YOUR MUNICIPAL WATER TREATMENT PLANT...THENCE TO THE NAPA RIVER... THENCE TO SAN FRANCISCO BAY AND THENCE TO PACIFIC OCEAN AIDED BY A PLANET SPINNING 1000MPH WITH TIDES! AND WEIGH OVER TWO HUNDRED POUNDS(CONSIDERABLY) AND HAVE DONE 'HOUSTON! THE EAGLE HAS LANDED" SET-DOWNS ON THE SAME CHINA BOWEL FOR 30 YEARS....SOMETHIN'S GOTTA GIVE BBY AND THE SOFTEST PART OF THE CONTINUUM IS THAT POOR ABUSED WAX GASKET RING

....MADE IN AMERICA!

! https://www.fluidmaster.com/about-fluidmaster/history/I MEAN REALLY; IF I'M GOING TO POLLUTE THE VERY WATERS I GO SAILING IN, I MAY AS WELL BE PATRIOTIC ABOUT IT

....AND POLITICLLY CORRECT

: THAT 1960'S SEWERLINE I DUG UP AND DISPOSED OF CORRECTLY IN MY FRONT YARD (4' DEEP!) TO REPLACE IS ASBESTOS FREE!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROCKSTAR

the wife manned DC Central while...

EGAD! I TRUST YOUR PERISCOPE WAS NOT RAISED DURING THE EMERGENCY FLOODING!

Rockstar · 02-13-19, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

^WELL CONSIDER: U LIVE IN EARTHQUAKE PRONE CALIFORNIA-CONNECTED BY A REPLACED 50' 4" DIAMETER SEWER LINE TO THE KNOWN UNIVERSE IE: YOUR MUNICIPAL WATER TREATMENT PLANT...THENCE TO THE NAPA RIVER... THENCE TO SAN FRANCISCO BAY AND THENCE TO PACIFIC OCEAN AIDED BY A PLANET SPINNING 1000MPH WITH TIDES! AND WEIGH OVER TWO HUNDRED POUNDS(CONSIDERABLY) AND HAVE DONE 'HOUSTON! THE EAGLE HAS LANDED" SET-DOWNS ON THE SAME CHINA BOWEL FOR 30 YEARS....SOMETHIN'S GOTTA GIVE BBY AND THE SOFTEST PART OF THE CONTINUUM IS THAT POOR ABUSED WAX GASKET RING

....MADE IN AMERICA!

! https://www.fluidmaster.com/about-fluidmaster/history/I MEAN REALLY; IF I'M GOING TO POLLUTE THE VERY WATERS I GO SAILING IN, I MAY AS WELL BE PATRIOTIC ABOUT IT

....AND POLITICLLY CORRECT

: THAT 1960'S SEWERLINE I DUG UP AND DISPOSED OF CORRECTLY IN MY FRONT YARD (4' DEEP!) TO REPLACE IS ASBESTOS FREE! EGAD! I TRUST YOUR PERISCOPE WAS NOT RAISED DURING THE EMERGENCY FLOODING!

No periscopes and submarines in my house. I've always been a surface sailor fitted out with a tall and sturdy mast which proudly towers above my salty navigators balls.

02-12-19, 02:55 PM	#1
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,360 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	PSA Check your toliet tank seals No joking, being serious here If you have a two piece toilet, especially one a few years old, check the seals on the bolts securing the tank to the toilet. If they look funky replace them! Costs about $20 dollars and is so easy even I can do it. Why? A coworker of mine just had one of the seals on one of the bolts fail. This caused the water to drain out of the tank. But it was not just the 4-5 gallons in the tank, the lowering of the water level triggered the tank flowing mechanism and it ran for hours. She had a hundred gallons of water if not more all over her house when she got home last night. The seal must have failed that morning. This is a case of where an ounce of prevention can avoid hundreds/thousands of dollars in damage. It happened in her upstairs bathroom so she has floor/ceiling damage. Check those seals! They do not fail safe! __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.

02-12-19, 02:58 PM	#2
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 190,461 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	Uncanny, I saw mine leaking a year ago and changed the seal. __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!!

02-12-19, 03:43 PM	#3
August Wayfaring Stranger Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 23,197 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Changed mine after developing a leak a few years ago. __________________ Flanked by life and the funeral pyre. Putting on a show for you to see.

02-13-19, 11:30 AM	#10
em2nought Ocean Warrior Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 3,485 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I don't think anyone EVER had to replace those seals until they started being made in China. It's a bit comforting to think that this is what the Chinese Navy has to look forward to with every system on board having an inferior gasket or seal. Unless they're only sending us the junk, and keeping the good stuff for themselves? I just replaced a set a few years ago, first time I ever heard of anyone having to do that. __________________ em2nought is ecstatic garbage! Last edited by em2nought; 02-13-19 at 11:32 AM. Reason: expound

02-12-19, 03:47 PM	#4
MaDef Ace of the Deep Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 1,194 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	a general rule of thumb never use the 'automatic toilet tank cleaners" either ( the cleaning tabs people place in the tank), the chemicals shorten the life of the seals.

02-12-19, 05:23 PM	#5
Rockstar In the Brig Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Zendia Bar & Grill Posts: 12,614 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	Wow welcome too the twilight zone. Mine was leaking last night had to tighten up the tank bolts.