Leaking toilet cistern

[Anonymous]

My plumber stopped a leaking cistern by attaching lead weights to the central plastic assembly. This worked OK for some months but lesking has re-commenced. The plumber says leaking is common sometimes with brand new cisterns. My unit is 4 years old.
ABC radio in a program last year advised that a stainless steel unit from USA was now available in Australia which was guaranteed to overcome this problem. I can’t track it down . Can anyone help?

[bungieParticipant]

For starters, dont use this plumber again, and tell your mates the same.
Putting lead weights on the flush valve is’nt fixing it, its just a way to get out of there and get paid.

Give us the brand and what he/she did to it, so we can try to help

Dont use imported fittings or parts unless they have standards approval, most plumbing suppliers will only carry standards approved fittings, but the little corner hardware carries all the cheap imported shit

[MurphParticipant]

Bungie
Many thanks for your quick reply to my enquiry. The unit concerned is a low level vitreous china cistern made by Fowler. It doesn’t seem to carry any identifying model number. It is about 4 years old. The white plastic assembly inside carries the brand Reba Ware.

My plumber said that the central section (I don’t know what this is called. It is a white plastic hollow cylinder) does not always return to its correct position after flushing so that water continues to empty into the toilet bowl. By jiggling the push button on top the water can be cut off. This doesn’t always work that well but I have learnt to fiddle with the button to get the best results. My plumber attached two lead strips, about 6mm wide 60mm long to the side of the central white cylinder by bending them over the top so that the the 60mm strip runs down the outside of the Cylinder.
We have two identical Fowler cisterns purchased at the same time both giving the same trouble.I expect I can go back to Fowlers and buy replacement parts if I know what bits to buy. Alternatively perhaps it requires a complete assembly.

I thought in my ignorance a better answer might be to look for the USA part I mentioned in my enquiry because I am looking for a permanent answer to this problem. A new plastic assembly may still only give me another 4 Years. I am guesssing of course but as the plumber said he has had the problem with brand new units I haven’t got a lot of confidence in the matter. Also I see on the Internet that leaking toilets are are common problem in America.

I hope the above is clear and will appreciate any suggestions you have. By thw way, someone told me that the plumber was probably trying to dodge replacing the plastic assembly because it is a fiddly job. I must also mention that there is a notcable amount of a feathery light brown deposit in the cistern which moves about as water enters. Presumably this accumulates from the water suppply over a period. Can this cause sticking of the float? Peter Murphy

[bungieParticipant]

Three things to look for,
One, the washer at the bottom of the flush valve perishes and starts to expand, it catches the edge of the tube it runs through…. change the washer.
Two, some units came out with slight defects on the joint of the molding … use the back of a chisel to scrap away the excess on the joints all over the fitting.
Three, if the flush pipe from the cistern to the bowl is a little to long it puts pressure on the valve, pushing it over slightly, so as the flush valve drags on the side of the unit and will not drop

[MurphParticipant]

Thanks for your three pointers on what the trouble could be. I will check them out.

[Author]

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