Toilet tank slow fill – Where does a the water go?

[Jason Mayberry]

My toilet takes more than 2 minutes to fill up the tank. However, if I let the refill tube fill the tank directly, it only takes about 30 seconds. Here are some pictures:

This only takes only about 30 seconds but the water in the bowl is low.

This takes over 2 minutes and the water in the bowl is at the “normal” level.

As the water fills into the overflow tube, taking long time to fill up, I don’t see water coming out of the side of flush passage. So my question is – Where does all the water go?

This problem seems to be recent, so I have to assume something might have been broken lately. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[SelgasParticipant]

From the pictures you have provided it looks like when the Filler tube is allowed to discharge water into the “flush passage” as you call it – it would be running directly into the toilet bowl itself and going to waste as the toilet bowl finds it own set level. I suspect from your description of the events that the blue filler valve needs replaceing and that should overcome the the problem.

[acpie360Participant]

Selgas wrote:

… I suspect from your description of the events that the blue filler valve needs replaceing and that should overcome the the problem.

You are absolutely right. The refill valve was the problem. I had a complete misunderstanding on how the tank should get filled. The role of that refill tube is to fill the bowl not the tank. That was my first ignorance.

I had thought to come back to the forum to give the post an update but couldn’t find out where I saved my password. Anyway, it is all good now.

Thanks for the reply.

[robertshawnParticipant]

One of my friend is also facing similar problems with his toilet tank. And from what you have said, I am sure that he would be able to get rid of his toilet tank problem as well.

[vmihardwarelinksParticipant]

It seems that the toilet tank connector is choked up. Hence, I would recommend you to clean it up and start using again. If the problem persists, try replacing it with new one.

[pauladamParticipant]

There are several reasons of slow filling water tank. You may perform the below task to solve this problem.
* Check the seal which is located in the valve cap. If it becomes old, replace it immediately.
* Check the inlet of the wall or water supply line.   

[moopyParticipant]

To be honest that fill valve looked like a childs toy. Probably supplied free of charge with the pan and cistern. When fitting new toilets I often through away the free stuff supplied with the toilet and fit some decent innards.

[phoneaplumberParticipant]

A slow filling toilet tank means you will not be able to use the bathroom as often, developing a issue for houses with few toilets and many people. toilets the issue yourself before contact a plumbing technician may save you money on the slow filling toilet tank issue.

[nicktheplumberParticipant]

The point made by Selgas needs to be understood here. The line from the float valve to the overflow tube serves to meter water to fill the bowl when the flush valve has closed after a flush. The bowl needs to fill to maintain the trap seal. The float valve simultaneously needs to fill the tank to ready it for the next flush. The metering of water into the tank and into the overflow tube (a function of the float valve mechanism) needs to be coordinated so that both the tank and the bowl refill at about the same time. If the tank fill lags bowl fill, water will be wasted down the drain. It’s a big mistake to divert the bowl refill tube to the tank, just to make the tank fill faster. There are ways to adjust the float valve to make it synchronize bowl and tank fill properly.

[amy78Participant]

The toilet tank should be repaired from time to time to prevent leakage problem. With time, the seal at the base gets defective so it starts leaking at its base. In order to check from where the water is leaking, you must turn off the water supply and investigate the main area of leakage. Clean the old joint & pipe. If there is any damage in pipe, seal it carefully and subsequently fix it back. Even after doing all this, if there is still water leakage, it may be the case that the porcelain has cracked. In this situation, have to replace the whole toilet bowl.

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