Clearing a Clogged Toilet

Here again the DIYers if you have $99 call Acqua Plumbing to clear your clogged drain or toilet. If not you can generally clear a clogged toilet with a plunger, or toilet auger, these items are a plumbers' best friend. Apply the plunger first into the mouth of the drain portion of the toilet, being aware that there should be a ood amount of water in the toilet. Do not flush the toilet, otherwise you may overflow. If there is not enough water, it is ideal to grab a pot or large bowl and add water from another fixture in the home. There is many different plungers out there and any of them should work just fine for the application.

If seems your toilet is clogged it is one of two things, either the clog is not far away in the toilet itself or a main line clog. You can identify if it's a main line clog by checking your bathtub, if there is dirty water, or toilet like brown water then you have a main line clog and a plunger or auger will not work for this application. If the plunger’s action doesn’t seem to work you can try a toilet auger to try and either push the clog out or grab it with the augers wire like body.

The auger has a long sleeve or tube to guide the snake and auger hook into the trap. It has a crank handle and comes in two sizes usually and is the best for toilet clogs, other than a plunger, and are relatively inexpensive.

The steps to use a toilet auger.

Step 1: Insert the toilet auger into the mouth of the toilet and crank the handle down until it feels tight or will not go further.

Step 2: Try moving the auger up and down by the crank handle. This should dislodge the clog, if it is indeed in the toilet.

Step 3: If all else fails, the clog maybe on the bottom of the toilet, which requires removal of the toilet completely and is a bit outside of the average DIYers. Call Acqua Plumbing if you need further assistants.

Toilet Tank Problems

When you hear strange noises coming from your toilet, they are costing you money and may not just be annoying.

Going through a few simple steps and keeping in mind how a toilet works is the first things in the process, and taking off the tanks lid need to be done promptly.

When you trip the handle on the tank to flush a toilet, a trip lever is raised inside the tank. This lever lifts a chain, which in turn, raises the tank rubber flapper at the bottom of the tank, releasing water. Water rushes into the bowl below. This raises the level of water in the bowl above the level of water in the toilet trap, and in turn creates the flush.

The water from the tank pushes the bowl water out into the drain, causing a siphoning action this action pulls all matter into the mouth of the toilet and down the drain. Air then forces the water down the drain along with the matter, at the same time the flapper falls back into place closing the water opening while the ball cock assembly floats back up due to the water level rising.

As the water level in the tank rises back to its original level the floation device/ ball cock assembly raises back to its original state causing the water filling device to stop the incoming water. If the water fails to shut off there is an overflow tube that carries excess water down into the bowl to prevent the tank from overflowing. If water flows continuously out of the tank to the bowl and down the drain:

Step 1: Lift up on the float arm. If the water stops, you know the problem is that the floation device doesn’t rise far enough to lower the valve plunger in the flapper assembly. One reason could be that the device is rubbing against the side of the tank. If this is the case, bend the float arm slightly to move the flapper away from the tank side.

Step 2: If the ball doesn’t touch the tank, continue to hold the float arm and remove the ball from the end of the arm by turning it counterclockwise. Then shake the ball to see if there’s water inside it, as the weight of the water inside could be preventing the ball from rising normally. If there is water in the ball, shake it out and put the ball back on the float arm. If the ball is damaged or corroded, replace it with a new one. If there is no water in the ball, put the ball back on and gently bend the float rod down to lower the level the float ball must reach to shut off the flow of fresh water into the tank.

Step 3: If you cannot solve this problem from the steps above check the flapper itself, it may be time to change this, or it may not be sitting properly. Seeping maybe ocurring into the bowl from the flapper causing the noise and the water meter with the floation device to activate. Turn off the water at the angle stop in the wall and flush the toilet to remove all the water. From this you can take a observe the flapper and check for signs of damage or decay on it and install a new flapper if need or reseat it. If the problem is chemcial build up from such as hard water simply clean the area.

Step 4: If water is excessively entering the tank try moving the connection to the chain on the flapper and the floation device up to help with the water level. Make sure the guide is in place so that the wire is directly above the flush valve opening. Rotate the guide until the flapper falls straight down into the water opening. If the chain is erroded then replace it with a new one. Make sure the chain is not falling into the flapper or the water opening or catching on anything else.

Solving common toilet problems.