My toilet tank suddenly started to leak a couple of days ago ( it’s only about a year old). After checking the supply connections I noticed that it was coming from the underside of the tank where the ballcock is bolted in place. I shut off the water, unbolted the ballcock, and took off the cone shaped rubber seal, and noticed a crack in the rubber where it contacts the hole in the tank. I went to the hardware store and picked up a couple of new seals, installed it and turned on the water, and it leaked ten times worse than it did before. I decided to tighten it some more, as I didn’t want to overtighten it when I installed it, but it didn’t help at all. Am I doing something wrong ? Is this supposed to be siliconed ? There was no sealant on the old one, and the package didn’t say to use any, so I didn’t. I’m kind of glad we put a half bath downstairs now. Any advise would be appreciated.
Steve
Replies
Steve,
Those are one of the easiest seals to make work. I have to assume you are overlooking something or erring in your determination fo the problem.
Are you sure that leak isn't in the supply line. If the water is coming out under pressure it may be as the tank water isn't pressurized but it will show some pressure do to the volume of water in the tank.
will it leak as bad with no water in the tank? if so, then supply is culprit.
Is your seal cone shaped? The coned end goes down. also, the seal gets installed on the inside of the tank then the large flat nut goes below on the outside. You will tighten it pretty well to compress that seal into the hole.
Is your tank damaged at the leak area... I doubt this but one never knows.
do you have a diagram you can double check your installation against?
The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -Albert Einstein
No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now. --Richard M. Nixon, 1985
Thanks for the reply Pete. It was definitely not leaking at the supply connection, and the tank did not appear damaged. As you said, it should have been a very simple repair, but no matter how loose or tight it would not seal to the tank. Everything was assembled correctly and the correct domed rubber seal was used. The replacement seal seemed to be of a very stiff rubber, maybe this was preventing the seal from conforming to the hole in the tank. Anyway, I went down to the local Home Hardware store this morning, and came home with Fluidmaster's Fill Valve kit. No ball or rods to fuss with, and it had a nice soft rubber seal to seal it to the tank. Worked great!
Steve...hoping the other toilet downstairs screws up so I can put a Fluidmaster on it too.