Toilet Flushing Badly [with video!]

eggerb

Now, I am laughing at myself here (as is my wife) that I am even posting about this but it's driving me nuts trying to figure out what is going wrong.

One of our toilets, when flushed, creates a bit of a swirl that results in more of a swirl and then the pan fills up a bit until it drains. Net result is a bad flush, needing another one when the cistern fills up again.

Can anybody shed any light? I have two videos below. The second one is one that functions normally and with the water meeting in the centre and doing what it is supposed to!

Any help much appreciated! Thanks all.

Bad Flush (on Youtube)

Good Flush (on Youtube)

trad

Has to be a contender for post of the day!!!

eggerb

lol. I agree. Especially that I even ran the risk of dropping my phone down the jacks

igorbiscan

Op,where are you in relation to the toilet,u mustv looked ridiculous,ha ha, or maybe its a new fangled wall-mounted jobs with anti-gravity water,,
Sorry im no help,thanks though,made me smile :-)

solas111

Lock your doors and buy a cross dog – Horrible Phil Hogan is coming to get you because your septic tank is not right.

It looks to me like the outlet pipe from your toilet is partially blocked and the water cannot get away fast enough, thereby causing it to build up for a while. It could be a blockage in the pipes, a blockage at a manhole or if you have a septic tank, it may not be functioning and needs to be cleaned out.

lkionm

The 'bad flush' has a really mesmerising (??) spin to it. I prefer that one.

Outkast_IRE

pop the manhole cover outside your house, there should be a plastic cover usually, and see is there any backing up there.

Also dont use the BLUE CISTERN BLOCKS !!!!!!!!!!! :mad:
They tend to feck up the insides of the cisterns and if any work needs to be done to the loo it gets real messy real fast.

eggerb

Thanks all for the replies and I'm still smiling too! I was standing in front of the toilet to take both. The camera flipped the bad one somehow .. lol

Anyhow, I think the actual flow out is fine. I've thrown a big bucket of water down and it disappears immediately .. no hanging around at all!! I've looked in the relevant manhole and the water is out from the toilet immediately. (Had my wife flush when I shouted from the manhole and the neighbours were out!)

eggerb

Think I might have to replace it. Is that a bit drastic? Does anybody have any suggestions? It is definitely the cistern and/or bowl. The waste out is fine.

Irish Steve

Hmmmm. The one thing that's noticeable apart from the colour change:D is the timing.

The good flush is over and done with in about 6 seconds, the bad flush is taking about 10 seconds, so something, either in the syphon or in the connection to the pan is hindering the flow, but it's not doing so all the time.

The time factor is the reason for the failure to clear.

One thought, is this a dual flush siphon? I've got one here that is a pain, in that it is not easy to get it to perform a full flush, so the quantity of water flushed varies.

If you can work the cistern with the lid off, it may be worth watching to see if the flush stops early on occasions.

Is there any chance that a piece of plastic or similar from a blue block holder, or something similar has managed to get carried over into the join between the cistern and the pan, and is partly blocking the flow on occasions?

That would be my main suspect, as the flow pattern is also being disrupted on a bad flush.

The cistern itself is unlikely to be the problem, it might be worth having a very close look at the siphon assembly, perhaps to the point of turning the water supply off and removing the cistern for a closer look at the join to the pan.

One option would be to see if there is an alternative siphon system that will fit into the cistern, and try that.

Joey the lips

There is noting wrong with any of them. But the blue loo thing in the second toilet ****s up top flush cisterns.

eggerb

Joey, if you seen the refusal to quit after a flush, you'd agree there is something wrong with the 'bad flush' ;-)

Thanks for the steers Steve. Both of them are dual flush siphons. I might try switching them as a start. I think there may well be something blocking the flow from the cistern to the pan. I'll try to dismantle and see how I get on.
Cheers for the replies.

eggerb

Irish Steve wrote: »

The cistern itself is unlikely to be the problem, it might be worth having a very close look at the siphon assembly, perhaps to the point of turning the water supply off and removing the cistern for a closer look at the join to the pan.

If I need to go this route (think I might need to), what do I need to do to take the cistern off the pan? Assuming, I unscrew the cistern from the wall, disconnect it from the water in supply after stopping the supply? Anything else, does it just disconnect at an angle? Thanks again.

Irish Steve

Assuming a normal low level cistern, there will be a couple of screws holding it to the wall at the top, and probably a couple of nuts or wing nuts holding the connection between the cistern and the pan. There can be variances on this, but that would be most common.

Turn off the incoming water supply, and then flush it, which reduces the weight and the hassle. Disconnect the incoming supply, which should not be running at this point, then disconnect the pan connector nuts or wing nuts, then the wall screws, It should then lift off the pan, and you can tip the remaining water into the pan, and it's more manageable.

Investigate away at that stage, and see what , if anything, is going on. The siphon is probably held to the cistern by a large plastic nut, which is probably under a large rubber seal washer. That should point you in the right direction.

Hope that helps

deandean

Found it! Even if it's in Spanish, here is the answer, from 'Simpsons in Australia'.

I think Heatmerchants stock them.

DGOBS

Think we'd have got a better idea if there was a jobby in the loo for the flush, now that would have been post of the month!

eggerb

cheers Steve .. very helpful.
And the others ... ha ha very funny

eggerb

Did the dismantling this morning and found the culprit with the help of a small make-up mirror not mine

Got it out eventually and my bad flush is gone

eggerb

Irish Steve wrote: »

Is there any chance that a piece of plastic or similar from a blue block holder, or something similar has managed to get carried over into the join between the cistern and the pan, and is partly blocking the flow on occasions?

That would be my main suspect, as the flow pattern is also being disrupted on a bad flush.

You were bang on Irish Steve. Full marks. Thanks again.

Howjoe1

eggerb wrote: »

Now, I am laughing at myself here (as is my wife) that I am even posting about this but it's driving me nuts trying to figure out what is going wrong.

One of our toilets, when flushed, creates a bit of a swirl that results in more of a swirl and then the pan fills up a bit until it drains. Net result is a bad flush, needing another one when the cistern fills up again.

Can anybody shed any light? I have two videos below. The second one is one that functions normally and with the water meeting in the centre and doing what it is supposed to!

Any help much appreciated! Thanks all.

Bad Flush (on Youtube)

Good Flush (on Youtube)

Seriously ..mine has developed the same problem lately. Basically a toilet that has flushed grand for years is now giving a short flush and well..basically does not carrying the **** away!

the cistern empties and fills.

what the solution?

Irish Steve

eggerb wrote: »

You were bang on Irish Steve. Full marks. Thanks again.

Glad to be able to help. That red piece looks remarkably like a nozzle from the ball valve, is it working OK, or has anything been done to it at any stage?

Either way, glad we able to find the answer to the problem

eggerb

Irish Steve wrote: »

Glad to be able to help. That red piece looks remarkably like a nozzle from the ball valve, is it working OK, or has anything been done to it at any stage?

Either way, glad we able to find the answer to the problem

Yep, that's what it is. There is a white one fitted in the valve and the red seems to be a larger diameter spare. It was originally stuck onto the end of the ball arm. It must have fallen off somehow. Think I'll secure the others. Cheers.