Posted: 11/20/2009 5:06:11 AM EDT
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Hey guys
I have a pre-ban toilet in the main bathroom that has been having problems "getting everything down". About 3 months ago we had the septic tank pumped out and since then the toilet has been requiring 2 flushes to get the job done. Before then, no problems, it could handle everything we could give it. I pulled the clean out cap off and looked down it and couldn't see anything obstructing it as its a straight shot from the house to the tank. I had my son dump a bucket of water in the bowl and I could hear water running down the main soil pipe at a good rate so I don't think there is anything before the clean out. Any ideas? I would hate to give up my pre-ban for one of those wimpy post ban ones. |
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I'd check the vent (go on the roof and shine a light down the pipe). Pumping the septic tank shouldn't have any effect on that but it's the only other thing that could cause what you are experiencing. If that is clear, then I'd carefully pull the toilet and look underneath.
Edit: I would NOT give up my pre-ban toilet––be careful when handling it. |
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I'd check the vent (go on the roof and shine a light down the pipe). Pumping the septic tank shouldn't have any effect on that but it's the only other thing that could cause what you are experiencing. If that is clear, then I'd carefully pull the toilet and look underneath. Edit: I would NOT give up my pre-ban toilet––be careful when handling it. Sounds like a venting issue. |
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while we a talking about this subject what in the world causes air to come up making bubbles in the toilet when the bath or washer is draining?
edit: oops What I was going to say is that we have really hard well water and the jets in the bowl get build up and slow down I bought some stuff cant remember off hand what it was but I got it from the plumbing store that I poured in the tank and it cleaned it all out like a new one. just make sure their is nothing but water in the bowl when you pour it in...my wife had poured some bleach in there to clean it, and then in the meantime I come and ad the stuff from the store...  made a nasty gas that bout chocked me to death before I could get to the window
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while we a talking about this subject what in the world causes air to come up making bubbles in the toilet when the bath or washer is draining? Inadequate vent would be my guess. thanks I will take a look at this..  It's possible the drain line could be partially plugged too, which causes the water to run slow, and back up. You definitely have a problem, as other fixtures should not affect your toilet. 
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while we a talking about this subject what in the world causes air to come up making bubbles in the toilet when the bath or washer is draining? Inadequate vent would be my guess. thanks I will take a look at this.. It's possible the drain line could be partially plugged too, which causes the water to run slow, and back up. You definitely have a problem, as other fixtures should not affect your toilet. as plumbing really pushes my buttons.. it was really funny the toilet in the main bath which is by the washer and dryer had soap bubbles coming up in the toilet till they were about two inches above the seat.... 
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Thanks guys.
I got to go up in the roof today to fix a few shingles that have come loose and I'll take a look down the vent. It just seems odd that the flushing problem started right around the time the tank was pumped out. Maybe I just didn't notice it until then. |
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while we a talking about this subject what in the world causes air to come up making bubbles in the toilet when the bath or washer is draining? Inadequate vent would be my guess. thanks I will take a look at this.. It's possible the drain line could be partially plugged too, which causes the water to run slow, and back up. You definitely have a problem, as other fixtures should not affect your toilet. as plumbing really pushes my buttons.. it was really funny the toilet in the main bath which is by the washer and dryer had soap bubbles coming up in the toilet till they were about two inches above the seat....
Soap bubbles are different than air bubbles. This almost certainly means the water can't evacuate rapidly enough and is backing up. Various things can cause this, but it certainly means you have a restriction in the line. Do you have trees in the yard where the drain line runs (roots)? Is the house old, where you could have build-up? Could there be a crack where toilet paper (or something that went down the kitchen sink) is hanging up? I would start by snaking the line. Don't bother putting crap down it––none of it works.
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Hey guys I have a pre-ban toilet in the main bathroom that has been having problems "getting everything down". About 3 months ago we had the septic tank pumped out and since then the toilet has been requiring 2 flushes to get the job done. Before then, no problems, it could handle everything we could give it. I pulled the clean out cap off and looked down it and couldn't see anything obstructing it as its a straight shot from the house to the tank. I had my son dump a bucket of water in the bowl and I could hear water running down the main soil pipe at a good rate so I don't think there is anything before the clean out. Any ideas? I would hate to give up my pre-ban for one of those wimpy post ban ones. I had the same problem pulled the toilet and found some q-tips side ways in the bottom which was stoping the paper and waste from going down after removing them the problem went away. |
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. I had the same problem pulled the toilet and found some q-tips side ways in the bottom which was stoping the paper and waste from going down after removing them the problem went away. It's always shocking––and maddening––what those who don't have to deal with the problems will flush down a toilet. 
Women/girls and their damned feminine products are the worst. If you have teenage girls visiting you can bet they are on the rag, so it's best to bar them from using the bathroom, as they will always flush them rather than take a chance of anyone noticing their trash and "knowing." 
Q-tips probably mean the pimp hand is needed, as a guest is unlikely to use them. 
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Well, I was on the roof and I shined my mini mag down the vent. Didn't see anything so I dropped a weighted fishing line down to see how far it went (about 12 feet). Kept dropping it and each time I could hear a metallic "Tink" when it stopped dropping so I don't think its anything in the vent.
Now I'm off to pick up a couple wax gaskets so I can remove the stool and check. Wonder what kinds of goodies I'll find. |
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Sometimes the hole in the front of the bowl gets clogged with lime deposits. BTDT. I shut off the water supply, flushed until the tank was empty, then bailed out the bowl with a sponge. Poured in about 2 cups of muriatic acid, hit the exhaust fan, unassed the area and closed the door. An hour later there was all sorts of nasty stuff in the bowl. Turned on the water and flushed a couple of times. Problem gone.
FWIW YMMV |
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Flopper.
It's always the flopper. 
Three things I would ck are, - is the water level in the tank rising to the proper level? - is the little hose thing spraying water into the tube thing? - is the flopper staying open long enough for the tank to completely empty? NickySantoro's suggestion above to clean out lime deposits is also an excellent suggestion. I use Lime Away. Don't know if that is the same thing as muriatic acid or if is it any better or worse... -3D |
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Well, I took the toilet off and found the trouble. Some how a pencil got down there and there was a big wad of TP wrapped around it. About 2 weeks ago My SIL and 2 nieces spent the weekend and they went through 6 double rolls of TP, more than likely then was when it happened.
Got the stool mounted on the flange and I thought I heard a crack as I was tightening the nuts but I don't see any cracks so I'm going to let it go. I love my pre-ban so its going to have to fail hard before I change it. |
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Well, I took the toilet off and found the trouble. Some how a pencil got down there and there was a big wad of TP wrapped around it. About 2 weeks ago My SIL and 2 nieces spent the weekend and they went through 6 double rolls of TP, more than likely then was when it happened. Got the stool mounted on the flange and I thought I heard a crack as I was tightening the nuts but I don't see any cracks so I'm going to let it go. I love my pre-ban so its going to have to fail hard before I change it. Glad you found the problem and got it fixed. Thanks for posting what the problem is and how you fixed it. As a side note, don't be so quick to discount the new toilets. I would have agreed with you at one time. My parents house had a crappy low flow toilet and it would take 3 flushes to get all the crap down. And you better flush as you go too!! My last house had a "pre ban" toilet and it worked well but did get clogged from time to time. When I built my new house, I researched toilets. Seems that the low flow ones come in many different types. Basically, you want the largest trapway possible and you also want it fully glazed. If you get one like that, you will rarely have problems. The toilets I bought for the new house (3 of them) are all low flow. But, they have fully glazed trapways and one of the largest trapway around. In the past almost two years since we built the house, we have not yet clogged the toilet. They flush EVERYTHING. Much better than my old "pre ban" toilet and FAR better than the cheap crappy low flow toilets that everyone seems to buy. I can look up the toilet model that I bought if you are interested. Suffice to say, the new toilets are really pretty good. |
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Worse I ever had to deal with was an intermittent "failure to remove TP and solid waste".
Test flush, worked fine, good and strong. Tried a wad of paper, didn't want to go. Dumped a bucket of water in AS it was flushing (will often dislodge some obstructions). Repeated test, still problems with wad. Pulled unit, looked good, other than some deposits. Snaked drain, no obstructions. Cleaned deposits, reinstalled. Strong flush. Added paper wad, poor flush. Pulled again. FINALLY noticed something up inside, while looking from the bottom. Small pink thing. Thought it might be a toy or something, but very hard plastic Had to use needle nosed vicegrips and really work to get it out! Was a hairbrush! Some how, made the first turn, then got trapped. 
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It is amazing what gets stuck in toilets (or more accurately said, what people loose in them) I've removed:
ipods cell phones utility knives q-tips rags liquid soap bottles tooth paste (in both squeeze tubes and pump bottles) shampoo bottles swords toilet paper holders pens pencils hair brushes combs matchbox cars small airplanes army men porcelain figurines really small adjustable wrench tampon applicators I'm sure I am forgetting stuff, other that the obvious. While I can't really say I look forward to finding what's stuck in there, it is always interesting when something new is found. Almost all were removed with the stool left on the floor with a closet auger. A few needed to have the stool removed from the floor, and one of the utility knives, and one cell phone got removed by breaking the trap. A hammer always does the trick! 
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Help My toilet smells like urine. It is clean as a whistle and we keep it that way. WTF? What would cause this, venting? Most often that is caused by older men dripping piss AROUND the toilet and soaking into whatever rug/floor is there. Venting problems will only affect flush, not odors. |
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Help My toilet smells like urine. It is clean as a whistle and we keep it that way. WTF? What would cause this, venting? Most often that is caused by older men dripping piss AROUND the toilet and soaking into whatever rug/floor is there. Venting problems will only affect flush, not odors. I have laminate flooring TBK do you have any other ideas? Thanks in advance.
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Help My toilet smells like urine. It is clean as a whistle and we keep it that way. WTF? What would cause this, venting? Most often that is caused by older men dripping piss AROUND the toilet and soaking into whatever rug/floor is there. Venting problems will only affect flush, not odors. I have laminate flooring TBK do you have any other ideas? Thanks in advance.Rip it up and replace it. There is moisture (water and urine) soaked into the laminate. Replace it with either tile or linoleum. Laminate, while nice, does not belong in a bathroom. |
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Help My toilet smells like urine. It is clean as a whistle and we keep it that way. WTF? What would cause this, venting? Most often that is caused by older men dripping piss AROUND the toilet and soaking into whatever rug/floor is there. Venting problems will only affect flush, not odors. I have laminate flooring TBK do you have any other ideas? Thanks in advance.Rip it up and replace it. There is moisture (water and urine) soaked into the laminate. Replace it with either tile or linoleum. Laminate, while nice, does not belong in a bathroom. And then either sit down to pee or get down on one knee so you don't drip onto the floor. It's the only way once the BPH sets in.
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Help My toilet smells like urine. It is clean as a whistle and we keep it that way. WTF? What would cause this, venting? Most often that is caused by older men dripping piss AROUND the toilet and soaking into whatever rug/floor is there. Venting problems will only affect flush, not odors. I have laminate flooring TBK do you have any other ideas? Thanks in advance.Rip it up and replace it. There is moisture (water and urine) soaked into the laminate. Replace it with either tile or linoleum. Laminate, while nice, does not belong in a bathroom. And then either sit down to pee or get down on one knee so you don't drip onto the floor. It's the only way once the BPH sets in. I think I will give it a muratic acid douch. No old guys pissing on the floor here Thanks TBK.
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