Every other flush is weak


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Old 12-17-14, 10:20 AM
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Every other flush is weak

I have a toilet that only works well with every other flush:
1. Flush A: fine;
2. Let her fill up;
3. Flush B: weak, i.e., it doesn't aggressively empty the bowl;
4. Flush A: fine;
5. Flush B: weak, etc.

I can stand there and do one flush after another, and this is the behavior.

What's causing this?
 
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Old 12-17-14, 10:32 AM
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Are you checking with the tank lid off so you can see the water level? Some toilets get very quiet but they still aren't full.

Another thing....if you wait 15 minutes between flushes, not one after the other....same problem?

The only thing I can think of is a partial blockage of some sort in the line that only allows one tank of water before it's full and the second flush has to work against that, but normally that would cause an overflow depending on where the blockage was.
 
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Old 12-17-14, 04:02 PM
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Hi, I had a similar problem. I found that the hose to the overflow wasn't putting enough water in the bowl. (Took a long time to figure it out). The cure was I installed a new Fluid Master. I found that where ever I worked the simplest things are the hardest to fix.
Good Luck Woodbutcher
 
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Old 12-17-14, 04:07 PM
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Good thinking....both tank AND bowl have to be at proper level for it to work correctly.
 
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Old 12-17-14, 04:51 PM
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Hmmm... so if the bowl doesn't fill up enough, there won't be enough water to draw everything through, and some water will be left behind in the bowl. So as the toilet recharges, the bowl now has sort of a head start in terms of reaching the proper level, so the next time you flush, there will be enough water in the bowl to work properly. But now the bowl has to fill up from scratch and since the toilet's mechanism isn't giving the bowl its proper share, the next flush once again doesn't have enough water in the bowl to draw properly, and the every-other-time cycle repeats. That makes sense.
 
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Old 12-17-14, 05:24 PM
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Exactly! Woodbutcher has probably nailed it. Have to check your levels but wouldn't hurt to properly install a new fill valve if you see any issues.
 
 

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