Crane Toilet Tank Cracked


  #1  
Old 09-02-15, 11:03 AM
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Crane Toilet Tank Cracked

Tank has cracked. It's a 3.5 GP tank. Would like to replace only the tank if possible. Not interested in repairing, too risky. I'm looking at the dimensions of the Crane Galaxy and the tank is the same size or so as the one I have, but is a 1.6. Is the capacity purely down to the type of fill valve they have in the tank? Also anyone know a decent plumbing supplies house in Houston? Any tips, suggestions much appreciated.

Thanks
 
  #2  
Old 09-02-15, 11:33 AM
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Lows and Home Depot stock tanks.
Just check the bolt pattern.
Going to need a new gasket and bolts.
 
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Old 09-02-15, 03:09 PM
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My gut tells me that a 1.6 tank will not work on a 3.5 base. I know the tank is cracked, but turn the water off, flush the toilet, measure 1.6 gallons of water into the tank and try to flush. Good luck.

Bite the bullet, buy a new toilet. Save the frugality for another venture.
 
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Old 09-02-15, 03:10 PM
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I would replace the entire toilet. Even if you find a tank that bolts up to your old bowl it was designed to work with larger volumes of water and probably will not flush well with a modern low volume tank.
 
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Old 09-02-15, 05:25 PM
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I broke my tank on an old 1950’s yellow toilet and found that to replace the toilet I’d have to replace tub and sink also in order to match. They were all a yellow color no longer found. But I found the exact toilet on ebay. You might try there.

You live in a heavily populated area so you might be able to just drive somewhere and pick up the tank if sold on ebay – that’s what I did.
 
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Old 09-02-15, 06:17 PM
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Yep, it's looking like a complete new toilet system will be required. So now...paranoia is setting in. Back in Feb of this year I pulled the tank and replaced the flush and fill valves. The tank mounting bolts are held on by wingnuts and I am aware of the overtightening cautions. Question is did I cause this? I hand tightened only using the wingnuts, but am reading that the correct way is to tighten using a screwdriver as the 'torque supplier' and stop when the screwdriver cannot turn the bolt any further, so…do not tighten the bolts by turning the nut. Also, can someone give me the correct bolt / washer combo? I recall what I had is:
Bolt/brass washer / rubber washer – push through the tank, then rubber washer/brass washer / wingnut.
I’ll pull the tank this weekend and see where the crack starts. I hope I didn’t cause the problem, it’s been very costly. I’m still ahead of the game over a lifetime of repairs done by me rather than the pro’s, but this one a ‘baddie’.
 
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Old 09-03-15, 08:23 AM
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Sometimes it's just bad luck and things crack. There could have been a weak spot and you tightening it differently, not excessive but just different, was enough to cause the crack. I have never had trouble with wing nuts allowing you to over tighten. It's when you use a wrench on a nut or use a pair of pliers to turn the wing nuts even tighter that you can get into trouble. But generally tanks in good condition can take a lot more tightening than you'd expect.
 
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Old 09-06-15, 10:14 AM
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I think it goes bolt, rubber washer, push through the tank, rubber washer, brass washer, wingnut. A reasonable amount of tightening tension is needed for the wingnut and here it gets tricky.

If space permits you can go bolt, rubber washer, push through the tank, brass washer, regular nut, will take a good amount of tension. Then after installing the tank add rubber washer, brass washer, and wingnut with low tightening tension. The middle regular nut cannot be used if it would touch the bowl unit and the tank rock back and forth on it.

If you start with a brass washer under the bolt head then water can seep in between with only an undersized hole in the rubber washer keeping it from leaking.

I actually think you can get away using roofing cement on the inside of the toilet tank. Unlike epoxy, roofing cement has give to it so the repair patch won't simply crack off when the porcelain expands and contracts under temperature changes. Add a layer of synthetic cloth used in roofing then over the patch and then another layer of roofing cement.
 
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Old 09-06-15, 10:38 AM
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can someone give me the correct bolt / washer combo? I recall what I had is:
Bolt/brass washer / rubber washer – push through the tank, then rubber washer/brass washer / wingnut.
No.......

I think it goes bolt, rubber washer, push through the tank, rubber washer, brass washer, wingnut.
Yes.. kind of....

Like this less the plumbers putty this guy uses...

Video for reference only...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=267&v=7RMEfUEoV7k
 
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Old 09-06-15, 01:36 PM
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Got it thanks. Well I took the old tank off, the crack starts at rear top right and peters out into a fine line at rear tank bottom right. I checked my bolt / nut tightening and the wingnuts that hold tank to bowl were finger tight and the same bolts that thread through the tank and are held by a nut / rubber washer at the tank were very easy to undo with a wrench. So I’m going to write this off to bad luck. With that said, we have now expanded our water alarm collection. We have them under sink and in laundry room but never thought to put them next to toilet in case of a tank cracking. They are 12 bucks each……cost of this accident will be approx. $3,000 in repairs, and we caught it early, it could have been worse. Consider a water alarm for each toilet area, no use of course if you are out, but it may save the day. Thanks for the help. Will empty the tanks on the other toilets and inspect for hairline cracks.
 
 

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