dripping sound from toilet tank

[rgnatowsky]

hello. i am new to this forum. hope somebody can help me out. i have a water dripping sound coming from the toilet tank. i took the lid off and looked for something in the tank that is dripping water but there is none. but i still hear the sound. any possibilities of what it might be? thanks. rich,

[Troy]

I know someone around here has a better answer, but do you think it is dripping water from the reservoir to the bowl? Do you notice any water moving anywhere?

Is it all the time, or just after it runs?

Welcome to the forum!

Try

[rgnatowsky]

troy -

no water moving at all, not in bowl or tank. but still that dripping sound. it happens all the time. the dripping sound was happening when i left for work this morning, and it will be happening when i get home. i was wondering, maybe the tank is "sweating"? i have seen that term mentioned on this forum. i hope thats all it is.

thanks for responding to my question.

rich

[LazyPup]

In order to cause a dripping sound the water would need to physically drip from some source.

Whlie sweating does occur during periods of high humidity it is a result of humidity condensing on the outer walls of a cooler toilet tank. (The tank is cooled by the incoming cold water during the fill cycle) however when sweating occurs the water is suspended against the toilet tank by surface tension until it runs to the bottom edge of the tank and drips off onto the floor, which is easily noticed by a wet spot on the floor.

However, the actual sound of dripping water actually occurs as the droplet of water falls into a container of standing water. It is highly unlikely that there would be a sufficient ammount of water on the floor to cause a dripping sound.

In turn, water leaking past the flapper valve is also primary carried by surface tension into the top of the bowl inlet where it then runs down to the bowl. Given the flat interior design of the bowl inlet here again it would be nearly impossible to cause a dripping sound.

It is also impossible for the water in the tank to create a dripping sound because there is no motion in the water which could result in a droplet falling to make the sound.

Having now eliminated sweating, the flush valve and the standing water in the tank, that only leaves two possible sources, both of which are related to the fill valve.

If the trap primer line were mispositioned it could spray water on the underside of the tank lid during the fill cycle and the water droplets then later fall to the standing water in the tank. This could easily be located by looking for water droplets on the underside of the tank lid.

The second possible cause could be a fill valve that is slowly leaking through the valve head. Water droplets could form on the fill head and then drip to the standing water in the tank or the tank could be overfilling and water dripping down the standpipe in the center of the tank. This would be indicated by a tank that is overfilling to the top of the overflow standpipe rather than stopping at the indicated
"water Level" index. If the tank is overfilling first check the float to insure it is stopping the valve at the correct water height. It may be possible to adjust the float level to correct the problem, if not, the solution would be to install a new fill valve, which is usually a very simple and inexpensive DIY job.

There are numerous universal water fill valve kits on the market. My personal favorite is the Fluidmaster which is easy to install and comes in a complete kit with very good illustrated instructions for about $10, available at any hardware or home supply store.

[rgnatowsky]

i think i discovered the source of the dripping sound. when i reach into the tank and press down on the top of the flapper, the dripping sound stops. i dont even have to press very hard on the top of the flapper to get the sound to stop. i let up on the flapper, and the sound starts up again.

i have seen in other posts something called a universal flapper made by fluidmaster. is this something that i can purchase perhaps at home depot or lowe's? assuming the flapper is the problem and it needs to be replaced, i'd love to try to replace it myself.

rich

[LazyPup]

rgnatowsky






Changing the flapper is extremely easy but before you begin you will need to check inside your tank and see which mount style you have.

Most flush valves now have two little plastic arms that extend out each side of the flush valve overflow pipe. The flapper ball mounting arms simply snap on those hanger arms, however some older style flush valves have a ring mount like pictured in the illustration below.

If you have the ring mount you will need to replace it with the same style.

To replace the flapper first locate the toilet water supply line (under left side of the tank) and turn the angle stop supply valve off.

Flush the toilet to get the water out of the tank.

RING MOUNT STYLE- unhook the small diameter "Trap Primer" water line from the top of the standpipe. Slide the old flapper up and off the standpipe. Now gently stretch the mount ring of the new flapper and fit it around the standpipe and slide it down into place. Be very careful to make sure the flapper is lined up so the center of the flapper ball is centered on the opening of the flush valve seat. Carefully adjust the height of the mount ring so the flapper is laying flat on the flush valve seat when at rest.

HANGER ARM STYLE: unhook the flapper mounts from the plastic mount arms and attach the new flapper back in the same postition.

ADJUSTING THE CHAIN LENGTH: On the upper end of the flapper ball chain you will find a small "Safety Pin" type spring clip. Attach the clip near the end of the flush handle arm then let the flush arm fall down to its at rest position and note the length of the chain. The chain should have about one chain link of slack when the flush arm is at rest. If the length is not correct simply unhook the chain and move the hook to the appropriate link to set the slack.

Lift the flapper ball up and examine the seat on the flush valve by rubbing a finger nail along the top surface. If it feels rough or seems to have scale or bits of old flapper ball rubber stuck to it, gently scrape that off and lightly sand the surface with a piece of emery paper to burnish it smooth.

Some all rubber flapper balls have both the ring mount and the arm mounts. When attaching those to the arm mounts you must first cut the mount ring off but do not cut the flapper ball mounts, just cut the ring out of the center.

If you know the Gallon per flush rating of your toilet you can get the all rubber type flapper balls for about $1.50 (The package should be labelled either 4+GPF, 3.5GPF or 1.6GPF..(GPF = gallons per flush).

If you don't know the rating of your toilet and if you have the hanger arms you can get the Fluidmaster ajustable type. The adjustable type has a rigid plastic mounting frame that snaps on the hanger arms, then the rubber ball can be rotated to adjust the GPF for your toilet. (The Ajustable type is about $4.98)

When using the all rubber type I prefer the "Korky" brand because they are very inexpensive but have a good service life. The "Korky" flappers are made in both Black and Red rubber, the Red Rubber seem to have a bit better service life.