November 29th, 2009
Toilet has no Suction due to a long horizontal Pipe – any Suggestions?
Hi,
My Toilet I think was installed incorrectly as it has a large horizontal pipe which goes all the way under the bath taking away the waste – with no decline from the toilet to the pipe to cause suction when I flush (Obviously embarresing if I have over guests- as I have to tell them to use a bucket). Anyway – I move in in two weeks and this is obviously a priority for me. Can anyone suggest a quick fix to something like this as opposed to replacing the toilet – which I will do at a later date – but as Ive just bought the property am a bit skint at the moment.
Any help appreciated….
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Filed under: Buy Property
A saniflo system, but I wouldn’t know how much it will cost
If a bucket gets it to flush it sounds like your ball cock could do with adjustment so that it fills up closer to the top of the cistern and so uses more water when flushed. This should be easy to check and do.
Check pipes but they only need to fall about an inch in every 100 the shit floats away it is not sucked.
Try a 40 mm air admitance valve.
Yuo can get these for £10 and they fit on the pan outlet connector – you’ll probably need a new one of those as well – £5
This will allow air into the pipe to follow the flush and make the flush more effective.
this type of thing:
saniflo start at £300 adn have thier own problems so you are better off getting the 110mm system working.
If you just bought the property, did the owner gave you home maintenance warranty, which is provided by American Shield, etc? It should cover plumbing and obviously it is an issue.
You don’t need and in fact shouldn’t have suction in your waste pipe, it’s all done by gravity. There should be a fall in the length of pipe from the toilet to the stack and the water from the flush should be sufficient to carry all the waste to a vertical stack or whatever you have. Get the plumbers back or contact building control for advice.
If this is an older toilet then the holes under the rim may have become clogged with minerals. In some toilets there is a hole in the bottom where the water enters the bowl which can be plugged also.
Watch the water that comes from under the rim when you flush the toilet. If it is weak then it could be clogged.
You may be able to use a small hook to clean out the holes.
Assuming you are emptying the bucket in to your stool and it is going down OK. As an experiment, take the lid off your tank, reach in and lift up the ball cock and hold it, letting the water out of the stool as fast as possible. Also watch the water in the stool is it swirling? It should be. It not the stool may be limed up and the holes under the lip of the stool partly stopped up. I have attempted to rod them out, but in the long run a sledge hammer has been my only cure. That of course is after I purchase a new stool.
Is you tank filling to the water line. Look for something simple, it something mechanical in the stool. Don`t think it your soil pipe.
In a residential home your toilet probably does not use any “suction” to flush, it relies on gravity to “push” the waste down the pipe. If the horiz. pipe is definitely the right size and definitely not blocked up and definitely sloped improperly, I’d suggest building a small platform under the toilet. Waste pipes only need to be sloped about 1/4″ per foot so the platform only needs to be a couple inches at best. But, unless the pipe was at a fairly visible upward angle, it shouldn’t prevent the toilet from flushing unless the trap lets out at the back of the toilet instead of into the floor. These kind of toilets aren’t used at all where I’m from, but things might be different where you live. If you haven’t snaked out the toilet yet, do that first. Drano won’t do the job.
Have to say that I’m surprised by you saying that the soil pipe has to go such a distance. Most toilets are situated on an out side wall enabling the waste to go through straight into the main soil pipe. The toilet works by the weight of the water in the toilet cistern flowing down the pipe work by gravity, flushing the waste away into the main soil pipe. Is it possible that the toilet that you have is the type that you see advertised today saying that you can put them just about any where. There is maybe just a simple answer to your problem and that is the use of a good plunger to shift a possible blockage
It is the syphon in the toilet cistern that makes the suction, not the slope of the waste pipe. Your problem is that the syphon in the toilet is not working, most probably the diagphram has collapsed. If you want to try to repair it yourself, I would advise you fit a new syphon costing about £10.To start, Turn off the water to the toilet cistern. Now you have get rid of the water in the cistern. You can do this by baling it out with a mug or cup.When the water is down to the bottom, then get a sponge to get the rest of the water out. If you have a toilet with a flush pipe, then Undo the big nut underneath and screw it right off and let the nut slide down the flushpipe. Next undo the pipe where the water goes into the syphon, Make sure you DO NOT lose any washers. Then withdraw the syphon and take it with you to get a replacement. Fit the new syphon in the reverse order, and dont overtighten the plastic nuts . If you have a cistern that sits on top of the toilet, then after turning the water off undo the screws underneath and lift off. The same procedure follows. Undo the big nut and the water pipe and remove the syphon. Good luck.
it is the syphone that needs replaceing, that is the biggest part in the cistern but they only cost about £5 and are easy to fit
Be thankful there is no suction, it could come on as you are sitting contemplating the worlds problems and drag you down rrs first into sewerland. If this happens don’t eat any Mars bars, they may not be what they seem. Just to be safe I would rope my ankles to something secure before trusting myself to this contraption, Good luck to you and yours who have to use it………..