Poor Flushing Toilet

[CR500]

Ok, I'm stumped ...

Toilet was never a great flusher (didn't seem to transfer water from the tank to bowl fast enough). I think its just a poor design.

Recently it changed and won't even flush down a single sheet of toilet paper. It seems like the bowl fills with a lot of water and drains out slowly. I've plunged it to death with no luck. I got a toilet auger and it went right through to the stack and came out clean. There is another toilet on the floor above and it flushes without any problems so I don't think the stack is clogged.

Any ideas??

[junkcollector]

Does the flapper act normal when you push the handle? Sometimes they break, or the chain gets hung up not allowing the flapper to come up as far as it should. I would also take a look at the passageways between the bowl and the tank. There is a passage that goes around the rim and has little holes (I believe they are called "siphon holes'') where water comes out and runs down the sides of the bowl. Take an inspection mirror and peek at the underside of the rim to make sure that all of these holes are open.

I also found this article (http://www.rd.com/19893/article19893.html).

http://www.rd.com/images/tfhimport/2001/Apr01_Ask_Handyman/20010401_Ask_Handyman_page004img001.jpg
Just some things to check...

[CR500]

Flapper is flapping :-)

I can see water streaming from the siphon holes but will check for a partial clog. This toilet doesn't even have a siphon jet!

Thanks

[Fischer]

Try taking a 5 gal bucket of water and pouring it in the toilet to see if it is indeed flushing the bowl properly. The toilet above probably only flushes low volume, and it would be entirely taken up by the stack pipe, so you can't really use that as an indicator for a clog higher up.

[CR500]

Good thinking. I'll try it on both toilets!




Try taking a 5 gal bucket of water and pouring it in the toilet to see if it is indeed flushing the bowl properly. The toilet above probably only flushes low volume, and it would be entirely taken up by the stack pipe, so you can't really use that as an indicator for a clog higher up.

[AllanJ]

Are both toilets on the same stack? That is, the upper floor toilet's working properly means taht the stack is adequately vented.

A slow draining bowl means there is a problem is below that point. How fat is your auger tip? A thin tip can go down and through while the drain passageway in the toilet is still somewhat blocked.

[CR500]

Sorry for the late reply, I've been out of town.

Both are on the same stack.

Its a fairly small snake, but it comes back out absolutely spotless! There isn't even the hint of any kind of gunk on it and I'm getting it all the way into the stack.

I followed the procedure from Junk's post (that takes a lot of putty!) with only a minor increase in flushing performance. Think I'll check on consumer reports for their recommendation on a good one-piece toilet.