Solving annoying toilet clogs
If, when you flush the toilet, the bowl fills up but won’t drain, then your toilet is clogged. If the bowl is full to the brim, bail out half of the water in order to prevent splashing while you work to unclog the toilet, says the plumbing of Littleton experts.
Plunging the toilet
Place the cone of your plunger securely over the bowl’s drain hole and pump the plunger up and down vigorously about a dozen times. If this doesn’t dislodge the obstruction, wait for about an hour and then give it another try. If plunging fails, says your local Littleton plumber, try an auger.
Aim the bent end of a closet auger into the drain hole. Crank the auger’s handle clockwise to feed its snake into the hole until it meets the obstruction. Continue cranking the auger’s handle just a bit more, then pull the auger out as you continue cranking clockwise. If neither of the above mentioned methods work, the problem may be in the main drain; you may have to have the toilet bowl removed by a professional Littleton plumber.
Toilet parts
If you are only dealing with a sluggish or incomplete flush, check the stopper valve inside the toilet tank. The stopper ball may be falling too quickly on the valve seat. Loosen the thumbscrew (s) on the guide arm about 1/2-inch on the overflow tube so that the stopper ball will float longer. To make the stopper ball rise higher, shorten the upper lift wire slightly by unhooking it from the lift arm, bending it slightly, and then re-hooking it in the same hole in the lift arm.
If the flush is still unsatisfactory, try unhooking the upper lift wire from its hole on the lift arm and hooking it in another hole on the arm. It is possible to hear gurgling if you are experiencing a partially filled tank during a flush.
Check the stopper ball. If it isn’t centered on the valve seat, turn off the main water valve and flush the toilet empty. Loosen the screw on the lift wire’s guide arm. Move the arm until the stopper ball is seated properly. Then tighten the screw.
