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criticalmass048

Mystery toilet leak

criticalmass048
13 years ago

We have a toilet on the first floor that is rarely used. The problem is that it has a leak somewhere that I can't find. I never see water on the floor, or even a wet ceiling in the cellar underneath the toilet. I never see water trickling into the bowl, not even hear it (and I have pretty good ears).

Nevertheless, every 1.5-2.0 hours, you'll hear the water running, as more water enters the tank. Where did it go? I can't figure it out.

A few months ago, I replaced the old hollow ball float with some fancy-shamcy system (I think it's called "Tankmaster") which features a plastic tube upon which this round donut floats up and down with the water level, and replaced the cheap rubber flapper with a slightly less cheap rubber flapper. Looks nicer, but same problem, no improvement.

To complicate matters, this toilet has NO shutoff valve, meaning I have to run downstairs to turn water on and off whenever I do repairs. Not generally a problem, unless I have to do it multiple times In a matter of minutes. I refuse to put a shutoff valve in though, unless I have to replace the toilet. Too much work :)

So anyway, my big problem seems to be that it's such a SLOW leak. As I said, it takes 1.5-2.0 hours for the water to drop low enough that it warrants re-filling, and even the re-filling process is done in about 5 seconds, so we're talking a SLOW leak.

I've put it off long enough! I'd like any tips, tricks, ideas, or especially things to look for. The only obvious answer is to replace the toilet, which again, I don't want to do unless I have no choice, mainly because I've never replaced a toilet, and it doesn't look like fun! Thanks in advance!

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