On 24/03/2008, Bob Blick <bobblick@ftml.net> wrote:
>
>
> Sean Breheny wrote:
>
> > One of the toilets in my mom's house is leaking. The problem is that
> > the fill valve never closes completely. The interesting thing is that
> > this is about the fifth time that this has happened in 15 years or so.
> > Is it normal to have to replace that valve assembly every three years?
> > All the sites I've checked indicate that the flapper is most often the
> > cause of leaks, but with this toilet, it has never been the cause of
> > the leaks. She never uses in-tank cleaners or anything which should
> > hasten the demise of the valve. The only thing I can think of is maybe
> > high or erratic water pressure? Her water is not very hard. It may be
> > chlorinated but I don't taste it as excessive.
> >
>
> If it's a Flowmaster, it will do that if a tiny piece of grit gets in
> it. Turn the water off. Remove the top plastic part of the valve by
> pushing down on it while rotating clockwise an eigth turn. Turn the
> water on momentarily(with the lid over the tank!). Then reassemble.
>
> Cheerful regards,
>
> Bob


I'm having a similar problem at the moment with a pressure reducing
valve. If I adjust it for reasonable pressure in the upstairs shower,
it eventually develops a slow leak and I start losing hot water
through the overflow. If I back off the pressure to stop the overflow,
then we get cold showers. A new washer generally fixes the problem for
about 6 months but that''s it. Not sign of grit or damage to the
sealing face where the washer sits.  I've tried sanding the surface of
the washer which removes the hard oxydised surface and it appears to
help but it doesn't last

We first noticed the problem when the council fitted a water meter and
there was grit/swarf in the system but that was a long time ago and it
now appears clean.

One solution appears to be to increase the height of the overflow so
more back pressure will develop before it starts to drip. This will
apply more pressure to the valve & hopefully turn it off harder. But
I'm already close to the maximum pressure of the hot water cylendar.

The good side of things is that it's an easy job to replace the washer.

Any ideas?

Richard P
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