Can’t Flush This
A clogged toilet can be a huge inconvenience, and can be expensive if the homeowner is unable to clear the clog and is forced to hire an Oklahoma City plumber. The problem is especially common with modern toilets. Older models use larger amounts of water per flush, and therefore use more “mass” to push waste through the plumbing. Newer models, however, are designed to use water more efficiently. They use only as much water as is required for an average flush, but don’t stand up to large items as well. Owners must therefore use extra caution with them in order to ensure that all waste loads are within the toilet’s flushing capability. Avoiding putting certain items in a toilet can prevent many clogs.
Toilet paper is designed to dissolve and break up in water, preventing it from creating either a bundled up mass or a “net” in the plumbing. However, it is common for many people to use other materials in its place. Paper towels are the most common, but users should never flush these down a toilet, since they are designed to do the opposite of toilet paper: maintain durability when wet. They tend to bunch up and form tough masses that are larger than the diameter of the pipe.
Even toilet paper will fail to flush properly if used in large amounts and flushed all at once. It can ball up so that only the outside of the “ball” will dissolve in the water. It is best to use only a few sheets at a time between flushes to prevent a clogged toilet bowl.
Children’s toys are another common cause of backed-up toilets. Ever-curious children are often fascinated by toilets, and will place objects into them just to watch them as they flush down. However, most toys are awkwardly shaped, inflexible, and bigger than the pipe. An Oklahoma City plumber may have to be called to extract them. The best way to avoid this problem is to keep the toilet seat down when not in use and keep the bathroom door closed. Children should be monitored to make sure that they don’t play in the bathroom. An added benefit of this is that children will not be unnecessarily exposed to unsanitary conditions.
Simple tools such as a plunger and a plumbing snake can be used to fix many clogs when they do occur. Drain cleaners may be useful for clearing most types of waste, but will be ineffective on foreign objects such as toys. Following these simple guidelines and learning the proper use of common clog-busting tools can save most Oklahoma City homeowners from expensive plumber bills.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nicholas_Chua
If you are looking for a professional Oklahoma City drain cleaning contractor, then please call us today at 405-802-7769 or complete our online request form.
Is Your Oklahoma City Toilet Running? Better Catch It!
You hear a hissing in the middle of the night. You notice your Oklahoma City water bill is higher than normal. What you probably have is the common running toilet that, if not addressed, will cost you hundreds of unnecessary dollars.
Fixing a leaking toilet is not a hard skill to learn. The savings (and pride) will last a lifetime. So, here’s a free plumbing tip on causes of a running toilet.
Finding The Cause Of The Leak
The first thing to fix any problem is to find what is causing it. In order to do that we learn how a toilet basically works.
When you push down the toilet handle, all you’re doing is moving a rod upward that lifts something called a flapper that is preventing the tank water from draining into the toilet. The flapper stays up in the tank water because there is a pocket of air in the flapper. As the tank water level drops, so will the floating flapper. It will fall right back into place, sealing the hole that lets out the tank water into the toilet bowl.
What controls water from filling up the tank is a floater that is attached to a rod. As the floater moves up and down with the water level of the tank, it will either open or close a valve. This is how water is let in to refill the toilet tank, and shuts off automatically as the floater rises with the water level. At the same time, water is also directed into the toilet bowl via a tube running in an overflow tube. Again, once the tank reaches a certain level, all water flow should stop.
If the water level is above the overflow tube, water will be constantly draining into the bowl and the floater will never get high enough to shut off the valve. There should be a screw above where the water flows into the tank. Turn it either way to see how it adjust the floater. Alternatively, you could bend the rod to lower the floater. Thus, the floater will reach a point where it shuts of the inflow of water completely. Obviously, the water level needs to be lower than the overflow tube. Check to make sure this is true as it could be as simple as making this adjustment to stop a running toilet.
Another cause of a running toilet could be that water is leaking into the bowl through the flapper part at the bottom of the tank. To test to see if this is the problem, put some food coloring into the tank. Check the bowl in about 5 minutes to see If there is coloring in the bowl. If so, your flapper is not sealing the drain hole completely. In this case, all you have to do is buy a new flapper.
If you have a tank ball sealing the drain hole, make sure the vertical rod is positioned perfectly so that the tank ball will sit in the drain hole perpendicularly.
Another cause could be a short or kinked chain (if you have a flapper type flushing system). Make sure there is enough slack in the chain so that the flapper will completely seat (in the drain hole).
If none of those are the cause of your running toilet, then the filler valve (the part where water comes out to fill your tank) could be the culprit. If your assembly allows you to get to the valve, there should be either rubber washers or O-rings that seal water flow. Check them out to see if there’s ANY wear. Replace if necessary.
If, on the other hand, it seems like it’s one solid piece, you’ll have to change the whole assembly. In this case, you must shut off the toilet water supply at the shut off valve, flush the toilet, and remove the whole assembly by unscrewing the water inlet pipe, and then the whole filler assembly. You will need a wrench, a bucket, and some rags to complete this job. There are videos on the internet showing you how to perform this extraction and installation.
When To Call A Oklahoma City Plumber
Are you afraid you might do more harm than good? Don’t like getting down on your hands and knees and getting a little wet? Or, maybe you have better things to do with your time? These are all valid reasons to let a professional Oklahoma City plumber do the work for you. A skilled plumber should be able to diagnose and fix the leak for you without too many problems.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kaleio_Silva
