Hello all,

I wanted to give a tip to the ladies out there ( and maybe some guys ) about how to stop a European toilet that won't stop running water .

As with most household things like this, the toilet didn't start acting up until my husband left for a work trip.

It was acting up a few days ago, but would stop after I flushed it twice. Tonight, however, the toilet would not stop running water.

I've had experience 'fixing' running toilets in the US, but to my surprise when I opened up the toilet the mechanics were different than a US toilet. ( no bobber, no chain, no flapper )

Our toilet has some kind of main central tube that helps fill the toilet, an over flow tube that is open at the top and takes in any extra water as the toilet fills up, a lever, and a tube that connects from the wall to the central tube.

The toilet cover is made of heavy plastic and looks attached to the toilet, but it can come off. Be careful as you are taking the cover off, because it attaches to the inside of the toilet by two plastic clips and you don't want to snap those off .

After you get the toilet cover off, follow the tube that attaches from the central tube to the wall. There will be a knob of some sort . Mine is a small white knob. Turn this knob towards the wall, and the water will stop running.

I don't know that this really fixes the problem, but it will stop the toilet from running water.

A running toilet can sound annoying, waste water, and cost a lot . Hopefully, this helps someone else until their spouse/partner can have a look, or until you can schedule a plumber to come out.

HTH
TheLaughingCow

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TheLaughingCow

What, no ball cock???

Welcome to continental cisterns.

Well, I don't know if it's a cistern as it still has a lever , and not a button on the top of the toilet cover.

In any case, it was different from what I was used to seeing.

Thanks,
TheLaughingCow

Sounds good BUT - have you used the toilet since?

Yes, I used it again. It will flush, but the tank will not fill back up with water for another flush.

The knob I turned off cuts off the water. So, if you find yourself in the same situation, you have to turn the knob back to 'on' to fill the tank with water again in order to flush again.

I realized what the problem is though. I found something like a float attached to one of the tubes, and this should sense when the tank is full, but it's not. Nothing looks damaged, and so I'm not sure why it's not working.

Can you post a picture?

Usually when a toilet runs on like that it is the flush valve mechanism which is faulty, but sometimes the plate with the buttons gets jammed and holds the valve permanently open. It's easy to tell the difference - you take the cover off, flush once by pushing where the plate would (do each if it is a dual flush type), and if the toilet stops running then the problem is the lever/cover sticking.

Yeah, I can post a photo if you want, but it looks gross (mold) .

If you live in a hard water region it could be calcium deposits.

You can usually scrape enough off to make the float work again, otherwise ask your local drogerie for a product to spray on and disolve it (formic acid works well).

Thanks for the tip. We do have very hard water .

Here are a couple of photos.

OK so my suggestion:

- Go get some calcium eating product from the drogerie
- Turn off the little tap to stop the water supply
- Flush the toilet to empty the cistern
- Scrape off any large calcium deposits you see
- Leave it to dry and even use some kitchen towels to dry the inside
- Spray the product over everything, you will hear a hiss as it eats into the calcium
- Leave it for an hour or so
- Give it a second blast to be sure
- Turn water back on to see if it did the job

I'll give it a go later on. I have some bathroom cleaner that dissolves calcium. Thanks

While the tank is empty (and the valve still off) try actuating the black lever a few times. Does the tube in the middle move up and down freely or does it bind?

Spray the valves (both the plastic one with the hose attached, and the tube mechanism in the middle of the cistern) liberally with antical or such and let it work for 15 minutes, spray it again a few times, waiting for it to work in between.

Usually it is just a calc buildup. Once the flush tube in the middle can move freely again it will stop running on. Sometimes the water control valve (the plastic one with the hose connected) needs replacing, but if it is just calcium on the other bits then spraying with anti cal will solve the problem (for a while at least).

__________________
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Great, thank you !

Yesterday, I emptied out the tank and was fiddling with the tube and lever etc. It moves fine, and nothing is damaged. So, it may really be just some calcium build up. I'll definitely try this, and let you know.

The tank needs a good cleaning anyhow

You can often rotate the central vertical pipe back and forth to scrape off a little lime scale and stop the leak.

Good to know !

I'm learning so much today

Underneath the floating device is a rubber seal that stops water running into the toilet bowl.

Quite often it will be completely covered in limescale so it no longer provides a seal.

Put some of your product in a small recipient and position the recipient so the rubber seal is bathing in it.

Bathroom cleaner usually isn't quite strong enough to really make a difference... it may remove just enough calc that the thing works again for a few weeks.

Use a concentrated calcium remover like antical, put it in a spray bottle, wear gloves and glasses (it isn't really all that strong an acid, but still). Just keep spraying/soaking all the parts for long enough - once it stops fizzing when you spray it then the calc is pretty much gone.

Finally when all is clean and working properly, slobber on some paraffin wax (Vaseline) on the rubber seal and the rim of the pipe leading to the toilet bowl, this will give a longer protection against limescale build-up.

(We live in a hard water region and have 4 WCs in our house. I do all 4 in one day every 3 or 4 years or so)