What's new

Toilet drains completely... any suggestions?

This is an odd request; but I wonder if any of you know anything about plumbing. My toilet functions correctly for the most part, but has recently developed a quirk that I cannot fix. When I flush the toilet, it drains properly, refills, and then slowly drains completely before a few "glup glup glup" burps, and only a few inches of water remain. Previously it would drain to about half full and remain at that level. I'm pretty good with toilets, but I can't figure out what could cause this. Any suggestions?
 
Check the flapper to see if it is sealing properly. If you see water running along the inside of the bowl then the flapper is not sealed. It would be putting just enough water in the bowl to cause it to drain.
 
I am not a plumber so this is purely a guess. I would check that the toilet is secure to the floor. If your toilet wobbles a little it may be getting air into the drain. It is also possible that the wax ring has just worn away allowing the same thing to happen. If you have already checked that the tank controls are working properly, this is the next place that I would check.
 
As goofy as it sounds, a partially blocked vent will cause similar problems as well. I know, it sounds the opposite of what should happen. Think of your vent as a straw you hold in a glass of water with your finger on the top blocking air movement. It holds the water, right? Now slip your finger slightly to the side and the water drains slowly. This tries to create a slight vacuum and this makes it sometimes act like a siphon. More likely the issue is what the others mentioned but if that does not seem likely, check you vents for blockage. And remember, if you are going to climb on your roof to look, be careful. No need get injured from a fall or other malady. If you doubt yourself, do yourself a favour and call the local turd chaser er...plumber.

Regards, Todd
 
A quick and easy way to check the seal on the flapper is to add a few drops of food coloring to the tank immediately after flushing. If that same color migrates to the bowl, the flapper is letting water seep past it.
 
I forgot to read the thread fully to the end....must be my ADHD....

It seems strange that it would only drain halfway before. Did you make any adjustments that changed the action to this new symptom?

This reminds me of the time that we had toilet problems about 7 years ago. After cleaning up the over flow (which was even more disgusting than I thought was possible), I removed the toilet and found roots growing from the wax ring down into the drain pipe. I pulled out a giant root ball from the drain. I blamed that on my vegetarian son. I told him he needed to chew his seeds better!

I basically had the problem fixed before the plumbers got there. I can't remember the symptoms that I saw before but I do seem to remember strange things that made me think that it was not a plug until it was too late. Now you may not have the same shifting earth that we have here in Texas but if you do, it might be time to have the pipes scoped. Especially if you are on a septic system. That toilet could be the first sign of a bigger problem.
 
change the flapper ball and valve. it comes in one package. fluidmaster makes the best and most common one. http://www.fluidmaster.com/html/fill_products_400a.html

the wax seal at the floor base has nothing to do with it. You change the seal if water leaks on the floor.

the vent? maybe, I guess. hydrology is strange sometimes, but unlikely.
 
Last edited:
As goofy as it sounds, a partially blocked vent will cause similar problems as well.


This is possible, but I would try this first:


Based on your explanation of your problem and the below highlighted section, it is possible that your siphon tube in your toilet is partially blocked. The blockage lets the toilet flush (lets the water go through) but it is not flushing properly (letting air stop the siphoning action correctly). Because of this all of the last remaining water is being slowly siphoned out until you hear the "glup glup glup" (which you probably did not hear earlier in the flush). You may want to "snake" the toilet and see if that makes a difference.

http://home.howstuffworks.com/toilet2.htmThe Bowl Siphon

(The below explanation is from the above web site minus the picture.)

Let's say that you somehow disconnected the tank, and all you had in your bathroom was the bowl. You would still have a toilet. Even though it has no moving parts, the bowl solves all of the problems a toilet needs to solve. The crucial mechanism that is molded into the bowl is called the bowl siphon, shown here:

You can understand how the siphon works by trying two experiments with your toilet. First, take a cup of water and pour it into the bowl. You will find that approximately nothing happens. What's even more interesting is that you can pour 25 cups (6 L) of water into a toilet, one at a time, and still, nothing will happen. That is, no matter how many cups of water you pour in, the level of the water in the bowl never rises. You can see in the figure why this is the case. When you pour the cup of water in, the water level in the bowl rises, but the extra water immediately spills over the edge of the siphon tube and drains away.

Now, take a bucket of water -- approximately 2 gallons (7.6 L) -- and pour it into the bowl. You will find that pouring in this amount of water causes the bowl to flush. That is, almost all of the water is sucked out of the bowl, and the bowl makes the recognizable "flush" sound and all of the water goes down the pipe. What's happened is this: You've poured enough water into the bowl fast enough to fill the siphon tube. And once the tube was filled, the rest was automatic. The siphon sucked the water out of the bowl and down the sewer pipe. As soon as the bowl emptied, air entered the siphon tube, producing that distinctive gurgling sound and stopping the siphoning process.

You can see that, even if someone were to cut off the water to your bathroom, you could still flush the toilet. All you need is a bucket containing a couple of gallons of water.
 
Last edited:
drop some food coloring in your tank and see if the flapper is leaking. Let it sit for a couple hours and see if you have whatever color water in your bowl.
 

This is possible, but I would try this first:


Based on the above highlighted section, it is possible that your siphon tube in your toilet is partially blocked. The blockage lets the toilet flush (lets the water go through) but it is not flushing properly (letting air stop the siphoning action correctly). Because of this all of the last remaining water is being slowly siphoned out. You may want to "snake" the toilet and see if that makes a difference.

This is why I suggested that the seal at the bottom might not be proper. If the seal allowed air to enter after the first "flush" then the siphoning effect could be affected/broken. My thoughts are that as the toilet flushes, it draws in air breaking the siphon. The air leak could be above water flow area and not allow any water leak. Something is breaking the siphon and the first thing that I thought of was air.
 
This is an odd request; but I wonder if any of you know anything about plumbing. My toilet functions correctly for the most part, but has recently developed a quirk that I cannot fix. When I flush the toilet, it drains properly, refills, and then slowly drains completely before a few "glup glup glup" burps, and only a few inches of water remain. Previously it would drain to about half full and remain at that level. I'm pretty good with toilets, but I can't figure out what could cause this. Any suggestions?
does it drain completely and not refill itself?

Drain down is symptomatic of a bad seal on the flapper. Not refilling is something else.

I just went through this with my toilet. Replaced all the parts one at a time. Every time I fixed one thing, something else went wrong. Would have been cheaper to buy a rebuild kit and replace everything. In my case, anyway.
 
Lots of good detailed advice. I agree with the suggestions to replace the flapper first--it'll only cost you a couple of bucks and hopefully that is all you'll need.
 
Thanks for all the advice. I'll be trying some of these suggestions later in the day. If worse comes to worst, I'll call the landlord. I neglected to mention I live in an apartment and could probably have the problem fixed with a phone call... but then how would I learn? :001_smile
 
Thanks for all the advice. I'll be trying some of these suggestions later in the day. If worse comes to worst, I'll call the landlord. I neglected to mention I live in an apartment and could probably have the problem fixed with a phone call... but then how would I learn? :001_smile

Exactly!
 
Thanks for all the advice. I'll be trying some of these suggestions later in the day. If worse comes to worst, I'll call the landlord. I neglected to mention I live in an apartment and could probably have the problem fixed with a phone call... but then how would I learn? :001_smile

How'd it go?
 
Top Bottom