Toilet problem

[Ted69]

Ok small problem here but a real pain at times. I have a 4 piece bathroom in my basement, Not used much except for me and the kids. The level of water in the bowl is way too high for and adult. How do i lower the level in the bowl.
thanks for any help that you can offer.
ted

 

[webbie]

Not an expert, but if you look at this:
http://home.howstuffworks.com/toilet1.htm

you will see that the water level in many toilers is fixed by the exactly design of the porcelain casting. This may be different for some newer models.

 

[Eric Johnson]

If you're worried about water consumption, you can put a couple of bricks in the tank to get less water per flush. Most modern watersaver toilets have the opposite problem. Somebody has yet to explain to me how you save water by flushing twice. The Europeans and Japanese have two-stage flushing arrangements--a small flush for liquid deposits and a full flush option for the megadump. Why can't we do that?

 

[webbie]

Lowering the tank level may lower the bowl level, but my initial thought is that this would then only be good for liquid - basement toilets are not known for their flushing power. Of course the ultimate would be to replace with one of those new jobbies with air-power - they will do a fairly good job of getting rid of just about anything, and with relatively less water.

 

[Shane]

We hooked a chimney up to an "incinerator toilet" once. My boss told her to call our competition for the annual cleaning. We used Duraplus I think.

 

[Ted69]

Thanks, but not worrying about saving water, just want to reduce the amount in the bowl. The flush is great, do not have any other issues just tired of my fingers touching water while performing the final cleaning. sorry if that is too graphic.
Ted

 

[hillbillyhandyman]

This is an easy fix. Remove tank cover and locate the hose clipped to the over flow tube. The hose is flexible plastic, about the diameter of a pencil. The overflow tube is a vertical plastic tube in the center of the tank. Disconnect the hose from the overflow tube OR relocate it so less water or no water goes down the overflow. Make sure the disconnected hose does not interfere with the flapper valve or other moving parts. I have removed the entire flexible hose with no problem. You are done! You can always reconnect the hose if you do not like the new lower water level. This also saves about a gallon of water per flush. I have experienced the "wet hand problem" with some off brand toilets and this always cured it.

Good Luck

Billy

 

[Ted69]

Update
Thanks hillbillthandyman
fingers are dry and very happy
thankyou
Ted

 

[My_3_Girls]

If you're worried about water consumption, you can put a couple of bricks in the tank to get less water per flush. Most modern watersaver toilets have the opposite problem. Somebody has yet to explain to me how you save water by flushing twice. The Europeans and Japanese have two-stage flushing arrangements--a small flush for liquid deposits and a full flush option for the megadump. Why can't we do that?

Eric,

This is the idea behind the 1.6 gal vs the 3.? gal flushers of yesteryear. One flush for #1 and two flushes for #2 - same as the European/Japanese situation. Idea is that a person uses the toilet x times a day, usually only 1-2 times for the big flush, and the rest would be your water savings vs. the olden days.

 

[webbie]

Early tanks were 5 gallons I think, then to 3.5. So even at 1.5 (and some are a lot less), you are saving a lot of water over the course of a day or week since you don't need to do double each time. I think if we really did our homework, there are low water johns that only take one flush.....well, always depends on the Man and the Meal, and I don't mean that in a sexist fashion. A big dude and a couple stacks of pancakes with a full country breakfast will quickly put those Euro-toilets and rice cookers (toto) to the test!

Well, we have degenerated far enough- problem solved. But one interesting toilet fact for ya......when I went to Denmark I noticed that my feet were off the floor when sitting on a throne. At first it puzzled me.....until I looked around and saw that all the women AND men looked 5'10" and taller with very long legs! They just didn't design for these short italian and russian trunks! Average male in Denmark is 6 foot....and that does not take into account leg length.

 

[struggle]

I have installed two Kohler (wellworth model, I think) . They work great and the one is two years old and I installed one this Saturday same model in the kids bathroom and again same great performance. These are gravity type ones.

I for the same reason as others thought that the new low flows were not going to work well so the first low flow one I installed in this house in the basement uses (Crane model 7 years old now) power assist type with the pressure tank. It works great but I pity the fool that wears loose clothing around it because I swear that thing might pull you in. The Incredible Hulk could not plug that thing :gulp:

We have never had to re-flush any of the toilets due to them being low flow. This is largely a myth as far as I see it. From what I understand the performance of low flows are more affected by existing or lack of proper venting than by design of the toilet itself.

 

[mayhem]

My house was outfitted the same Kohler wellworth toilets as above when i built it in 2002. The only time we've ever double flushed is when my kid keeps playing with the damn thing.

I have personally performed some major air drops in those things and one low flow (1.3gal IIRC) does it all.

 

[Jay H]

I replaced an old A-S 1.6gpf one that was pure junk (as were many of the early 1.6gpf adaptors) with a Toto Drake with it's g-max flushing system. Works great and never have I had to double flush with any monster load.. Something about those Japanese toilet mfgrs I guess.

My parents old (pre 1.6gpf days) American Standards were great but at the expense of water consumption.

Jay

 

[struggle]

LIke the priginal poster mentioned I looked at the level of water in the older Kohler and the new one and low and behold they were at different levels. After some thought I recall a changing the clip on the little hose to fill outside that pipe. I actually did not realize what I even had done until I looked at the other new toliet.

So another one to say it does work to lower that water level in the bowl and I would guess less water as well.

 

[Gooserider]

Note - these comments all apply to the old style toilets, I haven't played with the new toilets enough to know if the same things carry over.

One downside caution about cutting that tube off too much.... That little tube is what supplies the water to the "under the rim" rinse jets that are supposed to clean the sides of the bowl above the waterline - If you disconnect or remove the little tube completely, you loose that bowl rinse function. On at least some flush valves (I know Fluidmasters have this feature) there is an adjustment screw to control how much water you get out of the tube, or I've also seen little valves you can stick inline.

Normally though, the water level in the bowl is determined by the trap in the toilet - the level of that part sets the maximum height you should be able to get, adding more water just pushes the excess out the trap. Normal flushing will end with the water level below the trap level, and then it is brought back up by the rinse tube as the tank refills. Given that this is a basement toilet, I'm wondering if you might not have an issue with the way the drains are plumbed so that you in effect have a higher than normal trap. That would give a higher water level in the bowl, and I'm not sure if there's an easy fix or not, other than possibly trying to put the toilet on a platform of some sort.

Gooserider

 

[great]

Not an expert, but if you look at this:
http://home.howstuffworks.com/toilet1.htm

you will see that the water level in many toilers is fixed by the exactly design of the porcelain casting. This may be different for some newer models.

This goes if I have a the water level under the line?

 

[Gooserider]

When you flush, the siphon effect sucks out most all of the water to well below the line established by the top of the trap. As the tank refills, it is supposed to send some water down the overflow pipe to refill the bowl so that it brings the bowl back to the level set by the trap. If the bowl doesn't refill that far, it suggests that your fill valve is shutting off before it sends enough water to get the bowl full. If the bowl fills above the trap line, it suggests there is a problem in the plumbing that is either restricting the toilet's ability to drain, or that has raised the effective line above where it was designed to be.

Gooserider