Do You Know What Components Your Toilet is Made Of?

If we have a detailed understanding of the components of the bathroom toilet, when the toilet fails, we can quickly find the fault point and repair it in time. The following are the components of the toilet.

The handle and flush rod are the parts that initiate the flush. As you study the handle, you'll see that it's attached to a horizontal rod that connects to a chain or wire. Toilet handles sometimes loosen, and the fix is usually simple to tighten the plastic or metal mounting nut located inside the tank. Be aware that this nut is threaded the opposite way from the way normal nuts are threaded. You tighten it on the handle tailpiece by turning the nut counterclockwise.

Extending out horizontally from the handle, a lift rod is connected to a chain that descends vertically to the bottom of the tank. This is the mechanism by which the flush valve at the bottom of the tank is opened to let the water flush down into the toilet bowl. A common problem with the lift chain is when it gets tangled or broken. When your toilet doesn't flush at all, or when it flushes incompletely, the problem is very often with a lift chair that is broken or needs adjusting.

The lift chain operates a rubber flapper that rests against the flush valve opening. (In older toilets, this may be a tank ball, instead.) You may not be able to clearly see the flapper with water in the tank, but its operation will become clear when you flush the toilet and watch the action. The flapper is operated when the toilet handles and lift chain, lift it off the flush valve to allow the stored water in the tank to rush down into the bowl. 

Flappers eventually wear out or become misaligned, which can allow water to keep leaking down into the toilet bowl after the flush. A "running toilet" can often be traced to a faulty flapper.

This is the plastic or metal part sitting at the bottom of the tank, forming the opening through which water drops out of the tank and into the toilet bowl when a flush is initiated. The flush valve is usually connected to the vertical overflow tube as part of one-piece construction. A large soft O-ring seal fits around the flush valve tailpiece below the tank, sealing and cushioning the joint between the tank and the bowling unit.

Attached to the flush valve assembly, the overflow tube offers a safety measure to prevent water in the tank from overflowing should the water supply valve fail to shut off. Excess water will spill over the top of the overflow tube and down into the toilet bowl. A "running" toilet can be a sign that the water level in a toilet is too high.

Outside the toilet, on the water supply pipe that brings cold water to the toilet, there should be a fixture shutoff valve near the floor. Usually, this is on the left side of the toilet, beneath the tank. This fixture shutoff valve allows you to shut off water to the toilet when you need to make repairs. Not all toilets have shutoff valves, but it is a good idea to install them. Over time, shutoff valves can fail.

Running from the shutoff valve to the water supply tailpiece on the bottom of the flush toilet tank is a vinyl, plastic, or steel mesh supply tube. These tubes are generally pretty trouble-free, but they can fail when they get old, or if the connections loosen.

Back inside the tank, the water supply valve, often known as the ballcock, is a vertical assembly, usually mounted on the left side of the tank. This is the focus of the toilet system, the part that opens the freshwater supply to refill the tank at the end of the flush cycle and closes again to shut off the water when it reaches the proper level in the tank. The supply valve is the place where many toilet problems originate, and replacing one when it fails is a very common project.

All supply valves have some kind of float device that serves to sense the water level in the tank and shut off the water supply valve when the proper level is reached. In older toilets, this may be a floating ball attached to a horizontal pivot arm running from the supply valve (see diagram above). In newer toilets, the float device is usually a float cup that is attached to the vertical shaft of the supply valve. Adjusting the float device is what allows you to adjust the water level in the tank.

Running from the water supply valve you will see a small flexible tube that clips to the top of the overflow tube in the center of the tank. This is the refill tube, and its purpose is to send a small trickle of water down into the toilet bowl during the refill cycle. This serves to replenish the standing water level in the bowl, which is essential for keeping the bowl trap sealed against sewer gases.

This, of course, is where the "action" occurs. But what most people don't see is that the toilet bowl unit bolted to the floor has an internal curved trap structure that works just like a sink drain trap. The internal trap serves to hold standing water and prevent sewer gases from rising up into the home. The water you see in the bowl is actually the top mouth of the toilet's drain trap configuration. The trap is the place where that most common toilet problem of all occurs—drain clogs. If you tackle no other toilet repair, you almost certainly will deal with a clog at some point.

Hidden from sight beneath the toilet, there is a soft wax ring that seals the connection between the bottom of the toilet (the horn) and the drain opening in the floor. This wax seal creates an airtight and water-tight seal between the toilet and sewer line. When it fails, you may notice water seeping out around the base of the toilet during a flush. 

It is precise because of the above parts that an easy-to-use toilet is completely formed, and the performance of the toilet is also closely related to these components. If you want to know more information related to the toilet after reviewing the above content, please contact us immediately for a more detailed solution.

As a professional toilet and accessories manufacturer, we are committed to producing a variety of high-quality toilets (such as wall-hung toilets and one-piece toilets). We have a strict production team and a complete quality inspection system, which can strictly control the quality of our products. At the same time, we can also provide thoughtful one-stop service according to customer needs. If you want to buy our toilet, please contact us immediately!