New Close Coupled WC Leaks !

Discussion in 'Plumbers' Talk' started by MarkyBoy, May 13, 2005.

  1. MarkyBoy

    MarkyBoy Member

    Just installed a new Ideal Standard "Alto" close-coupled toilet - and it leaks from the rubber doughnut seal between the cistern and the pan. The wing nuts are tightened to the extent that the cistern is actually touching the WC pan but the seal is still leaking.

    The seal is mounted correctly in the WC pan recess and the siphon nut is not touching the seal.

    I can't think of anything else to do nut use silicone sealant. Does anyonbody please have any other suggestions ? Thankyou.
     
  2. Verbal Kint

    Verbal Kint New Member

    try a new donut
     
  3. isn't there two different sizes of donut?
     
  4. r2d2.

    r2d2. New Member

    The first 2 of these I built up both leaked,and spent the best part of 2 hours taking all apart and then duly siliconed everything that even remotely looked like leaking and no problems since. I use a weather proof silicone which stays more flexible and can also be applied on wet surfaces.Wouldn't even consider building one up without some form of silicone .Regards r2d2.
     
  5. MarkyBoy

    MarkyBoy Member

    The unit came with one donut only. The strange thing is that usually the donut fits snuggly around the plastic nut that secures the siphon to the cistern but this WC was supplied with a donut that sat snuggly in the recess in the WC pan but not around the siphon nut.
     
  6. doitall

    doitall New Member

    Don't think its the doughnut leaking, or at least it's unlikely to be the doughnut leaking.

    Take the cistern off the pan and remake the syphon, then check by filling it with water. :(
     
  7. bathstyle

    bathstyle Active Member

    That because this W.C has a flush valve with a larger nut on the valve. I've had several of the new Ideal Standard W.C's leak since they were introduced about 4 years ago. I have always used Plumbers mait to rectify this.
     
  8. barnet bill

    barnet bill New Member

    is it the ones with the bolts that go through the bottom of the cistern? because im always having trouble with them.If it is it could be them leaking and not the donut.I silicone everything now.
     
  9. MarkyBoy

    MarkyBoy Member

    Yes bstyle it is a larger nut and none of my siphon spanners would fit. Where should I be applying the Plumbers Mait ?
     
  10. MarkyBoy

    MarkyBoy Member

    Barnet Bill - No the nuts do not go into the cistern, they are a pain in the ****.
     
  11. doitall

    doitall New Member

    You don't need anything if you stick them together properly, and make sure theres no flaws in the casting.

    I never do and they never leak, wonder what I'm doing wrong :)
     
  12. bathstyle

    bathstyle Active Member

    The leaks will occur when the walls and floor are out of square by a massive amount, when the cistern is screwed to the wall it can be too much deflection for the washer to accommodate. I would put a thin sausage of Plum. Mait around the flush valve, pop the donut on top and then another sausage on that.
     
  13. MarkyBoy

    MarkyBoy Member

    Thankyou for the comments. I'll give it a try !
     
  14. MarkyBoy

    MarkyBoy Member

    I didn't mention that it was leaking before I even screwed the cistern to the wall ?
     
  15. doitall

    doitall New Member

    I didn't mention that it was leaking before I even
    screwed the cistern to the wall ?

    It would if the syphon is leaking which 9 out of 10 times is the problem
     
  16. bathstyle

    bathstyle Active Member

    I still favour Plumbers mait. Theres nothing else that will do it as you cant try a different donut because it'll be too small and silicone isnt an option because theres a chance it wont work first time and you'll need to wait for it to set. It's very unusual needing anything on these joints but these things can happen!
     
  17. doitall

    doitall New Member

    I agree plumber mait is better than silicon for the job if you use anything.

    Problem is where the syphon goes through the hole, you can get casting flaws and the inside washer doesn't seal
     
  18. John@KC

    John@KC New Member

    MarkyBoy
    Please see below a copy of my posting last year, may well apply to your present situation.

    John





    Posted: May 9, 2004 8:20 PM Reply




    A cautionary tale.

    Last year we decided to replace our bathroom suite, as the 70s Avocado was getting a bit naff.
    Herself rather liked one of the Sottini suites, not cheap by any means, but as I was told they are part of the Armitage Shanks/ Ideal Standard group I thought it would be of reasonable quality.

    When I came to install the WC, I had exactly the same problem as you, water pouring down one of the bolts, although mine happened only when I flushed. I spent a whole day trying to solve it, and I tried everything, silicone, plumbers mait, you name it I tried it. Trouble is with plumbing you always tend to blame yourself.

    Quite late in the evening, in desperation, I took the cistern off for the umpteenth time and placed one of those large re-chargeable torches completely over the water inlet orifice, and you guessed it, there was the light shining into one of the bolt holes, a nice little blow hole right through from one to the other.

    Of course it was replaced with apologies, but no compensation for my time and the stress of it all.
    I had to resort to copious amounts of alcohol to help me recover!!

    Plumbers---Worth every penny they get.

    John
     
  19. MarkyBoy

    MarkyBoy Member

    The cistern only leaks when the toilet is flushed which implies that the siphon seal is OK. I'll try some Plumbers Mait and see if it works.

    Thanks again.
     
  20. Markos24

    Markos24 New Member

    I'm having EXACTLY the same problem. Almost the same toilet too, this one's an Ideal Standard Cabria.

    I've just had mine apart, put the donut ring down on a bed of silicone in the recessed ring, and then put more silicone on top. Tightened it up, filled the cistern with water and left it for a few hours.

    I even packed the cistern out from the wall with washers so that it didn't pull the cistern off true.

    Just tried it, no different - It's ok on the small flush, but the big flush causes it to stream out the back and drip down onto the soil pipe.

    What's this Plumbers Mait? I saw it on the shelf at B&Q and didn't really give it a second look.
     

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