Sediment blocking water to commode?

[jrgwdenner]

When we hooked up tonight we found that little or no water was going into the toilet bowl when it was flushed. There's plenty of water in the bathroom sink but we did have some sediment that we cleaned out of the faucet screen today. We think this sediment is blocking the water to the commode. Any suggestions for cleaning this out? Glen's improved the water flow a little bit but there is still room for improvement.

[Montana_1240]

Judy,

It sounds like that’s a likely candidate.

These toilets use so little water to start with, (about half a liter,) that there must be some restrictor in the line.

If you still have your manual, check out the procedure for changing the valve that is next to the pedal. I’m pretty sure that is where the water flow is turned on and off, depending upon the position of the pedal.

It shouldn’t be a drawn out process, either. But it will require your water being turned off while you dismantle that valve assembly. I’m betting you’ll find more of those deposits, such as you got out of the faucet screen.

Let us know how it turns out!

Steve

[Parrothead]

We are having the same problem. It fixed itself and then oops started again. We thought the value was in the back. Will take a look around the pedal.
Happy trails.....................

[steves]

Just curious - are you folks using an external filter to your water hook up? If not, it sounds as you should - that would eliminate getting contaminants into your external waster lines/valves

[CountryGuy]

Ditto on the water filter, some of us have been known to use two. Hard water is bad stuff, leaves all that residue. When we purchased our water softener, we were doing a lot of surfing/researching. There is a map posted on several of the web sites that shows where the water is the most hard.

For those attending the fall Rally in Indiana, that chart shows the water as very hard (top rating). City water should be a bit better, the water at the Fairground is city water.

If you want to see the map, it is on this page, even though this happens to be the water softener we purchased, I am NOT promoting the unit/product, just the map. Go to: http://www.portablewatersoftener.com/ We love our water softener, but I have NO connection to the product or company.

ON EDIT: I went back and followed the map to what I believe is the original source, Morton Salts, see this web page, http://www.mortonsalt.com/consumer/p...ning/doyou.htm

Judy, let us know if you figure out where the water supply is and how to clean it, I think that would be great info for us all to know.

Carol

[jrgwdenner]

I'm afraid that the water at Goshen is probably the culprit. We filled our fresh water tank at Goshen so it may have come up through that system. We have a house filter on our unit now and have always used a filter. But if you don't always use the filter when you fill up the fresh water tank, it might cause trouble.

Glen managed to get a better water flow last night but he's going to work on it more today.

Sue, it sounds like your sediment gets washed away and then reclogs the line. We'll probably have that trouble for a while.

Thanks for the hints, everybody.

[beliveauj]

On the water inlet on the back unhook the waterline and inside the valve there is a screen which you take out and clean.I just went through this a few weeks ago.

[8.1al]

Judy,
Ours started doing that and I called Thetford and told them what it was doing. They sent us a new valve for free.

[jrgwdenner]

Thanks for that idea, Charlie. You're a wealth of info.

And thanks for all the other hints, too. The flow increased and then slowed down, back and forth, so I definitely think it's sediment. Glen flushed our fresh water tank and there was sediment in it. "The Book" says to drain the water tank if you're not going to use it for two weeks and we hadn't done that. Maybe that contributed to the collection of sediment.

[steves]

Well I guess Goshen will be a 2 filter hookup as Glenn previously warned us!

[OntMont]

Judy,
Were you anywhere where you could have picked up water loaded with iron? It is common around Goshen, certainly was a problem at Pla-Mor campgroud. Iron will deposit itself on surfaces like screens and block them. A vinegar flush may help clear things up regardless of the cause. You could use the antifreeze filling hose and pump a gallon or two of cheap vinegar into the toilet, then rinse with clear water.

[VanMan]

What about an air compressor - "back blowing" suspected culprits then draining the fresh water tank again ?

[Russ and Sandy]

I think I figured out what was causing the blockage in ours. Sometimes it was bad enough to almost completely stop the flow. I would remove it, find a small piece of debris in the valve orifice, clean it, and it would work fine - for a while.

The next time it happened, I removed it, I ran the water pump and caught the water in a bucket. There was LOTS of debris. Same thing the next time it happened - more debris. I started making sure I always used a filter, so I was pretty certain that was not the problem.


Here's what I think was causing the restriction in ours:

I noticed that the debris looked much like the sediment in the water heater. In fact it looked very much like the material that makes up the sacrificial anode in the heater.

I had discovered previously that if I would hook up the city water hose tightly at both ends and then turn on a hot water faucet first thing, the air would get into the water heater and provide a "cushion" which would then make the water pump run quieter and in longer cycles. I guess it was sort of like having an accumulator in the line.

I don't understand just how that sediment would make its way into the toilet flush line, but I'm pretty certain that was the culprit. Sometimes some of that air would cause some sputtering at the toilet inlet. We've had NO restriction problem since I stopped that procedure of "leave the air in the line" over 2 years ago.