HELP!

Gerber Viper toilet has recently started running after filling, it just seems like the tank is full and there’s excess water pouring down this tube in there and until I take the tank lid off and physically go jiggle and poke in there, it won’t stop.

It’s driving me crazy and wasting water. Any ideas? Toilet was installed by plumber 5 years ago.

There is a water fill line on the tank and it seems like the water is above that now. Our water is extremely hard and causes mineral buildup on everything, could not be part of the problem here?

This is what the guts looks like:






Note the water line mark and how my actual water line is about an inch higher? How do I fix this?




These toilets have been pretty good, but the only thing is they all seem to take what seems like too long to fill and this one just recently started running and running and running like this, we have 3 total all the same model.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Either the flapper valve(blue thing) is not sealing completely(if so you will see water continuing to run in the bowl), or more likely it is time to replace the water control flow valve. They wear out with time and have to be replaced. Not a difficult job.

Adjust the float on your valve. It looks like it has a Phillips head and knurled top so you can turn it by hand. You want to lower the float so it pushes the lever up sooner.

quote:

Originally posted by Krazeehorse:
Adjust the float on your valve. It looks like it has a Phillips head and knurled top so you can turn it by hand. You want to lower the float so it pushes the lever up sooner.

The OP says the flow valve is at least 5 years old!! Adjusting the float is not likely to help the situation, but it costs nothing to try.

Just did this repair at the daughters house, Kohler, flapper was sealing but about 4 years old, in FL hard water that's like 30 years elsewhere.

Float control valve was continuing to run even with the flapper replaced, no sense in taking them apart to repair, $15 to $20 at Lowes/Home Desperate. Simple to replace.

Yes try adjusting it. Down inside them is a little needle valve, sometimes sediment can get stuck in them can cause them to run. But it's not something you can really address on that with it still in the tank.

Luckily it's a cheap standard Fluidmaster valve, easy and inexpensive to replace.


Good to test or just your flapper regularly. It's not your problem however, since the water is going over the overflow tube. (a bad flapper would lessen this actually)

I’ve screwed with that float adjust screw about 500 times and it doesn’t help, often seems to make it worse.

I guess replacing all the guts is in order, yes?

You need a new seal that goes in the top:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Fluid...ater-400A/1000106791

The first pic looks like you are losing water down the overflow/bowl filler tube. If you can't adjust the float so the water doesn't rise so high in the tank, your filler valve is shot. Manually lifting the float arm can confirm that the valve will not shut off. I have also seen the float get partially-filled with water reducing the buoyancy enough to inhibit shut-off.

Some of these have a cap, the black "hat" thing on the top, that will twist off and can be replaced without having to replace the whole assembly. Turn off the water and hold the float lever firmly when twisting it (quarter turn counter-clockwise). The lever and float should be down (like right after a flush), pushing down gently on the cap can help too.

If you are losing water past the blue flapper valve, you should see it flowing into the bowl. The classic test to confirm this is a few drops of food coloring in the tank, but of course this won't work if you have water going down the overflow.

It does feel like the float has water in it.

Water is only flowing down the upright tube.

Fluidmasters have a diaphram under the lever that gets old and doesn't seal and will cause running. The part is available at Lowe's or any other place that sells Fluidmaster valves.

If the float feels like it has water in it then you need a new fill valve. I've never had a float go bad, but anything can happen.

It's the valve. I just did two of them in my parents' house. That cap above the arm pops off and exposes tne rubber diaphram. In my parents' case, debris was stuck in tnere preventing the draiphram from sealing properly. We figure it came from the new water main that was installed down their street a few months ago.

Go measure the flapper, it’s either 2” or 3”…then go to lowes and get a replacement in the toilet section. Get the package with the float valve and flapper. Either 2” or 3” depending on what you have.

I just did this today for under $20. I think it’s a flowmaster 400 series…I only needed the flapper, but I know the valve will go bad eventually…I should have bought three but I’m cheap and will do it when it happens in the other toilets.

It’s not difficult, there’s simple easy instructions in the package.

Just did my replacement with the Fluidmaster 400. I tried the adjustment valve first with the phillips head and only worked for a couple of months. The kit was about 8.00. Watched multiple Youtube videos since they all have different ways of replacement. Did not replace flapper since when playing with the float, the water would stop filling and holding. Took about 15 minutes total.

Easy fix without draining the tank-----turn off water supply, feel down near the base of the valve for a collar, pull up on it, the valve will slide up and off. From the new valve pull off the valve head the same way. Now replace the o ring at the top of the old base with the new one, slide new valve on to the same height and lock the collar back down. Adjust float as needed. Done!

Thanks everyone for the advice and help!

I replaced the Fluidmaster fill valve with the same and all is well again.

I guess I should plan on replacing them every 3-5 years with our extremely hard water?

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

I guess I should plan on replacing them every 3-5 years with our extremely hard water?

Maybe not. I went through a similar thing years ago and then when I got the second one it never happened again, so perhaps it was a combination of things.

IMO I think they are the best ballcocks made!!

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
Thanks everyone for the advice and help!

I replaced the Fluidmaster fill valve with the same and all is well again.

I guess I should plan on replacing them every 3-5 years with our extremely hard water?

They're cheap, buy a spare and keep it under the bathroom sink until needed.

Just a point of order to correct some advice given about the float being bad because it has water in it.

A Fluid-master float is supposed to have water in it... about 1/3 full... as a weight to insure the float drops when the tank empties. It's a float weight combo. The instructions used to advise you to hold the float down for the first fill during a new install to insure the lower float cup fills with water.