How can I remove this nut to install my new fill valve?

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bakchoi

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Hello, my Toto Ultramax has a problem with the fill valve. I took a video here


so I went out to Lowes and bought a Korky universal but having trouble removing this nut. The left side has this piece blocking so I can't fit a wrench and I already tried channel locks it just keeps slipping. Any tips to remove it? I have already spent an hour. Also the toilet is installed so close to the bath tub and I can barely fit beside to work on it. Thanks.
 
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WJcandee

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Maike sure the Korky you bought is the MaxPerformance (528MP) version, the one with the silver cap and the little adjuster thingy on the refill hose. The white-cap one won't give you enough refill water for the bowl. The Korky is a good valve.

Your problem is that the valve isn't shutting off all the way, at least the refill part isn't. Jiggling the handle and pushing on the flapper isn't going to do anything. Pulling UP on the blue float, not pushing DOWN, may help it close until you replace it. Also, turning the white set screw to lower the float a little (set it to stop lower) may unblock whatever the problem is for now. But it probably does indeed need to be replaced.

Perhaps a stupid question: can you unscrew it by hand? These things aren't usually on there exceptionally-tightly.

Second, are you sure you are turning the right way? I am embarassed to say that one day I had a brain cramp when trying to spin the nut ONTO the shank by hand while reaching under the tank in a tight space. I spent a good three minutes wondering why the thing wouldn't go on, until I realized that turning it clockwise while looking down at the tank meant turning it counterclockwise from underneath. Duh. I was turning the nut counterclockwise from underneath, which was the wrong way to tighten. As soon as I started turning it the other way, it spun right on. Sheesh. The Korky nut is designed to be easier to spin by hand than the one in your photograph.

The socket recommendation by Reach4 is an excellent solution. Once you get it on, you should be able even to spin the socket by hand. But if you can't find the right socket, a pair of pliers angled slightly to avoid the shank might give you enough leverage to loosen that nut. Remember, all you have to do is turn it a tiny bit to get it going, then you can spin it off the rest of the way by hand.
 

bakchoi

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Yes it was on super tight can't remove by hand. It was installed 7 years ago. So I ended up buying this tool for $10 and loosened it easily.
6419dd0f-e6c5-457a-8cea-bd9afdd02bd4_400.jpg

Also adjusted the flow speed so the bowl fills up at about same amount of time it takes the tank to fill up.


The Korky came with a new cone washer and coupling nut but I had no idea how to take out the old one so I didn't replace it.
 
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Terry

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The extra nut that is black and the red cone washer are for using a solid riser.
You have a flex connector, and it comes with the built in washers.

Good job on the adjustment.
 
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bakchoi

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Thanks. It seems the flush is now a little weaker than it used to and sounds weaker too. Normally the flush is louder. What could cause this? Hope it's not a placebo thing. Is that flapper closing too early? All the parts are 7 years old except the fill valve that I just replaced.

Edit: I just watched my before and after youtube video and my stopwatch says the before video the flapper was up longer than the video after I replaced the fill valve. So more water going down = stronger flush. What could have changed? Should I put more slack on the chain or do I need to replace the flapper?
 
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Reach4

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I just watched my before and after youtube video and my stopwatch says the before video the flapper was up longer than the video after I replaced the fill valve. So more water going down = stronger flush. What could have changed?
How high does the overflow stick above the overflow? If more than 1/2 inch, you could raise the fill level.
 

WJcandee

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Hello, Reach! Watch his video. It can't possibly be set any higher. It's actually too high by a good 1/4". It's almost at overflow.

Bakchoi: The flapper may be closing faster because you have set the water level higher than it originally was, and the head at the valve is higher, and so more water is rushing through faster. It looks absolutely 100-percent fine to me.

It may sound quieter because some of the sound you hear on the flush is the water rushing through the fill valve and refill hose, which start refilling before the flush is complete. The quietfill often waits a sec or two to start filling, as yours does, so it doesn't open until the flapper has closed. And the Quietfill is quieter.

You did a good job. The toilet will continue to work fine. Remember, on a gravity toilet, the waste isn't "pushed" from the bowl by the "power" of the flush; it is "sucked" from the bowl by a siphon that develops when the inrushing water floods the trapway. That's why the old "Power Gravity" Toto toilets were so remarkable: they make zero noise, just kinda go "slurp gurgle" and the waste is gone. But folks in this country were used to more drama in the bowl, and so the GMax and later Totos give a little more of that.

You did good. Don't mess with it. It's more than fine now.

That said, after looking at the video 30 times, there appears to my eye to be too much slack in that chain. Tighten it up one link. It doesn't seem to be interfering with anything, but do it anyway. The new flappers don't have that chain guard, which can impede the flapper opening all the way, but it seems to tbe working okay.
 
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