Loss of flushing power in Toto Drake with E Max

[Karbear]

Need some Toto help. I recenly noticed that the water level in my Drake was on the low side. I went to go flush it and noticed the "power" was gone out of the flush. I placed 1 square of toilet paper in the bowl and flushed. Again there was barely enough force to get the square down. I have another Drake with G Max and it's working fine. I've tried adjusting water levels, checked the flapper, and stared at the fill valve while it did it's thing and I can't seem to find anything wrong. The one thing I did notice is that when the bowl is filling after a flush, the water ISN'T streaming down the frot of the bowl like it did. Am I missing something??? Everything was working fine since we installed it a year ago. What do I need to replace to get this thing to work like it did two days ago? I'm hoping Korky parts will do the trick because our local Toto dealer lacks parts.

PLEASE HELP!

 

[Jadnashua]

Make sure that the hose from the filler valve has not come loose and is pointing down the overflow tube and is supported by its clip. It can't just be shoved down that tube, it must be above it. That is how the bowl gets refilled. If the bowl isn't full when you flush, part of the water just refills the bowl without creating the proper water jet.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Karbear]

That's the weird thing....everything looks just as it did the day it was installed. Yes, the fill hose is clipped to the tube. Any other ideas what this might be?

 

[Jadnashua]

How does the flow out that hose look during refill? If you take a bucket and slowly pour some water into the bowl, does the level go up and stay there?

 

[Karbear]

The water coming out the fill hose is fine....it's a good stream. The water level in the bowl it self isn't a concern now. I'm more worried about the lack of flushing power. This toilet can't be used till we figure this out. My next step was to replace everything in the tank. When I do that can I use a Korky 258T and make my emax into a gmax? Do you think just changing out the flush valve will solve the lack of preasure problem? I'm ready to pull my hair out over this one! lol

 

[JerryR]

Since you have a g-max and e-max drake you could swap complete tanks between the 2 to identify if the tank or bowl is the issue. This should only take about 5 minutes of work.

I have one of each and have swapped tanks to see if there is a noticeable difference in flushing power. I can't tell any difference. I kept the e-max tank attached to the most used bathroom for water savings.

Jerry

 

[Karbear]

YAH! I'm not losing my mind! We decided to snake the toilet just to cover all the bases(even though water was going down). And now it seems to be working fine! One less trip to the HD! Thanks for your suggestions! I'm so happy to have stumbled onto this forum.

 

[Terry]

If the trapway has an object in it, the siphon action will be weakened.
That's true of all brands.

 

[jadru3]

Sorry for the dumb question!

Hey,
This thread, and this blog, is great! I have 4 totos in my house - all drakes. The one that gets the most use (Master Bath) started getting a little "sluggish" in it's flush action -- like it was having trouble getting the water down even with light or no (pee) loads. Recently had a couple of what I'll call "missed flushes" -- not really super heavy loads but the flush action appears delayed and just doesn't have enough gusto to finish the job.

I've seen some great ideas about swapping tanks and bucket flushing, which I will try. But I'm also interested in the snaking thing. So here's the dumb question: what type of snake do I use, and how far in do I push the snake?

I've noticed a buildup of some type of mineral deposit at the base of the tank. Not sure where this is coming from, but it is a bear to remove - have to scrape it off with lots of force. I'm hoping this stuff is not serving as a "plaque" and constricting the drain pipes.

Thanks to everybody for contributing their widsom to this discussion!

Joe