Mansfield toilets.........hard flush.

[Marc46]

Does anyone know what the deal is with Mansfield toilets and the hard flushing.

My mother has three in her house, about 3 to 4 years old.
2 of them, you almost feel like the flush handle is going to break from the pressure it takes to flush them.

I have told her to quit using chlorine tablets in the tank, and have inspected everything. The tanks look like new inside,.......no buildup of any kind.

I bought 3 of the "red" seal rings, and intend to replace them, but don't see how that could be the cause.

Any ideas?

 

[Terry]

If the toilets are leaking and constantly refiling, they could be causing noise in the pipes.
Make sure the shutoffs are open all the way to the toilets.
If you have the Mansfield tower, they do take some pressure to push the handle down.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Marc46]

Terry, I know the noise part is in relation to my other thread,....thanks.
All the shut offs are wide open also.

I realize that Mansfield's are not like the Kohlers that I have. Mine can be flushed with your index finger and very little pressure.

The one of three in her house, I consider normal.
The other two are unreal. I am 6'1", and 200 pounds, and when I have been there I feel like I am about to break the handle before they will release.

It's almost like a vacuum is being pulled on the seat or something.
If you flush one, and then flush it again with a few minutes, it takes about 50% of the original effort. After an hour or so,.......they go back to the same.

I am going to replace the seals and see what happens. I was thinking possibly they were degraded, and sticking somehow. She is 67 now, and if I can't get them corrected, I plan on replacing them with Kohlers.

 

[Jimbo]

This is a common problem with Mansfield. Simply replace the flush tower seal ...about 2 bucks.

 

[Marc46]

Jimbo,........already have them.
Will install this week sometime.

Hope you are right!

Final question,........I have heard they may leak a slight amount for a few days when newly installed. Is that correct?

 

[Micp879]

Jimbos exactly right; replace the flush tower seal and you should be go. Back when I first got a mansfield years ago, I researched them, and discovered that issue to be a very frequent problem with their flush tower. For whatever reason, as the flush tower seal gets older and wears down, it creates a strong vacuum effect, and makes it very difficult to flush. Im not sure about new seal leaking the first few days though. However I do remember that after I replaced my seal, there did seem to be some very mild leaking. I flushed it a few times to help seat the tower to the new seal, and I never had any problems the rest of the way.

 

[Redwood]

Its definitly the flush tower seal! My educated guess say its the black rubber one that snaps over the bottom of the moving section of the flush tower...

They get old and gummy and just about glue the flush tower down...
#1 cause of a broken handle on and toilet is old gummy rubber connected to it!

 

[Marc46]

Forgot to post the results, as I have been very busy!
I replaced the reddish-orange seals in the top groove, of the non-moveable section, and all is well.

Paperwork says it may take 50 flushes or so, to create a "perfect" seal, and that very small leakage through the rim holes are normal during this period.
I flushed them a few times, after changing, and noticed no leakage.

Good thing I did this, as one of the tanks had the water level set way too high, and had never looked inside.
I presume the level is meant to be set at the slightly raised line in the round white plastic fill valve? No color, or writing,.......just a slight "ring" in the white plastic.