Toilet losing a bit of water after it's filled?

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Tintin

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I have dual flush toilet that fills correctly to the right spot and then drains about an inch or so of water when the toilet is finished filling. I've replaced the fill valve and there no leaks in the toilet or or drain. One reason I've heard is that the vent pipe could be clogged, but from what I can tell it isn't. The one thing that is suspect though is down the line there's a small section where there's some reverse grade (which I eventually need to fix)...could that be acting the same as if the vent pipe were clogged...meaning if that section is half filled with water could that be the cause of the vent not completely venting and causing the toilet to lose a bit of water?
 

Reach4

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Note the level that the water settles at. If you slowly add a ~quart of water to the bowl, how much does the water rise? From there, how much does the water settle back down?
 

Tintin

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Note the level that the water settles at. If you slowly add a ~quart of water to the bowl, how much does the water rise? From there, how much does the water settle back down?
When I add a quart of water it goes up an inch and then settles back down an inch.
 

Tintin

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Actually, we recently addressed this very question for someone in the following thread: https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/toilet-bowl-water-drops.79430/

Let us know if you need help after reading it. Bottom line is that chances are that your fill valve is OVERfilling the bowl a bit, which is then settling down to its natural level after the water shuts off.

Thank you for the info, I believe my case is a bit different and seems like perhaps has to do with the vent. The issue is that the settle level is about an inch or more too low. I don't believe it use to be this way when I moved in...the level the fill valve reaches to feels right and then it drains a bit and is too low. Here's a photo of the settled water level...
 

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WJcandee

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To me, that looks like a pretty-good-sized water spot for a modern, efficient toilet. I don't mean to doubt your observation, however. It's worth noting that the settle level doesn't change, because it's built into the toilet; take a look at that toilet diagram in the other thread. Although it is possible that something could pull the water level down occasionally, if it's settling to pretty much the same place every time, it would appear that it is where it is. So I'm wondering whether you were accustomed to looking at it right after it shut off, and before the excess had dribbled over the weir, then noticed at a different time that the water level seemed low. Or maybe I'm totally off-base.

One thing we can help do is to check vs photos of comparable toilets. What's the brand and model of what we're looking at? Maybe we can help see whether yours settles to where it "should", or whether it is in fact an inch or more too low.
 

Jadnashua

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One thing that can slightly affect the overall bowl water depth is if the toilet (and floor) are out of level. If the toilet tilts backwards some, a bit more water will dribble out the rear, lowering the water level. But, the water depth is fixed regardless of how high you make the tank level assuming the balance between what goes in the tank and the bowl is adjusted properly. The only reasons why that may chance is if you've replaced components with generic ones that either aren't compatible, or not adjusted properly, or if the hose coming out of the filler valve is not properly pointed down the overflow tube (this is how the bowl gets most of its refill water).

As said already, modern, low-flow toilets have a smaller water spot and/or shallower depth than toilets of old. Keep in mind that the entire bowl needs to be emptied each time you flush, and that limits how big it can be and remain below the federal maximum of 1.6g.

If the water level returns to the same place after you add water...that's what it is for that toilet...you can't raise it.
 

Tintin

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To me, that looks like a pretty-good-sized water spot for a modern, efficient toilet. I don't mean to doubt your observation, however. It's worth noting that the settle level doesn't change, because it's built into the toilet; take a look at that toilet diagram in the other thread. Although it is possible that something could pull the water level down occasionally, if it's settling to pretty much the same place every time, it would appear that it is where it is. So I'm wondering whether you were accustomed to looking at it right after it shut off, and before the excess had dribbled over the weir, then noticed at a different time that the water level seemed low. Or maybe I'm totally off-base.

One thing we can help do is to check vs photos of comparable toilets. What's the brand and model of what we're looking at? Maybe we can help see whether yours settles to where it "should", or whether it is in fact an inch or more too low.

Glacier Bay 2-piece 1.28 GPF Dual Flush High Efficiency Elongated Toilet is the model I have. All of that makes sense except that about a year ago the settle level was higher, no question, and it's the same toilet and the only thing I replaced is the fill valve (because the water level was low), which seems to be working as it should.
 

Jadnashua

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There is only one 'full' level for a toilet bowl. If you manually add water and the level returns to where it was, that's as full as it can get, ever.

If you add water, and it stays higher, you may either have the wrong fill valve, or if it's adjustable, it's not adjusted properly. The fill valve only measures how much water goes into the tank. It does not know how much made it to the bowl. SOme valves have a manual adjustment to balance the flow between the tank and the bowl. The goal is for the tank to be refilled at the same time as the bowl is so you don't waste water. Any excess in the bowl just runs down the drain.

If the bowl fill level is significantly different than it was, the bowl may have developed a crack in it. Depending on where it is, it may not leak onto the floor, but just leak down the drain.
 
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