Bad float? Delay between flush and beginning of fill

[Reckoning]

I have one of the water saver toilets that has 2 buttons to press. 1 will conserve water while 2 is a full flush. Installed this about 1.5 years ago. I've noticed lately (and it's getting worse) that when you flush... you hear the water go down then a good 5-7 delay of silence THEN you hear the bowl start to fill. I know this isn't "normal" behavior for this toilet as I notice it now and never did before ALSO I have 2 of the exact same toilets in other areas of the house that don't do this.

I am no pro at this stuff, I can probably fix / replace what is necessary just need help figuring out the culprit. Thanks!

 

[Reach4]

I would observe the fill valve float. Maybe it sticks in the up position for a while. Cleaning might fix that. Otherwise you could try cleaning or replacing the fill valve itself.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[WJcandee]

It's not necessarily abnormal, depending upon which fill valve you have. On the Korky 528, that is absolutely 100% completely and utterly normal. That's the way the thing works. Water must drain from the float chamber, slowly, before it will initiate a refill. This prevents it from constantly topping off or leveling out. When it shuts off it's going to stay shut off until the next flush, unless there is a serious leak past the flapper. I have this exact thing on every single Toto toilet in my house, and every toilet on which I've installed a Korky 528. Flush. Pause. Start. Totally freaking normal.

That said, if the bowl completely empties and then nothing happens for 10 seconds, and you have this particular valve, there's probably gunk around the little hole at the bottom of the float chamber which is causing it to take longer to initiate the refill. Just cleaning around that hole will solve the problem.

 

[Flapper]

It's probably an R&T valve

 

[Jadnashua]

It may be normal for that valve after it wears a bit. The Korky will do this as the seal ages, but doesn't when new. It's worse if you have high water pressure as it clamps the seal tighter and pressure forms it.

 

[Reckoning]

I'm almost positive it is that float chamber hole that is gunked up. I will clean it up and post the results.

 

[WJcandee]

Great! Look forward to seeing the results.

 

[Reckoning]

Yep that was it. One of the seals in there looks like it's absorbing water and flaking off, that's the debris in there.

 

[FordGT40]

It's not necessarily abnormal, depending upon which fill valve you have. On the Korky 528, that is absolutely 100% completely and utterly normal. That's the way the thing works. Water must drain from the float chamber, slowly, before it will initiate a refill. This prevents it from constantly topping off or leveling out. When it shuts off it's going to stay shut off until the next flush, unless there is a serious leak past the flapper. I have this exact thing on every single Toto toilet in my house, and every toilet on which I've installed a Korky 528. Flush. Pause. Start. Totally freaking normal.

That said, if the bowl completely empties and then nothing happens for 10 seconds, and you have this particular valve, there's probably gunk around the little hole at the bottom of the float chamber which is causing it to take longer to initiate the refill. Just cleaning around that hole will solve the problem.

We have a 528 in one of our toilets. I followed all of Korky's cleaning instructions, but the delay was still there. Then I found this post. Not only is there a drain hole at the bottom of the float chamber, but my unit has a little float-ball valve that seals that hole. Cleaned that up and we are back to immediate refills. Yay. Thank you for your insight.