Titanic and Tuba toilets

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stumpy

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Hi,

Every time my toilet is flushed, it makes a loud sound as the water finishes rising. It sounds like a tuba or a large steamship and it lasts a good 5 - 7 seconds. It appears that the large round flotation device and the arm it's attached to may be the problem as they vibrate when the noise begins and stop the minute I hold the ball and arm still. Please forgive my lack of knowledge of plumbing terms, but I hope this is clear.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
 

RioHyde

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What you have there is a bad ballcock. Replace it or have it replaced with a fluidmaster 400A fill valve and your problem will be solved.
 

stumpy

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RioHyde said:
What you have there is a bad ballcock. Replace it or have it replaced with a fluidmaster 400A fill valve and your problem will be solved.

I have uploaded a photo of my toilet tank. I am assuming the ballcock is the round-ish ball *only*, on the right. What about the "arm" it's attached to? It's attached to a base on the left that's anchored with 4 screws. Does this whole assembly need to be replaced or just the ball? I'm a "do-it-yourself" type, so it looks easy enough regardless. Thanks again.
 

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Gary Swart

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The whole innards will be replaced with the Fluidmaster. Instead of an with a float ball, it uses a float that rises vertically with the water. Simple and easy to adjust the water depth. The old ball floats are museum pieces now. This is a very easy DIY job.
 

Jadnashua

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If you shutoff works, this is probably less than a 30-minute repair (maybe 10-15 if you do it every day). Turn the water off, flush the toilet - hold the lever down to get as much water out as you can. Use a sponge to get the rest out of the tank. Disconnect the pipe or hose supply (it is a good idea to replace this as well), unscrew the nut on the bottom of the tower the water comes out of. Take the whole assembly out and throw it away. Seat the new one (note, you may have to adjust it for height and water level - see the instructions), tighten in down, install the new supply hose, turn it back on. Check for leaks and level. Adjust/tighten as required. You're done. A Fluidmaster is less than $10...lasts a long time. The only part that fails is a rubber seal, takes about 1-minute to replace and readily available. You might need one in say 10-years or so.
 

Pipewrench

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Water lines making noises.

Got a customer complaining of noise in the wall when she flushes, runs w/m, runs dishwasher, and takes a shower. I havent been over to look at it yet we have only talked through text messages and that is all the info I have gotten. I have had several experiences where the fill valve is bad in the toilet or the angle stop is bad and it make terrible noises after a flush. Also have put on water hammer arrestors at the water heater and fixed it that way. My thinking is it may be a problem on both hot and cold lines because it happens when dishwasher runs (hot only) and when toilet flushes (cold only). I may get over there and it be something totally obvious, but I am new to this site and kinda wanted to post a thread and figured this might be a good time. Any ideas guys???
 

Basement_Lurker

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Installing hammer arrestors on a water heater is completely useless.

The pipes are probably making noise because they are not secured adequately, and a warn-out washer or failing fill-valve will certainly make pipes vibrate more.
 

Jadnashua

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She may be complaining about the drain line noises. If the previous home had CI pipes, and this one has plastic, it is often much noisier. Not much you can do. Packing the bay with insulation can help some, but that can get quite costly when you account for the repainting and drywall repair. And, if their previous house had plastered walls, that would have blocked a lot more noise as well.

If it really is supply lines, then you should check the water pressure and install a PRV and expansion tank, if it is high. A bad washer in a shutoff can vibrate, but other than that, unless it is rubbing from expansion/contraction, or water hammers, not much you can do there, either.
 

Pipewrench

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Ive been to this house a handful of times and it is about 35 yrs old and i know her drains are cast iron. She said it sounds like the lines are about to blow. My guess is either the fill valve in the toilet or a bad angle stop somewhere.
 

Terry

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titanic.jpg



My husband replaced the inside things in the tank of the toilet, and now when it is flushed it sounds like a tuba
in the walls. I'm growing tried of the tune. HELP !!!!!
Sherri

Sherri:---Tell your Husband that "Tuba Toilets" are passe and tacky. Insist that he take the nuisance noisemaker back to whence he got it forth with. There are excellent bargains to be had by the watchful buyer. A "Silver Flute" or possibly an authentic "Penny Whistle" might be more appealing to Madames impeccable tastes?
For those however who consider silence "Golden", you should instruct your husband to purchase a ballcock of known quality lest he invite unwanted
noises to emanate from the bathroom.
Just one thing before you send your Lord of the Manor on this quest for a quiet flushing loo.
Ascertain that he has in fact fully opened the water supply valve to the "China Throne"
..Bud..

WHY IS THE PIPES IN MY TOLIET AREA VIBRATING AT ALL TIMES THROUGHOUT THE DAY? IT SOUNDS LIKE THE TITANIC.
IT DRIVES ME CRAZY! THANKS FOR YOUR HELP.
ANGIE

Angie,
Your Titanic toilet is leaking at the flapper. Replace the flapper with a good quality 5-year flapper, and replace the fill valve (ballcock). When replacing the fill valve, get a new supply tube.
Loose rubber washers cause noises like you mention. (fill valve) The fact that the noises occur throughout the day, indicates that the water level in the tank is dropping, (leaking flapper)
Terry

Angie:--Terry Love has furnished you first class advice on your TITANIC problem. He did however overlook a very very important thing.
Until the repairs have been completed on your toilet, you must insist that all users wear a life jacket and carry a flare gun...
Ahrmand

And even though the toilet sounds like a foghorn, don't get the idea that the sound will keep icebergs away. I've seen icebergs smash right into toilets at night. I would keep the night light on, it could get rather messy.
Terry
 
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dankoos

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Pipes making crazy sound when toilet finishes filling

Has anyone ever heard their pipes make a 3-5 second long honking noise...almost like an air horn (same concept, just not as ear piercing). It is not a clanking or a hammering. It occurs for various lengths and sometimes not at all, but happens on almost every flush. Right as the water is about to shut off is when it occurs. If I manually lift up on the ball float, it stops. Is the float shutting the water off so slowly that it is causing this noise? I am about to just totally replace the guts of the toilet, but don't want to waste my time if there is another reason. Toilet does not leak into the bowl or leak onto the floor. Any thoughts?
 

Cacher_Chick

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Noise is commonly caused by a loose rubber washer and/or valve not open all the way.
Make sure the shut-off valve on the wall is open all the way.
 

piezomot

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Sounds of the sinking Titanic from my washroom

Hello, question to any expert - when I am flushing my toilet all pipes in my house making vibrating sound like it was during the last minutes on the sinking Titanic.

If I close a bit the valve supplying water to the toilet it is not happening as often, but then I have less water supply then...

What is the root of the problem here? How it can be fixed?

Thank you.
 

Terry

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First try it with the shutoff to the toilet opened all the way. Sometimes there is a loose washer in the wall shutoff.
If it's not at the shutoff, then next step is to repair or replace the fill valve.
 
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