Lady’s house across the street was “fixed” that way. She was out of town a couple winters ago and it froze when we had a colder then normal spell one night. I saw it raining out of her soffits. The repair bill was huge. Most of the house needed everything. floors, walls, kitchen cabinets..... it was horrible
All good guesses... but nope, nope, and nope.
The little hose that goes into the overflow pipe was siphoning water out of the tank. This ballcock assembly doesn't have a "break over center" feature, so it was just trickling enough to keep up with the siphoning loss, rather than flipping on and off where you could hear it. I discovered the problem by shining a flashlight into the overflow tube.
I zip-tied that sucker to the outside of the overflow tube (it still flushes just fine) and waited a couple hours. The water meter's "leak indicator" has stopped moving altogether.
Thanks for all the input. You guys are the best.
I'm a happy camper.
Good to hear that you got it fixed without any major expense.
Well... I've fought with this brass toilet valve setup until I'm done.
The copper float ball had a tiny leak. And as it filled up, kept dropping and allowing water to seep through the valve. I kept adjusting (bending) the rod until it had no room, so I replaced it with a longer rod and plastic float ball (an original when the house was built in '76).
Worked great for a while. Then I got a higher water bill (again!) and had to adjust the float rod. Then it got to where adjustments had to be done more often.
And... water bill was about $10 higher last month. Checked the tank, and sure enough it was trickling over the overflow tube. Again.
So I bent the rod one last last time... and ordered a couple of the plastic Fluidmaster float/valve/flapper kits, along with a few spare valve seals. They arrived a few days ago, and installation is now high on the "to-do" list.
Not counting the cost of the brass valves assemblies (I bought 2 different brands), copper float, and other seals/accessories ($60-$80 or more?), I've probably paid $150-$200 in wasted water bills over the past year. And probably lost a fair bit of what little sanity I have left.
I don't know whether it's calcium buildup, sand & grit in the water supply, or just my luck, but we never had this kind of problems with Fluidmaster valves.
So... it's back to plastic.
The copper float ball had a tiny leak. And as it filled up, kept dropping and allowing water to seep through the valve. I kept adjusting (bending) the rod until it had no room, so I replaced it with a longer rod and plastic float ball (an original when the house was built in '76).
Worked great for a while. Then I got a higher water bill (again!) and had to adjust the float rod. Then it got to where adjustments had to be done more often.
And... water bill was about $10 higher last month. Checked the tank, and sure enough it was trickling over the overflow tube. Again.
So I bent the rod one last last time... and ordered a couple of the plastic Fluidmaster float/valve/flapper kits, along with a few spare valve seals. They arrived a few days ago, and installation is now high on the "to-do" list.
Not counting the cost of the brass valves assemblies (I bought 2 different brands), copper float, and other seals/accessories ($60-$80 or more?), I've probably paid $150-$200 in wasted water bills over the past year. And probably lost a fair bit of what little sanity I have left.
I don't know whether it's calcium buildup, sand & grit in the water supply, or just my luck, but we never had this kind of problems with Fluidmaster valves.
So... it's back to plastic.
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