Jul 30

There are two things that most people don’t know about their toilet which can actually save you a little bit of trouble. These two things have to do with the two screws on top of the ballcock. The ballcock is the long tube that is to the left of the tube in the middle of the tank.

The first screw is usually metal and is located near the rod coming out of the ballcock. This screw controls how quickly the tank fills up. A clockwise twist slows down the water and counter clock-wise lets the water in faster. You may ask, why do I care how fast the tank fills up? Mainly this is to do with noise. If the running water noise is too loud, then give the screw a twist and your toilet will be quieter. Never deal with a loud noisy toilet again!

The second screw is generally a larger plastic screw. This screw is located right in the center on top of the ballcock. It controls the water level inside of the tank. Most people resort to bending the float rod to adjust the water level often leading to inconsistent results or even a broken float rod. A simple turn of this screw will adjust the float level.

Jul 29
Toilet Leaks
Posted by Jason in Fixtures & Appliances on July 29th, 2008 | No Comments »

A lot can go wrong with a toilet, and toilets are probably the last thing in your house that you want to deal with. In this article we will discuss the various different places where your toilet can leak or run and give you some new vocabulary words so that you can solve the problem.

1. Leaks around the base of the toilet.

Leaks around the base of the toilet on the floor are generally due to a bad seal of the wax ring on the closet ring. The wax ring is a wax ring that seals the toilet to the closet ring. The closet ring is the part of the piping that coming out of the floor that the toilet sits on. A leak hear is not pleasant, especially since the leaking water is going to be dirty.

Read the rest of this entry »

Jul 22
Fixing A Leaky Toilet
Posted by Jason in Fixtures & Appliances on July 22nd, 2008 | No Comments »

Help! My ballcock is leaking!


Toilets can leak for a variety of reasons and nothing can be more annoying than a toilet that runs forever. The first step to solving any problem is to determine what the problem really is. In this case, your toilet is running, and it runs forever! This much is obvious, but we need to know specifically what it is that is leaking.

In order to find out what the problem is we need to take off the top cover of the toilet’s tank. Once removed we can start investigating.

Read the rest of this entry »

Jun 26
Repair A Trash Compactor
Posted by Jason in Fixtures & Appliances on June 26th, 2008 | No Comments »

Tools:

  • Ratchet Wrench Set

Cost

  • None, unless you must call someone

Perhaps the most common problems with trash compactors are all due to the fact that trash finds itself into the small crevices inside of the trash compactor

If your trash compactor won’t close completely, it is most likely due to trash behind the trash can. Most times you can simply pull out the drawer, and take the trash that has fallen out and put it back into the trash can. This should allow the drawer to close completely.

However, the trash may have found itself along the rails of the drawer, and into an area that is not easily accessible. In order to get this trash out will require more work. The first step is to remove the trash can drawer. This can be accomplished simply by pulling the drawer out as far as it will go, then lifting slightly while pulling. It acts just like any other drawer in your kitchen.

The next step is to actually remove the trash compactor out from under the counter, or wherever it is located. Now that the drawer is removed it is much easily. You may at this time wish to vacumn out where you removed the drawer as there is likely to be a lot of trash that has fallen there. Generally the trash compactor can be pulled out by lifting it slightly and pulling.

Once the unit has been pulled out from under the counter, you will want to unplug the unit. Once unplugged you will then need to take the cover off of the back. Now is the time to use your ratchet wrench, and with the correct bit remove the cover. You should be able to see where the tracks go along the side. Remove any trash that you find back here and replace the cover.

While you have the unit out, take your time to thoroughly clean it. There are a lot of moving parts inside of it, giving trash a lot of opportunities to go where it isn’t supposed to.

Replace the unit in the same manner that you removed it, remembering to plug it back it

« Previous Entries Next Entries »