Toilets, Sinks, Showers, Tubs and Disposals - Power flush toilet not flushing right

Hi,

I have 2 power flush toilets on different floors. The downstairs one sometimes doesnt flush, If I go back to it in a few mintutes its usually flushes after that. Its happening alot more though. Is there something I should look for?

Power flush toilets have a cartridge that regulates the flow of water in and out of them, this is found in the center of the devise on the container, these can be tricky to work with, you may only be able to get these from a plumbing supply house.

If your unsure how to work on these, then don't chance it, call for help, these are pressure contained devises.

Thanks for the reply, how much would I look to pay to have a plumber do it? Can any plumber do it? This is an american standard toilet BTW.

Sure a plumber can do this, call and ask for an estimate.

What type of toilet is it?

He said it was an American Standard Power Flush

Jhferry never said it was an American Standard. They just that it was a "power flush toilet". I did not know if he was referring to a powered flush toilet in general. For example a Briggs power flush toilet works very differently than an American Standard.

Hi pilot, its in the third post down in my second post. Its definetly american standard.

This is an American standard toilet BTW.

This tells me he said it was an American Standard. :)

These toilet use a cartridge in them, to change it out you have to follow the directions exactly or you will never get it right.

Ooops. My bad.

OK, we've settled the cartridge issue! But let me ask one more question: Homeowner said it doesn't flush right. Do you mean the "power" is weak in the power flush, or is it the case that it flushes but the "stuff" doesn't go away? This would be a different story.


re: cost. If your American Standard uses the Sloan Flushmate system, a cartridge is going to be about $30. A service call from a good plumber: $50 to $150 , plus parts. Sloan has excellent troubleshooting and repair info on the website for their powerflush units.

When you hit the handle, it pushes down without much preassure on it so the toilet really doesnt flush. If I wait a few minutes, eventually it will build up enough that I can flush it.

Take the lid off, try just pushing on the center button, let us know if it does the same thing as you said.

Yes it does do the same thing. In other words it doesnt seem to make a difference.

It could be possible that the water pressure for the downstairs toilet is not high enough. American Standard power assisted toilets must have between 20 and 80 lbs of pressure as per their website. Could it be that there is something in the supply valve that might be restricting flow? You might disconnect the supply hose from the valve and flush out any debris that may be in there. Just a thought that may or may not work.
Good luck and post back.

I still believe it is the cartridge in it, had to deal with one as you describe, make sure the shut off valve is all the way turned on, you can also test the flow/pressure by disconnecting the supply line, pointing it into a bucket and turning it on, that will give you an idea how good the pressure is.

If these checks prove ok, you will need a new cartridge.

I believe it to be the cartridge as well because the toilet has been fine for 2 years. Im going to download the sloan instructions and give it a go. I will let you guys know how it works out.

Thanks!

Just remember before you unscrew and remove the cartridge out of that pressure container, shut off the water at the valve and push on the button, this will release built up pressure inside of it.

I will do that. I need to order that part I guess first though. I dont think Home depot would have that.

You could call HD and ask, I'm going to say they won't carry it.

You could call Sloan and have them walk you through a diagnostics check on the toilet 1st before you order the part and find out it was something else that is wrong.

I listed the 800 # on this thread

http://forum.doityourself.com/showthread.php?t=173317

Great thanks again.