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Toilet Handle Repair

  
  
  

toilet handleAt a customer’s house today, she was complaining of her toilet handle sticking as she would flush the toilet. I removed the toilet tank lid and the handle was not normal. From the outside, the handle looked like every other handle in a 10 mile radius, but on the inside of the tank, it was plastic and was bent towards the tank. So, when she would flush the toilet, the handle would scrape the inside of the tank and get caught in the full open position. This allowed the water to continually run down the drain and the tank would never refill unless she manually pushed the handle back into position. This naturally was a source of frustration to her.

There are a couple of solutions here. The first, and cheapest, is to modify the handle inside the tank. Since it was plastic, I picked up the weapon of choice (a hacksaw) and cut off the part that was rubbing on the tank. This shortened the lever, but left a few holes to choose from to reinstall the chain leading to the flapper. The lever was still long enough to be positioned over the flapper and so it worked naturally with little extra effort.

The other option was to replace the handle. Here is an article on a toilet repair on how to replace a toilet handle.

Toilet Repair

  
  
  

toilet handleToilet repair is an everyday part of life for me. Today I ran what I consider a very easy repair. The toilet handle wasn't working. This usually means that either the handle is so loose that it won't lift the flapper to allow the water into the bowl, or the flapper has become disconnected from the handle. Either way, it is a 30 second fix.

If you go to flush the toilet and the handle nearly falls out of the tank, lift the lid off of the tank and set it aside. The handle is held in place by a nut that you can tighten by hand. If the chain is laying at the bottom of the tank and disconnected from the handle, simply reach into the water (this water is clean) and reconnect it to the handle. You may have to estimate which hole in the handle to hook it into, but try one a flush the toilet...if it's not the right hole try another one until you get a good flush.

It may be that the handle is loose because the nut that holds it to the tank is corroded and broken. For under $10.00 you can buy a new handle. Feed it through the hole in the tank and tighten it down. Then just adjust the chain to the toilet flapper to get a good flush.

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