Scott, You have a constriction somewhere. Either something blocking the drain probably quite near the toilet or there is something blocking the vent or there is insufficient quantity or flow from the tank.
A North American toilet uses the siphon effect in the trap. that is, the bottom of the toilet bowl is lower, there is an 'S' bend so the water and debris must climb up hill over the top of the bend before it descends down and through the hole in the floor and on to the drain. The water must fill the entire trap so, when it falls down the far side it creates a pull which empties the bowl making that strong gurgle/sucking sucking sound. If it cannot descend quickly enough or if you don't dump enough of a flood to raise the level rapidly enough or if a blockage slows the flow then you won't get that sucking vacuum to draw the bowl down and it's contents. A big bucket full will often raise the level in the bowl quickly enough to operate the siphon well. Check your tank, that the flapper opens fully and that the tank has filled fully enough that a good gush can run into the bowl. Then check out your drain and finally check out the vent. If a bucket full drives the contents down as it should then the trouble is probably insufficient flush. Hope this is helpful. ----- Original Message ----- From: Scott Howell To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, July 06, 2009 6:18 AM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Woes of waste - the crapper crisis Ok, now there's a subject line that grabbed your attention. <smily> Here's the deal and no it isn't a crisis as far as an emergency, but it will eventually have a greater affect on my water usage, which of course affects the bill. Let me see if I can explain the problem as concisely as best I can. This is a name-brand ttwelet, which doesn't matter perhaps, but just want to point out that this isn't the super cheap model and this was installed by a previous owner. WIth all that said here is what the issue is. It seems to take sometimes two or three flushes to get all the contents down the line as it were. It never fills to a point where it will overflow, but what seems to happen is as the contents go down the drain, you don't get the normal sound a twelet makes at the end of the flush cycle. It doesn't do anything and a repeated flush will eventually produce that sound of successful flush cycle. In addition, once the twelet fills, and the valve closes, it sounds as though water is running out of the twelet. To further explain this point, it is as though once it stops filling, water is leaking internally out of the bowl as though water is leaving the trap. THe closest sound that might help make this point is when a tworlet is clogged, fills, and you hear water trickling through the trap, it is sort of like that sound. Now to further carry this point, if I poor water into the bowl, I can cause the same sound and what I have been told is that it is possible there is a defect in the trap. THis defect could actually be causing two issues. One the sound of the water flowing through the trap that normally would be very hard to hear is easier to hear because of the defect and this defect could also cause contents to have difficulty moving through the trap. SO, I guess my question is does that make sense? Sounds reasonable, but I'd like to get some other opinions before I go out and replace this thing. I would not consider replacing it since there is nothing wrong with it, but the fact that at times it takes two to three flushes for proper operation, it will in time become an expense. Any thoughts appreciated. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
