[Shop-talk] another toilet issue

[Jimmie Mayfield]

First question:  how many vent stacks do you have?  My house has two, 
one on each side of the house. Are you certain the toilet in question is 
connected to the same stack as the upstairs sink and tub?

A blocked vent can definitely lead to this behavior though if nothing 
else connected to that stack shows problems then the problem is probably 
somewhere between the stack and the toilet.

Is there any chance that a squirrel has crawled down the vent and into 
the toilet drain where it became stuck and drowned?  I've actually had a 
squirrel drown in one of my toilets.  I guess it climbed down the vent 
and up through the toilet drain.  The shape of the bowl prevented the 
squirrel from getting any leverage to open the lid so it drowned in the 
bowl. Chewed the hell out of the seat trying to get out, though.  Since 
then I put steel squirrel-guard caps on my vents.

If you're at your wits end, you might consider investing in a USB 
endoscope and fishing it down the toilet to see what's going on inside 
the pipe.  Most are waterproof.  I think mine is 15 feet long which 
should be more than enough to reach the vent stack.  The picture quality 
is comparable to an early 2000s webcam (ie. "crap") but it should be 
able to show you if something's blocking the flow...


On 2020-08-22 17:38, Tim . wrote:
> Hey all,
>
> While trying to sort the valve on our upstairs toilet, the toilet 
> itself now doesn't fully flush. The tank bits cycle, the toilet fills, 
> but it only drains slowly. It doesn't "gurgle" (for lack of a better 
> term) at the end.
>
> This has been going on for over a week now so I doubt there is 
> anything stuck. (no feminine products in use in our house any more so 
> that is not an issue.) I've plunged the hell out of it, pushing down 
> and also sucking up with plunger. I can't really get a snake to go 
> very far into the trap so not much help there.
>
> I remember reading years ago that a clogged or compromised vent can 
> affect sink drainage. Is it possible that this issue is affecting this 
> toilet? The sink and tub in the upstairs bathrrom are no affected. 
> They both drain fine. Hell, nothing else in the house is affected.
>
> thoughts please?
> thanks
> tim
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> Shop-talk at autox.team.net
> Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html
> Suggested annual donation  $12.96
> Archive: http://www.team.net/pipermail/shop-talk http://autox.team.net/archive
>
> Unsubscribe/Manage: http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/shop-talk/mayfield+shoptalk@sackheads.org
>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://autox.team.net/pipermail/shop-talk/attachments/20200822/422638b3/attachment.htm>