Damned modern close coupled toilet !!

[easyt]

I took out a comfortable well crafted 45 year old toilet and have replaced it with a crappy new one. (WOMEN !!) Toilet and cistern coupled, plumbed and fixed. Job done I thought. Then on checking there is a little drop of water on a wingnut that goes through a metal plate where the cistern and basin are connected. Ah well other jobs to do so it will have to wait.

I will disconnect the feed pipe and cistern and lift it out. Must be a leak between the rubber seal under the siphon against the cistern. I will try and tighten it but are there any suggestions. Does anyone use a sealant oe rely on the rubber seal ?

 

[kirkgas]

so you have never once siliconed in a syphon .....hmmmm

i have NEVER used silicone on any part of a pan or cistern, occasionally with a leak on the donut washer i have used plumbers mait, i think it is usually down to a poor casting on the pan stopping the donut sealing 100%, as someone said earlier i find more problems if they have been over tightened, there is absolutely no need to silicone a ballcock into a cistern, your ears must be burning when someone has to change a ballvalve or a syphon after you have siliconed them together

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

come on now kirk,plumbers mate is goo

 

[kirkgas]

come on now kirk,plumbers mate is goo

plumbers mait is what i have used on the few occasions that i have had a leak with a donut washer, read the instructions for plumbers mait, it is designed to be used to seal whb/bath gratings, soil pipe joints etc, we used to use red lead putty, hands up if you remember trying to get taps off a bath after a few years, then we moved onto glaziers putty, then plumbers mait, i have fitted hundreds(????) of baths, whbs and sink unit waste and overflows, cast iron soil stacks and never had any prob with plumbers mait as it is supposed to stay flexible, the only place i use good quality silicone is to seal round edge of baths and showers, each to his own, but i can never advocate silicone to seal a ballcock into a cistern

 

[ecowarm]

Plumbers Mait is good for what it was designed for, donut washers is not one of them.

Plumbers Mait is a replacement for putty.

 

[tackleburger]

bosswhite?????????????????????????????????????????????????/

Yup, mostly round the underside of a basin waste thread and washer since it is a thread seal it tends to work Gas Man. It may not be actual boss white mostly use potable Fernox Water Hawk, works really well inside cisterns where castings are sometimes uneven and much neater and better than silicone. If they are smoth then nothing is ever required.

 

[ALUN THE PLUMB]

lotssssssssssss of silicone haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa,lotssssssssssssssssssss haaaaaaaaaaaaaa lotsssssssssssssss

 

[moony]

I agree with you Avatar but I do tend to put a small smear of Water Hawk on the siphon seal had a few which were a but uneven on the inside of the cistern. Never use anything on compression fittings waste of time. This Q plumb bloke must take ages to fit a bog waiting for half a tube of silicone aka fixes everything to go off.

oh get off your high horse lad! this q-plumb bloke is quite a polite lad who doesnt sit behind his computer slagging other peoples methods off who obviously does things different, each to there own i say.... where did i say i use half a tub of silicone or are you just insinuating that i am bodging something? and if i am fitting a w.c then i do the cistern internals and as im sorting pipework or getting pan ready etc it goes off by timje its all fitted and ready to turn water on! the little bit of silicone i have smeared over the washers has skinned over so its fine to fill up.

I will try it next time without the silicone as a few of you do it and have no problems so if it works then great... i served my time with a one man band and immediately started my own firm up.... so if i you done it your way and i or others havent then each to there own - dont sit behind your computer and take the **** lad - this site is not about that... its about helping each other out.

i have NEVER used silicone on any part of a pan or cistern, occasionally with a leak on the donut washer i have used plumbers mait, i think it is usually down to a poor casting on the pan stopping the donut sealing 100%, as someone said earlier i find more problems if they have been over tightened, there is absolutely no need to silicone a ballcock into a cistern, your ears must be burning when someone has to change a ballvalve or a syphon after you have siliconed them together

whenever ive gone to change a syphon or ball valve in cistern its always been siliconed - i just pop my blade out of my knife and scrape it off its never stuck tight or damages the cistern... i dont see the big deal with it kirk - perhaps im missing something - next time i do a wc i'll try it all just relying on the washers though cos obviously its easier this way and less mess, just to see how it goes.

on my first w.c i was shown to do it this way by a very succesful plumber round our way and have done it with a smear of silicone ever since on both the rubber washer on the inlet valve and the rubber washer on the syphon - but if i dont have to do this then thats great, i'll try it next time...

 

[easyt]

Way to go

 

[WaterTight]

I was taught to use silicone but one of the guys I've worked for. But recently, for reasons best known to myself I stopped bothering and trusted it to luck. And so far, no probs. But I've probably done 15 in my life, whereas he'd done 100's. So maybe after a few annoyances I'll go back to it.

dont sit behind your computer and take the **** lad - this site is not about that... its about helping each other out.

It's 95% about helping each other out. And 5% about condeming anyone who asks a question that may seem elementary to someone else or admit to practises that aren't the established routes as a cowboy, work-thieving, what-is-the-world-coming-to, fast-tracking, no-good, how-dare-they-not-do-a-5-year-apprenticeship-like-i-had-to-even-though-there-are-none-around, plumber-from-hell, son-of-a-gun.