Uncooperative toilet keeping me awake at night.

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I'm posting this here because frankly, my sanity has almost slipped away because of this little problem I've had for the last ELEVEN MONTHS!! ! I think one of the seals on my toilet is broken, because every 4 to ten minutes, the toilet 'refreshes', or refills itself as though I'd flushed it when I haven't. Normally this wouldn't be a problem...if my bedroom wasn't RIGHT NEXT TO THE BATHROOM! So you can imagine how many times I've laid awake at night, contemplating buying earplugs or just moving to another complex where my toilet isn't over 19 years old and faulty.

And the worst? Sometimes I'll be doing my business and it'll 'refresh' itself before I even hit the flush! GOD, that pisses me off; its as if I have no control over my life when a mechanical fixture malfunctions on me. Just an hour ago, I got so mad because I didn't even have a chance to hit the flush before it finished 'refreshing' that I *<edited out because it's too gross and petty to post here without getting funny looks>*. Yeah, I know it didn't accomplish anything, so I did the next best thing: I wrote a note for my maintenance man (who handily lives across the hall from me) to come over and take a look at it. I guess it's my fault for not reporting this sooner, but damn, no one should have to live with an uncooperative toilet for almost a full year.

To the mods: feel free to move this to General if this doesn't fit the Haven feel.

Fluttershy11

I'm guessing it's a simple problem. Have you considered googling exactly what it's doing, looking at the solutions, and trying to fix the problem yourself?

Yeah, it's a simple fix, the little floater valve that comes up when you flush is leaking, most likely. Take off the back lid and watch while you flush it, when the tank is mostly empty it will fall back down to plug the hole. It's that thingy, get one of those and put it in, read the instructions.

Alternatively if you want your brain to shut off the unwanted attention it pays to it then go here and I can show you how to get your brain to filter it away. StabilizingAutism/unsolicited-advice

I think the 'flapper' is old and it doesn't have as strong a seal as it did 19 years ago. I took the lid of the tank and observed the process myself. I'll just have to have the men come around and install a new one.

Well, since you told the maintenance guy about it, it should be getting fixed soon, right? Until it does, so it doesn't bother you at night you can turn off the valve to stop the water from going into the tank. It's usually behind and to the left of the bowl (as you're looking at it). In the morning you'll have to turn it back on so you can flush, of course.

If you decide,to replace the flapper in the tank yourself, turn off the water, remove the flapper, and take it with you to the hardware store. It's surprising how many different styles there are of this simple thing.

that happened to me last year, the toilet was circa 1977 and the flapper was probably that old, and it leaked like a sieve, and since I couldn't afford to hire a plumber to fix it, and I failed utterly at fixing it myself, I just shut off the water valve to the toilet and started just flushing by dumping a big bucket of water in it, until I could get my brother-in-law [who is lots more skilled at these things than I ever will be] to fix it for me.

Actually...I think I might have found a way to curb the problem; if not completely, then at least so my toilet doesn't 'refresh' every 5 minutes.

It's the BOBBER!

Case in point, when I actually took the time to observe how my water slowly dips lower and lower which prompts the 'refresh', I also noticed how the black bobber worked, so I jiggled it a little and put the lid back on the bowl. Well, I must've done something right, because up until this morning, my toilet stayed silent all through the night! Of course, the problem came back as soon as I flushed again (figures ), but with some controlled diddling around, I can make it so that, even if I can't stop it from 'refreshing', it doesn't happen so damn frequently: now, if it does 'refresh', it happens every 20 or 30 minutes...more than enough time to be able to sleep in between instances.

So problem solved...I guess. :/

Fluttershy11

its the float valve assembly

it will be about 10-15$ at the hardware store

you will need a pair of channel lock pliers and a bucket

you just shut off the water supply hold the flush lever down till the water in the tank empty's out

there will be a plastic or metal nut on the button of the tank

put the bucket under this to catch any remaining water in the tank

remove the bolt then pull out the assembly and replace with the new parts

turn the water supply back on

it will take no less than 15 minutes

you can also rebuild the assembly and soak all the parts in vinegar but I just buy a new one, I have had to do this job about 3 times now its super easy
if you dont fix it will cost you tons on your water bill

If you're in an apartment, it's the responsibility of the landlord to fix the toilet so it doesn't leak/run/refresh. The landlord should be happy to do this because, as Chris5000 points out, a toilet that behaves like yours is costing them money in water bills. (I'm assuming you aren't paying the water bill yourself).

Fiddling with the bobber may temporarily change how often the toilet runs, but it won't stop or slow the leak. The maintenance guy can fix this in probably 5 minutes if it's just the flapper.