Log In | Register
Skip to main content
Topic: Leaking toilet seals (Read 108 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 3 Guests are viewing this topic.
Leaking toilet seals
I have posted in the past about toilet seals, leaks, etc.  I have changed the seals a bunch of times.  I opined that, if water stayed in the bowl, the seals were ok.

I was wrong.

This winter, I noticed occasional bad smells coming from the toilet area.  This happened most commonly following my shower, when a moving shower curtain caused air to flow past the base of the toilet.  When I noticed it, I would spray some Fantastic type cleaner, Simple Green, around the bowl and base.  I found evidence of leakage on paper towels, either from me or from the bowl.  Given the infirmities that can afflict aging men, I suspected me as the cause, especially because my bowl held water.  It NEVER ran dry. 

I decided to determine if I was the cause.  I taped paper towels around the outside of the bowl, looking to place the blame squarely on my shoulders.  After all, the bowl was holding water, right?  If the seals were leaking, the bowl would NOT hold water, right?

After 12 days of having a paper towel taped to the outside of the bowl, and not a mark on it, I decided whatever was happening was not due to me.  I disassembled the toilet to replace the seals.

When I removed the toilet bowl, I saw the problem.  The top of the upper seal was coated with a buildup of crud.  It was slowly pushing its way out and into the space between the bowl and base, then leaking out from the split rings.

I did a lot of cleanup, and reassembled.

In 10 years of this life, in changing my own seals probably 6 or 7 times, and in assisting others to change their seals 5 times, I have never seen crud on top of that seal before.

I have a few theories as to the cause.  One is that I might not have tightened the band clamp sufficiently.  The directions call for 65 inch-pounds, but I do not have a small torque wrench.  I do it by feel and have never had a problem before, but my hands are not as strong as they once were, so that is a possibility.  Another possibility is that when I use the hand spray to clean around the inside of the bowl with the flush pedal held down, I might be pushing water and a bit of waste into the seam between the toilet base and the seal.  When I release the flush pedal, the dome, returning to the closed position, presses against and thus moves the bottom seal which might then push a few drops of water and waste mix into the seam.  Another possibility is that my weight, when I sit, might cause the seal to deform and allow a tiny, intermittent leak.

Anyway, it is now clean again. I am sharing the knowledge I just gained.  Just because water stays in the bowl does not mean the seals are not leaking.

Ken F in NM
'08 MB