Rusty toilet tank

Did you try bleach or CLR and letting it soak in there for awhile, then later try and scrub brush it out?

What have you been eating!?

Take off the big ceramic lid and look inside when you flush, there should be a big plug that lifts up. Make sure that the plug is lifting as high as the water level until the water has completely drained from the bowl. Then, make sure that it makes a nice seal and stays shut as the water is filling up the bowl again. The problem would come if it isn't lifting all the way. Rust won't clog your toilet.

But lime can restrict those little holes under the rim of the bowl enough to slow down flow enough that you don't get a good flush. What you do, is shut off the valve to the tank, and flush once to remove the water from the tank. Now lift the flapper valve and add a bowl compound containing hydrochloric acid. This will dissolve the lime. Do NOT do this when there is bleach or any other chemical in the system.

If you don't find such a compound on the shelf by the drain cleaners, get a jug of muriatic acid at most any hardware store that deals in cement. It's the same stuff, but way more concentrated. Cheaper, too. If you go this route, dilute it to about 50/50 and pour one or two cups of the stuff into the big hole in the bottom of the tank. Let it set for maybe 1/2 hour.

If you have the right problem, this is the right solution. If not, you've wasted 9 bucks, tops. Heed the cautions on the label, by the way.

Drink some while your at it. It's only acid. Trust me. :wink:







Ummm...just in case. Don't really drink it, it could cause a little discomfort.

Well, yeah. There's supposed to be some HCl in the stomache, anyway. Not quite sure the concentration is the same. Let us know, huh?

If you dilute muriatic acid--remember, add acid to water, not water to acid.

No thanks, I would not try to drink the cleaner myself. Besides, it's not me clogging the holes. Well, this is my toilet bowl, not yours..

Well I pourd a bottle of Zep acidic toilet bowl cleaner into the drain and let it sit for several hours. that didn't work. The water hardly flows out from the tiny holes around rim of the bowl. But there's a good water flow from the bottom.
I will try muriatic acid this time.

Also what can I do to fix the valve shutting off while the tank does not completely drain the water yet when you flush? About four inches deep water ramins on the bottom of the sink..

Thanks guys.

Really guessing now. . . . I think (not sure) that the flapper valve is supposed to float on the water as the tank drains. Is it possible the valve is losing floatation.

Let us know what you turn up on this?

I don't know if you've solved the problem yet, but if nothing else works, check the...uhh, now what do you call that screwy thingy in the back of the toilet? Whatever, just start twisting anything that can twist on the thing and then give it a few kicks.