Toilet Parts

One of the simplest mechanical devices in your home is a flushing toilet. They operate using automatic mechanisms that don’t require motors, sensors, or electricity. It is an army of large and small toilet parts that make this happen.

The actual function of a flush toilet remains a mystery to many individuals. This is despite the inherent simplicity of toilets. This is because almost all of the working of a toilet happens inside the porcelain tank, under a lid that seldom comes off. Knowing the components and how they work will allow you to understand and fix issues as they occur. Most of the problems can be solved quite quickly without the need for a plumber. Read this article to find out more about various toilet parts. This will help you buy the right replacement parts when you need them.

Most important toilet parts

The first thing you need to know in order to get the right replacement parts for a toilet is to have at least a basic idea about various parts of the toilet. However, if we are to talk about every single part, it would take hundreds of pages. Luckily, knowing about the basic parts will help you carry out much of the repair works yourselves. Here is a list of four major parts of a toilet. The reason why this list does not include cisterns is that they don’t usually require many repairs. On this page, we are going to explore more information about common parts of toilets. You will also find some tips in the end that will help you pick the best ones.

Toilet bowl

This is where all the major events happen. But what most people do not see is that there is an internal curved trap mechanism inside the bowl. This will be close to the toilet floor and function much like a sink drain trap but at a much larger scale. The internal trap holds the water and prevents the rise of sewer gases back into the bathroom. The water you see in the bowl is in the top part of the drain trap of the toilet. This is also the part where clogs happen. If you do not deal with another toilet repair, at some point, you can almost definitely deal with a clog.

Flush

The components of the flushing system include the flush handle, the rod and the flush valve. All of these will be connected to each other in series. The horizontal rod links to a chain or wire that moves the rod with the handle. In some cases, this will be more complex or simple, depending on where the tank is. Placing the flush handle directly on top of the flush valve helps simplify the system. One thing to keep in mind while you are replacing the flush system is that, unlike normal nuts, all the nuts in the flush system loosen if you turn them clockwise.

Ballcock

Ballcocks are in fact, a part of the flush system. However, they are also not directly connected to the other parts of the flush system. Generally, the ballcock sits on the left side of the tank. But this position is not universal. It is the ballcock that controls the water flow into the toilet cistern. When the water level drops inside the tank, the ballcock moves down and pulls open the valve. This lets the water into the tank. When the water fills inside the tank, the ballcock rises and shuts off the valve. If the ballcock is not functioning right, this process will not work correctly.

Shut-off valve

The shut-off valve will be near the floor outside the toilet. While it doesn’t have to do anything directly with the working of the toilet, it is the part that controls the water supply to the toilet. You will find it normally on the left side of the toilet, underneath the tank. This shut-off valve helps you to shut off the toilet water when you need to carry out any repairs. However, not all toilets have shut-off valves. Sometimes the toilet cistern might be connected to the water supply without a shut off valve. But adding a shut off valve is a smart idea.