At first, there were hissing sounds coming from the bathroom. I had heard it before. After you flush a toilet the diaphragm of an inlet valve does not completely seal. There is a small gap through which drops of water come through. Even though water is not gushing and your water meter is not dramatically spinning, if not dealt with soon it may cause a headache after a while. So I decided to deal with it.
I rent my current apartment. So my first reaction was to notify my landlady of this issue. No response. I opened my old mid-2010 Macbook Pro and looked up the keywords “toilet valve”. To my luck, Amazon showed the exact make and model as the existing inlet valve. I would assume that this brand – Geberit – might be popular in Belgium. Anyway, I texted my landlady that I found the necessary part and that I could buy/change it if it was okay with her. She texted back giving me the green light to continue my repair.
This was not like one of my recent iPhone repairs. I did not have any prior experience fixing toilets. To be honest, when the other day water was flushing down uncontrollably I asked my amazing woman for advice. And do you know what? She knew what to do. She pulled the water cistern lid, touched the water adjustment rod and the flushing stopped. I love that woman.
We received the part. The full inlet valve from Geberit. It cost around 20.00 EUR. At first, we thought that we might change the whole valve. Even though it is possible to change it without removing the part completely from the cistern, we ended up changing only the lever and diaphragm.
But there was a problem. lime. Water in Brussels is heavy with lime. So the lever and diaphragm were stuck. Luckily, my wonderful woman had a vinegar-based spray to remove lime deposits. We applied (generously) the spray on the inlet valve and by using a Swiss army knife started to peal the lime layer off. Fortunately, Geberit equipment is made to withstand household chemicals so no harm was done to the valve and its parts.
After spraying and chopping for some 15 minutes we finally managed to turn the lever anti-clockwise and slide it out. You can see in the pictures little white specks of lime. Just imagine how much it was before we applied this lime removal liquid.
We removed the diaphragm which was stuck inside the valve and cleaned the inside as well. We obviously could not clean everything completely, but we did the best we could.
Then we pushed the new lever and diaphragm inside the locating slots and turned it clockwise. Readjusted the water level adjustment rod and let the water in. After the first flush, we tightened the lever and the hissing sound is history (almost).
Only after I realized that we could easily change the whole inlet valve, but where would be the fun in that? This was an interesting repair adventure with my beautiful woman. At least now I know. And if something else happens with the water cistern, we will be wiser and more experienced.
To be completely fair, the hissing sound after a flush still occasionally appears. But it stops when you gently lift the lid of the water cistern. No need to touch any rods or levers, just lift the lid. So further down the line, I will probably have to have a look at that as well.
This was not the most high-tech repair, but it still was one. Furthermore, this was done by teaming up with my partner in crime.
Kind regards,
Olaaf
