A handful of homeowners are not familiar with the modern toilet. Moreover, a majority of homeowners don’t stop to consider how their toilet tank functions until it breaks down. You might find yourself looking into the tank with fear and trepidation as you try to clearly understand the assortment of components. Our Glendale, CA Plumbers have all the details you need to understand everything, from the tank filling to the flushing process.
What is in a Toilet Bowl Tank Tank?
The siphoning action required to flush away waste during flushing is created by the toilet tank. These are the components that make flushing possible:
- The flushing process begins by handling the tank.
- The handle arm is an internal component of the tank that pivots when the handle button is pressed.
- Chain: The handle arm pulls on the chain to lift the flapper.
- Flapper: This rubber component is also known as the flush-valve seal. It fits against the opening of the flush valve drain, sealing it after every flush.
- Flush Valve is the part that connects to the flapper. It holds the rubber seal open and allows water to flow into your toilet bowl.
- Drain opening: This is the space between the toilet tank (and the toilet bowl).
- Fill Valve: Before the next flush, fill the toilet tank with water.
- Refill Tube: This rubber tube takes water from the fill tube to the overflow tube to refill the toilet bowl.
- Filler Float, or Float ball: Depending on which model you have, the fill valve will either have a filler float or float ball attached. These allow the valve to turn on the water when it is empty, and off when it is full.
- Overflow Tube: This part serves two purposes.
- 1) It acts as a failsafe in the event that the float ball is lost or the filler valve fails. This prevents a tank from overflowing by redirecting water to the toilet bowl.
- 2) To refill the toilet bowl, connect the refill tube to the overflow tube.
What is a Toilet Flush?
It’s pretty simple for something to go wrong with the flushing process when there are so many parts. The flushing process works smoothly and efficiently when all the parts of the toilet tank are in good working order. The handle arm lifts up when you press it. This opens the flapper and activates the flush valve. Water will then rush into the bowl through the drain opening. The water is then used to flush any remaining waste from the bowl into the main drain.
How does the tank refill process work?
Generally when the tank is empty, the toilet will refill. This signalizes the fill valve to turn off the water. Next, water then flows back into the tank via a refill tube. The flapper also seals the drain opening, preventing fresh water from entering the toilet bowl. Then, the tank will stop filling once enough water has been added to the tank for the filler ball or filler float to rise to the desired level.