Quality Control

Earlier in the year, my brother remarked that the toilet in the basement would run. It appeared to me, when I looked at it, as if the flapper where not centered on the ears of the flush valve, and so did not close properly. I centered the flapper, and it appeared to be OK. It was not.

I had another look this week. My first thought was to reorient the flush valve, so that the flapper should settle cleanly on the drain. This required something that would turn a nut that was more than 3" across. I bought 4.5" channel lock pliers, which worked nicely. Reorienting the flush valve did not. I therefore bought a replacement valve, for something less than the cost of the pliers. This morning I installed the replacement, and it works properly.

The part I replaced surprises me. I also don't see how it could have made it past quality control at the factory. I don't see how a competent installer could have supposed it would work. The flapper is simply not big enough to cover the drain:

A properly fitting flapper would be closed. Nor could the flapper simply be replaced. As the next picture shows, the arms do not simply hook over the "ears", they enclose them:

I am glad to be rid of the worse product.