How to Replace an Old Toilet Cistern Ball Float Valve

[@ratchriat1716]

there is nothing better than close coupling toilet and old system easy to repair easy to service enjoyed the video.

[@CharlieDIYte]

Thanks - appreciate the comment!

[@littlezen7816]

Thanks for this video showing your thought processes when repairing a classic toilet. It was beautifully presented and executed as a video. To stop that annoying dripping at the end you can attach a thin collapsible plastic tube or use a section of material such as from a pair of tights. This just guides the water into the cistern stopping those final plopping noises. Never use a rigid pipe as you will create a back-syphonage hazard. You should use a water hippo to reduce excessive water usage. Those toilets were built in a different era before water conservation was a big issue. I used to use one of those toilets in my childhood. It is a classic and an irreplaceable toilet. It is both a syphonic cistern flush with a syphonic bowl action. That is why it gurgles at the end when the bowl syphon is broken. That toilet is a really clever design but it also relies on a hidden syphonic bomb to redirect the water when it flushes. The water first starts to flow internally down the back of the toilet which is why the water level drops in the bowl as the priming of the syphonic action and the remainder of the water is then directed into the bowl. This is not like the typical American toilets which use a syphon jet. They were really expensive in their day as they are American technology made to work within the British regulations of the day. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oHO4gWSLprhkgrs kzbin.info/www/bejne/onOnZHqFj9t8fqc The syphonic cistern means that unlike the prehistoric flapper bung type mechanisms, which are all the rage these days, it will never leak wasting precious treated water. Ironically, The syphon flush is actually the more modern technology of the two technologies. In the UK it was a requirement until when the regulations were relaxed and the more unreliable flapper technology was legalised. Probably in part because of the introduction of water-meters as well as the harmonisation with Europe.

[@CharlieDIYte]

Wow, that's got to be one of the most comprehensive comments I've received - big thanks 👍 - some real gems of wisdom there! Yes, they're great these old syphonic flush systems. The one featured in this video actually broke several years back when the diaghragm in the syphon itself perished, along with the rubber washer that it slots into. I had a lot of fun down at the local DIY shop where the old guys behind the counter "wow, we haven't seen one of these for a while" managed to kit me out with a similar washer that I had to modify with a scalpel, and improvised a new diaphragm from some rubber sheeting. So satisfying when I put it all back together and it worked a treat!

[@taratanballbag]

Your communication skills are on point

[@markrowland5393]

Well done Charlie. Now you're flushed with success!

[@CharlieDIYte]

Ha! Love it!

[@bobmillar]

Appreciate you explaining difference between Pt. 1 & 2 float valves and also HP vs LP fitment 👏

[@Dragon-Slay3r]

Comment 20 mins ago? Cult going to fight with a flush ball? Where they fighting? Red light district? 😂 touche!

[@mikemayfield5172]

Charlie, i’m an American viewer. Forgive my ignorance of the British designs and speech. It seems that all of the internal parts of your toilet system are different than mine. Mine seems to be much simpler. I suppose you don’t have American systems available to you. I do admire your mechanical abilities. It seems you tackle almost everything in your home. I think I would tear out that whole toilet and replace it with a more modern one that is not avocado green. :-) Thank you for a very well thought out videos. You have a way with words that makes things very clear even when I don’t understand all of the lingo. Cheers from Chattanooga Tennessee in America.

[@CharlieDIYte]

Hi Mike. Wow - always humbling when someone reaches out from as far away as Chattanooga - massive thanks for your interest in the channel!! Yes, you're not the first to say he'd have ripped out the toilet. Thing is, I don't know what I'm going to do with the room yet so I don't want to buy a new toilet to turn find I'm getting rid of it in a few years. You're right there's nothing in the US quite like these old syphonic flush ball float valve systems, and probably a good job too! That said our modern systems are much simpler now and I'm guessing more in line with yours. Thanks again, speak soon.

[@mikemayfield5172]

Alright Charlie. I better understand now. And I would love to know more about your water system. You referred to some kind of cistern on the roofs or in the attic or something. Obviously you bought an older house and have all older systems along with it. They are very interesting to me. Good luck on your projects.

[@zeno2712]

I never knew about part 1 & 2 systems. I do now! Thanks, Charlie.

[@CharlieDIYte]

You're welcome Alan!

[@lafingas555]

My tank is in the loft how do i find out what system i need? 1 or 2?

[@HDEFMAN1]

I know know that I need a high pressure setup and ideally a part two system. All thanks to you Charlie, great tutorial.

[@CharlieDIYte]

Glad you found it useful.

[@craig7810]

Hey Charlie, thanks for the great tutorial. I have pretty much the identical cistern and bought a similar ballcock and valve. The water cuts out around an inch below the overflow part too but after a good few hours like overnight I find that the water has risen above the overflow

[@CharlieDIYte]

Is that with the new valve fitted? Try adjusting it a bit lower and if that doesn't work, you may be suffering from very high water pressure like me.

[@craig7810]

@@CharlieDIYte Hi Charlie, thanks for the reply. Yes it was with the new valve. I have bent the arm a little and that seems to have fixed the problem. The float wasn't low enough it seems. Thanks again. 👍

[@beckyanderson2504]

Thanks for the video. I was able to fix my noisy toilet

[@tomorrowstools2159]

Old stuff is cool! Glad to see you keep it going! 🔵👍🔵

[@CharlieDIYte]

Thanks! It is satisfying, I've got to say. The syphonic flush was a challenge - went to an old school DIY shop near here and the old boys behind the counter found a rubber washer that I could improvise with the aid of a razor blade and a piece of old plastic for the diaphragm! You can probably replace it with the modern equivalent but I didn't think to try!! Thanks for the comment.

[@tomorrowstools2159]

Let me know if you want to try mixing with the MixBall. We will send you one!

[@otoolepw]

Excellent job Charlie and very informative!

[@CharlieDIYte]

Thanks Paul!

[@majsport]

Thank you buddy.. You really helped me out today with your informative video... Keep up the good work 🙂👍🏽

[@CharlieDIYte]

Glad to hear it. Thanks for letting me know.

[@chriswood8698]

Helpful - thanks

[@CharlieDIYte]

You're welcome. Thanks for the comment. 👊

[@BeechHorn]

Thanks for this. I only wish there was a guide to stop that dripping noise for the few minutes after filling (the drips at the end you trimmed in the edit starting at 8:34). Am sure there is a more professional solution than me securing a bent tube or similar from the fill port to below the water-line or acoustic foaming the inside of the cistern.

[@markrowland5393]

I think a bent tube is a good solution. Better than plastic film, which used to be in mine.

[@littlezen7816]

There is, just use a piece of cloth to direct the water into the cistern rather than just falling in making that annoying plopping noise. Some cloth and an elastic band should do it.

[@daibhiseaghdha153]

use a equilibrium float valve, a quick fill, and no dripping, and silent finish.

[@kevko18]

I have this same problem, but worse, as the main water pump stays activated and pumps on and off as it keeps dripping. It only turns fully off when the dripping ends. Super annoying if you're trying to sleep.

[@daibhiseaghdha153]

dd you notice the embossed " W L " with the horizontal line under neath at the inside back of the cistern, that's the water level guide line, if you get a Thomas Dudley Turbo 88 Duo-Flush Siphon, it over flows internally through the siphon into the pan, dual flush to save wasting water, very good, I have been a plumber for 50 years.

[@CharlieDIYte]

Thank you for this. Yes I agree those Thomas Dudley syphons are the way forward. I've actually done away with the syphon entirely recently in one of our other cisterns in favour of a dual flush kzbin.info/www/bejne/gHXHl4Vqm8SCiKc

[@micky7028]

Wow how old are you now 55?

[@daibhiseaghdha153]

​@@micky7028 wish I was still 55 , but that was 15 years ago, I use to be a plumber in hospitals 1972 onwards, we had 4" bore equilibrium float valves with 20" copper floats, you needed a wheel barrow to bring them down to the workshop, to repair them, I have a 1/2" Ebco equilibrium float valve in my Armitage Shanks Clena high level side inlet cistern, flushed with pride, but I do like, Dudley Hydroflo Equilibrium Float Valve with a Brass tail

[@TheMercury-13]

My Dad was a Hospital Electrician '70s-'00; I miss hearing him talk of his job, the older equipment ect; for some reason it fascinates me! I also miss him fixing our house problems; he'd turn up, willingly, with an old heavy magic bag full of anything DIY you could need! Now it's just me, & uninterested kids, trying to mend things, but I don't have his rich knowledge.. Thankfully I do have the www tho' 🙂 x

[@CyberiaGlaze]

Job done. Thank you so much for the video!

[@CharlieDIYte]

Great work Morgan, and thanks so much for letting me know how it went 👍🏻

[@CharlieDIYte]

🛠Charlie DIYte Amazon Tool Store amzn.to/3fcLnY4 - all my tried, tested and much loved DIY tools. ☕Charlie DIYte Buy Me a Coffee Membership bit.ly/3xuQ3zb - access our incredible Discord DIY forum and help support my Channel. 👚Charlie DIYte Official Merch Store charlie-diyte.myspreadshop.co.uk/ - all new range of professionally designed merch.

[@joychip5994]

I have a blue toilet that I am removing this week. I have done the sink 😀

[@CharlieDIYte]

Quality. I think I had one of those in my old house!

[@joychip5994]

Charlie DIYte can’t make up my mind to go with a bush button flush or keep a handle any advice ?

[@CharlieDIYte]

Depends. Handle is more traditional, and the mechanisms behind them are much slicker than they used to be - we've got one in the new bathroom and it's very light touch and works a treat. But if it's a modern bathroom I'd be tempted to go with the button flush.

[@joychip5994]

Charlie DIYte thank you it’s a 1970 mid terrace ,I’m only the 2nd owner moved in 4 months ago so I’m really thrilled to watch your videos so easy to follow ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@valborchardt3596]

Oh thank you Charlie, that was most helpful. Once again take care

[@bolter99]

You should try out the silent fill ones (cold supply may need to be on the bottom of the tank though).

[@RainbowCharade]

Hi, I have changed the ball valve seating washer (same toilet i think!), it is still slowly dripping so not sealing. The gnarled nut is only suitable for hand tightening due to limited space. Should I just change the whole unit or will the same happen again if I cant get it supertight?

[@hassanal-mosawi6049]

Thanks for sharing that, useful info

[@namAlexander]

got same cistern and the copper pipe has a hole in it and is pitted so got no choice but change the whole lot with this Thomas Dudley Beta + Part 3 Adjustable Float Valve Bottom entry, i doubt ill get the new type that's in another toilet due to clearance, got to love the screen shot and prices what difference now

[@CharlieDIYte]

You won't regret doing that. I actually switched out the entire cyphonic flush here for a dual flush system and modem fill valve. Very pleased I did. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gHXHl4Vqm8SCiKcsi=OcGL1Ld_Ei89C39d

[@namAlexander]

@@CharlieDIYte i looked again i can fit the new type filler so ill get the viva type from Toolstation and a syphon just in case that goes later on, i may as well fit an isolator their also and replace drain off as that's 50 year old

[@chriscutler1581]

Good video! Got the same float but even with the float at top end of the adjustment I still don’t get enough water in the cistern. Any ideas? Almost like I want it to go round the bend a little.

[@CharlieDIYte]

Difficult to know Chris without seeing it. Maybe consider upgrading it to a new Skylo fill valve. It's SO superior 👌kzbin.info/www/bejne/gHXHl4Vqm8SCiKcsi=ntDNQV9UKlLwkdIT

[@JWOO2437]

Cheers Charlie...😎😎😎👍👍👍

[@ukxyzzy123]

My job when screwfix opens. Even the same green cistern 🤣

[@colinsace1]

You can get mini float valves my old one was a plastic mini float valve but it was falling apart and leaking and my diaphragm flap was bent and cracking so decided to get the viva skyflo dual flush standard syphon and the viva skyflo 4in1 valve but mine is side entry and that’s also very good and very quiet when filling up and fast my tank is like this one but in white but it’s a old style cistern with pipe to the toilet 🚽 replaced it all from screw fix for under 20 quid and never done it before just watched one of their videos they post on here. My old shires black cistern I had before this one 12 years ago had the old float style float valve never had any problems with it.

[@CharlieDIYte]

Yep, I did that here kzbin.info/www/bejne/gHXHl4Vqm8SCiKcsi=coKVeeILvtpTLTqk Game changer 👌

[@marcdewilde518]

Very useful video Charlie especially with my recent toilet problems in mind. BTW is that a real Rembrandt (2:48) ? ;-) ATB Marc - Belgium

[@kimcynity]

Hi, I have huge problem water in the toilet won't stop flowing and I watch a couple of your tutorial but I have different floating valve it looks like a circle Styrofoam

[@CharlieDIYte]

I'm uploading a video today that will hopefully help you with this.

[@kimcynity]

@@CharlieDIYte wow. Thank you, thank you. Hope you'll have a lot of subscribers for this.

[@stanceworks7995]

During the night when nobody flushes the toilet leaks from the handle on the outside. The toilet cistern also fills up slowly even though the water is shut off by the tap....aftwd flushing the toilet also whistles for a long timg. We have this ball mechanism as well

[@CharlieDIYte]

Sounds like it's crying out for an upgrade!

[@derekmoulding3834]

Can I fit a brass valve if the inlet is plastic, or will I need to replace the existing plastic valve with another plastic one?

[@CharlieDIYte]

Are you saying the flexi hose supplying the mains water to the toilet cistern has a plastic nut on it - or you're just putting a new ball valve on the existing plastic fill pipe? Quite often the fill valve has a plastic thread and the flexi hose normally has a metal nut on it, so you should be ok. You could put a couple of turns of PTFE tape on the thread for belt and braces.

[@TheMercury-13]

Wow; never seen another toilet same colour as ours! Apparently it's 1970s '𝑃𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑠 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑠'? I call it 'Khaki'; it's the house-owner's fave colour, weirdly. But the main thing is that it works! 😊

[@tweetypie25]

Charlie, why does my new bottom entry fill valve not fit into my cistern? the plastic syphon unit is stopping the new valve seating on the bottom where the inlet is?? Why is this when it says on box will fit any standard bottom entry !! Puzzled!!!

[@annafeeazad6896]

Thanks for the tutorial. I have an overflow similar to this, it's not internal (old ideal standard cistern), water just flows outside. I want to clean the rim jet holes some of which are clogged with calcium deposits. Without an internal overflow it's hard to pour any descaler solutions. Any suggestions?

[@daibhiseaghdha153]

install a water softener, except for the drinking cold water in the kitchen, no more lime scale, but it needs to be a real water softener, not these inline water softeners which are about 10" long, the fail in no time.the soft water will gradually dissolve the existing lime scale in time, and that is the end of any more limescale..full stop and a cleaner toilet etc.

[@yaidenyoung2574]

Id replace these with Fluidmaster or Dudley. For the Syphon I'd go with Dudley Cascade or Fluidmaster Pro, as this is a syphonic toilet, renew the aspirator at the same time. At least you replaced the fill valve with a better quality one, although P1s can last a very long time. It will be a lot cheaper then replacing the toilet.

[@CharlieDIYte]

Thanks for that, buddy. I'll need to replace a more modern valve at some time soon (cheap toilet I bought from B&Q) so I'll be referring back to your recommendations for that 👍

[@yaidenyoung2574]

@@CharlieDIYte No worries. Your better off with a Fluidmaster.

[@justnotrelevant]

You have the identical cistern and colour to mine. Mine has a hairline cracked, any idea how to fix....?

[@CharlieDIYte]

I'm not sure there's much you can do about that. Phone around salvage yards and see if anyone has a replacement. I had the identical pink suite in our other bathroom and none of them wanted it so I ended up against it up with a sledge hammer. If all else fails I'll be replacing this bathroom at some point, so you're welcome to have it, but you might be waiting a while...

[@daibhiseaghdha153]

turn the water supply off, empty all the water out, every drop, dry it with a hair dryer, and apply some silicon sealant to the hair line crack, inside, leave it set over night, before you turn the water back on.

[@TheMercury-13]

Shame about the Pink suite, I hate losing 'history', even awful 1970s stuff! - It's not what I'd want; we've got a '𝑃𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑠 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑠' /Khaki colour toilet like the video; I prefer white, but I heard the colour toilets were coming back in with trendies; someone somewhere's probably searching for 1! Or could've made a n outdoor planter?! 😊

[@An.Individual]

8:38 quite soothing

[@MrQwerty3000]

two compulsory adds at the start - ouch! Good vid though

[@CharlieDIYte]

Not sure what you mean Martin. I wasn't paid anything to do this, but obviously I'm going to recommend products I've used if l think they worked well.

[@nsoper19]

How long should it take to go from a trickle to a drop to stopping? My old toilet seems to drip for hours

[@CharlieDIYte]

A few minutes. You should probably replace the valve or first consider lowering the ball to increase pressure on the valve and see if that stops the drip sooner. The downside of course is that you'll have less water in the cistern.

[@nsoper19]

@@CharlieDIYte thanks for the advice. Changed the valve and it's all working swimmingly now. The o ring had failed and the restriction valve was plugged up with junk. cheers.

[@crackhead4540]

I tried to do this with my toilet and its truly a headache. Our valve is plastic not brass so I got the wrong one. Also I was supposed to get part 3 not part 2. :-( Now the water won't stop leaking from the valve. Should've just called plumber

[@CharlieDIYte]

Sorry to hear that. Shame because sounds like with a couple of new components you'll get there, and still save on what it would have cost to get a plumber round.

[@crackhead4540]

@@CharlieDIYte I will try again and let you know how it goes.

[@crackhead4540]

We ended up getting an updates toilet system altogether because this one is very outdated anyway

[@hersenskim]

I searched for a video on how to replace the ball valve. Clicked on the 1st one. You have the EXACT same toilet as I do... How weird is that

[@CharlieDIYte]

Ha! Brilliant - the power of Google!

[@mda5003]

There seems to be a lot of water in the pan....

[@SimonDefra]

Why do they still sell part one valves , should stop selling them

[@CharlieDIYte]

It's a good point