Fix a leaking Geberit toilet flush valve

All the toilets in our 5 year old house have been leaking for a while now. The Geberit cistern flush valve is letting water leak past into the bowl. We've also noticed a marked increase in our water usage.
Have removed each Geberit valve and found that in all three of the silicone (?) washers were covered in pimple like bumps. Water trapped in pockets under the first layer of the washers.
Ideally these would be replaced, however I've found a way to easily and quickly fix them.
- Update -
Have had a few water bills now and found:
Prior to the fix our water usage was 450 L / Day
After the fix our water usage was less than 150 L / Day
That's 3 toilets all suffering the same problem and resulting in a huge waste of water. Our water usage dropped by 1/3!

[@GretchenConnor-fg8ol]

Brilliant! I was able to fix my own toilet! 66yo woman...so pleased. Thank you

[@brotherfox4818]

I'm so glad I found this video. Fixed the continuous leaking. Easy fix, thanks to you. I thought I'd need to replace parts.

[@saf2285]

Perfect, I've been putting off sorting this slow leak for ages because I thought it would be too complicated. Done in 5 minutes, piece of cake thanks to your video, you're a star! 🌟

[@MrFrobbo]

AWESOME, thank you so much for the 'pimple' trick, I had two pimples on the seal which is up to 11 years old (possibly shorter but that's unknown, although possibly a date stamp on my 260 model '130428' so 2013 would be about right for when the toilet was installed new). This solved the dripping instantly. Gave the 260 flushing unit a good clean too as it was all a bit mungy black. I see replacement seals are now available on ebay, not needed as yet but maybe in the future. This video saved me £££s or at least a complete new assembly at around £50 and so much time. I've got another in the house so am well prepared. Cheers again fella.

[@wellyman2008]

Spot on fixed the problem. On a broader note isn’t it interesting how flush technology has gone backwards as we used to have toilet cisterns at height that used the force of gravity to enhance the flush and a simple ball and cook mechanism that anyone could fix and an outlet where we couldn’t pretend there wasn’t a problem. Now with “water saving” advancements we have toilets where you need to flush a couple of times (no force of gravity) and where leaks go down the basin so you never get round to fixing it and over engineered German plastic Heath Robinson concoctions that you need to go on KZbin to find out how to fix. 80,000s views so far, so probably a common fault - German/Swiss engineering is not what it was once!

[@jwelliottnz]

Yes I think a lot of people are having problems with this flush mechanism. Totally agree with you they completely failed at the new water saving mechanism. It saves water compared to the old syphoning system for the first 2 years but then leaks and uses much more water for the next 5 until the owners figure out how to replace / pop the blisters on the washer.

[@brucerobinson8094]

Hi. I have a Geberit concealed cistern. It has been leaking into the toilet bowl for a few months now but has recently got worse so I decided enough was enough. Having dismantled it (with the help of KZbin) I initially thought it was the fill valve type 380 , lateral flow water supply connection and have just ordered a new fill valve unit. However on watching your video I thought - maybe it is the flush? On close inspection I too noticed a large blip in the large silicone washer . I thought this was part of the system. However I have pricked the blips and water shot out. There was some swelling around the rim. I didn't realise that these rings are made of several layers and water can get in over time. The cistern no longer leaks! - thankyou for this very helpful video. I may buy a new flush washer in the future but for the moment it is working perfectly.

[@rich4716]

Legend. My father in law’s in hospital, not looking like he’ll make it out. A plumber was going to charge my mother in law hundreds to fix it. Appreciate it.

[@jwelliottnz]

Sorry to hear about your father in law, glad you could help them out.

[@spoon386]

Great video! Couldn't work out how to remove the cistern, easy when you know how. Thank you.

[@NigelsMusic]

Brilliant! I suspected it would be a faulty washer like this, but dreaded having to figure out how to pull the whole mechanism apart in order to get to it. You showed us that it came out with just a simple twist! THANK YOU!!!

[@pmarchantc]

Instant fix for me. Was fighting trying to solve this for a while, had seen the bubbles but did not think you could just pinch them. Wish I could buy you a beer in exchange of the money and headaches this saved me ;).

[@dfrenchah]

Thank you for taking the time to record this. It saved me having to get a plumber in. You have done a service for mankind!!

[@percybrown]

Brilliant fix. Thank you. I identified this problem but didn't realise they were water blisters, thinking it was just poor manufacturing. What a satisfying fix!

[@royallan3717]

I really appreciate this video my friend,simply showing how to twist and remove helps so much

[@ennerjiprojects]

I was just about to replace the flush valve and then came across this. Thankyou worked perfectly; first nights sleep without being woken by a leaking and filling cistern in ages!!

[@martontoth4807]

4 years on this is still incredibly useful. Saved me a trip to the shop and the money a new unit would have cost. Thank you!

[@rleeden]

Another thankful person here ... same make of flush, probably about 5 or 6 years old, same problem. My cistern is a built-in unit, so had to access it all via the (thankfully large and easily removable) button system, but essentially the same solution. Thank you!

[@peteslinn482]

I didn't have any of the "pimples" on my washer, but the washer was slightly out of shape - reversing it appears to have done the job - Thanks for the video!

[@stuartmackie9620]

Thank you for posting this. Changing the seal was simple (and cheap)and solved the leaking toilet problem. As you described, our seal had a bubble of water stuck between the two layers of the seal. I expected the seal to be a single thickness of silicon, but evidently not. I presume that once any crack forms in the joint between the layers , water gets drawn in over time.

[@dans.8198]

My toilet was also affected by this Seal Bubonic Plague :) The air bubbles were so small I could not see them, but after watching your video I looked more closely, found and popped all of them, and this fixed the leak. Thank you so much.

[@coachsunnypatel3411]

Legend! I was planning on swapping out the whole flush valve, this was a literal 5 minute fix. Thank you!

[@JimmyRClub]

Your solution was working fine on a Viega toilet as well!!! Similar silicone sealing with the same water bubbles. Many-many thanks

[@PaulFloWilliams]

Very well explained, thank you. I've been living with a leaking cistern for a few weeks and finally decided to search for an explanation. Fixed in five minutes!

[@AlexisVaughan1]

Thank you so much for putting this video together - this has been driving me crazy for so long. So simple and frugal, love it. (We had the same model)

[@MegaReddevil71]

Followed your advice and popped the blisters and worked a treat

[@damienyap1013]

Thanks alot for this helpful sharing! This has also solved my problem. I was cracking my head on what could be the problem and getting a plumber is going to cost quite abit!

[@adamwheeler7006]

Someone get this man a beer. Such an easy fix. Bravo sir!

[@nickmccarthy8607]

Just did this to 2 toilets that had been leaking for months, I bought new washers instead of using the old but this video helped me do this. Thanks so much!!

[@noooname2568]

Thank you for putting this on. Since my dad passed away I’ve had to learn how to do stuff myself and videos like these are incredible. Thanks again

[@jwelliottnz]

Sorry to hear about your father. Would be hard to have that family support lost. Good on you for moving forward and figuring it out. All the best.

[@jigga_247]

Mate, you are a legend, in every sense of the word...that's what you are! Seriously you served me $$$ from calling in a plumber who was going to charge me a fortune and maybe even ask me to replace the entire cistern system. For several weeks now I have been trying to troubleshoot the 'hissing' sound in the bedroom toilet. For me the 'leaking' wasn't obvious so I spent time on an Internet goose chase following wrong leads trying to fix the inlet valve to no avail. Luckily I resisted the urge to call in a plumber until I stumbled on your video by chance. It worked like a charm, one big lump and 2 tiny ones... and the hissing is gone... Legend!! ❤🙏

[@keithdude30]

The beauties of KZbin, this 4 year old video just fixed my toilet. Thank you so much for posting this, have had water leaking into toilet bowl gradually getting worse for weeks now. I was on verge of buying new components to fix it but then saw your video. Sure enough when I checked the rubber washer/seal it had a number of bubbles under the surface. Once these were pricked it fixed the issue, no leakage. And most importantly of all at no cost, again thank you so much.

[@susiealverson1]

Brilliant. Thank you so so much. I had a plumber come out who told me that my Kohler toilet doesn’t make sealing rings for their duel flusher mechanisms. So he ordered a whole new part that didn’t fit and then told me I should just replace the toilet with an American Standard because they’re much easier to work on. Lol. After a little research, I found your wonderful video and that’s exactly what was wrong with my sealing ring. Water had been drip, drip dripping for months inside the toilet bowl. Popped the pimples with my needle and all is well with no money spent!!! It doesn’t get any better than that. Plumbing costs are out of sight. They replaced a simple gasket on my other toilet flushing mechanism and charged $100. Maybe my husband will listen to me now when I ask him to watch a few KZbin videos before calling plumbers. Lol.

[@jwelliottnz]

Good to know, thanks for the message. Interesting that it's a common issue across different manufacturers. Crazy the idea to replace the whole toilet because of a simple seal.

[@tonyo3826]

Oh wow, I was watching this to figure out how to dismantle this valve so that I could troubleshoot a leak. Well, sure enough I discovered the “pimple” on the seal, popped it, and that fixed the problem. I thought it was the other seal!

[@ArthurFuxake]

Thanks for sharing this. It fixed my immediate problem. I've since replaced it with a new seal (£5 - proper Geberit, not an eBay knock off)) and they are now made out of a different clear silicone material which apparently should fix the problem permanently, so Geberit say.

[@jwelliottnz]

Thanks for the info, can you send me the link to the Geberit link? I'd like to read over it. Cheers.

[@davidtexmex1616]

Spot on mate sorted the new year dripping toilet, it’s January 2020 and your upload is still saving folks time and money! Quality stuff 👏🏼

[@nicupanaitescu]

Cleaned the chalk twice (I thought that was the issue) and didn't solve the leakage. Then I watched your video. Who would have think there are some bloody blisters there?! Thank you, man! :)

[@alftupper3730]

Even though this video is 4 years old, it was an exact solution for our leaking Geberit toilet flush. It could not have been more perfect ! Thank you very much.

[@andrewjohnston2123]

Legend! Have two of these units in our house that are about six years old and actually replaced the flushing units in both to sort the issue three years ago when it first started and at the recommendation of a plumber... not a particularly cheap exercise. One started again just recently so found your video... voila, sorted in 3 minutes! And not gonna lie, found the 'pimple popping' aspect kind of satisfying ;) Big thanks!

[@litch3000]

I couldn't work out the cartridge release mine took alot of pulling. And I would never of spotted the pimples. It worked. Thanks.

[@stephendoherty]

There are many videos out there about leaking loos. So very pleased I came upon this one. Thank you ... and very well done one handed.

[@pepperpayne01]

Legend!!!! Been driving me mad the past few weeks. Originally looked at the valves and they looked fine. Just watched your video and sure enough there were several of those little suckers. Similar to yourself 2 toilets, same issue, 4yrs old. I owe you a beer!

[@nrose7480]

I have three Gerberit systems, the first one had this same issue at about 5 years, the second at 10. I'm ready for the third to fail. Well done jwelliottnz!

[@davidanning62]

thank you so much. this is exactly the problem I was experiencing which I'd never have sorted without your help. toilet now working as before and no expensive plumber bills required

[@philsmith6213]

Wow, stumbled across this video, and exactly the same 2 toilets I have and both had the little bubbles in them, popped and hey presto all fixed. I owe you a very large beer, thank you so much sir. Just saved me £80 on parts I was just about to order.

[@melissacary4831]

Thank you so much for this! My husband has been trying to fix our toilet for the last 5 weeks and after watching your video I fixed it in five minutes!

[@christinecope4120]

Husband extremely sceptical, but am feeling rather smug because it worked! Many thanks, saved us I don’t know how much.

[@ruthsyers8740]

Thank you so much for this advice / video. My seal had a huge pimple which was duly popped and the dripping has stopped. You have saved me a lot of frustration with such a random but simple fix! Top man.

[@Skin.care.1]

I know this is 3 years old but today you’ve made my day!! I’ve fixed my own toilet , that has been leaking for months on end ! Thank you!! Instant fix , I had to pop 2 pimples !

[@badshotuk72]

I've been racking my brain, mine was exactly the same, only good for 5 years, thanks for this simple and cheap fix buddy much appreciated!

[@markseaby3735]

This was a great help, sorted my leak out a treat and saved me £25 for a new valve unit. Thanks.

[@ericafbyrne]

You bloody legend!! It's 1:27am and the leaking toilet was doing my head in. 2minutes with a pin and problem solved. Thank you so much!

[@benkirchner7952]

We have the same flush, same problem and, on expecting the washer, lo and behold the same ‘pimples’. I’d assumed there were solid - never occurred to me that they were poppable! You’ve saved me cost of new flush plus hassle of fitting. Can’t thank you enough!!

[@s7043]

Exactly the same Geberit flush valve, constant leak day and night into pan, auto filling for quite a few days. Thinking of getting a new flush valve but happened to see the make Geberit on my leaky flush valve. Couldn't believe it your video came up. Went to hardware store. Got same seal, fitted in 5 minutes and wow! Silence and no more leaking water. Apprecite your video. Thanks!!👍

[@smithy0009]

I checked the seal on mine and it had an air bubble which is now popped thanks to your advice, thank you !!

[@hornwijaya5033]

I have months of leakage / dribbling on the exact model, has been busy, thanks for the video that I followed and fixed within minutes. Yooohooo. Save a lot of money and stress.

[@mtb1779]

Mate, thank you so much for this video, I didn’t have the confidence to understand how that contraption came out! But this was exact the same problem with mine, fixed in less than 5 minutes. We’ve got 3 of the same toilets in our house. All started going wrong after 4 years. Loads of bubbles on the washer. Now fixed. Thanks 🙏

[@craftship9481]

Mine wasn’t exactly the same the washer was covered in limescale. But 5 mins under the tap fixed it. Many thanks

[@crowe62]

Thank you for this. I never would have thought that you could have water ingress into a silicon washer / gasket. Followed your advice, found the pimples and popped them with a needle. Reinstalled washer and now no leak. New washers ordered for eventual replacement throughout toilets in house.

[@paulashmann3132]

Thanks mate, saved me hundreds of dollars by not having to get a plumber in, a very good fix, didn't realize how easy it is, cheers

[@swanagediverdan]

Thanks. FYI. You can buy the Geberit gaskets. I found after popping that soaking the bottom of the unit in limescale remover like Kilrock took a load of scale away as well. Cheers. Great vid which saved me £50

[@markduerden7294]

Wow! Fixed my leak on 5 minutes. I had one "pimple" that was difficult to find. Great video.

[@mikedaveross]

Thank you for taking the time to post this video. One done, two more waiting to go! 9 years they’ve lasted. Interestingly it’s the toilet that doesn’t get used much.

[@philcharles2657]

Thank you so much, mate. You are a legend! Been battling with 3 leaking toilets in our house for months. Popped the bubbles and now they're all perfect again.

[@lepton56]

Wohoo. New Year’s Day 2021 and I came across this video. I have two of these cisterns in my house and your video fixed my problem. Amazing. You are a champion in my books.

[@jimtonioconnellwilliams3469]

Mate, I owe you a beer! a 5 minute fix. Exactly the same problem I had. The pimple issue was the same but only had 3 or 4 of them. all popped and no more leaks!! cheers

[@jerrycargill4847]

I owe the guy a pint too!

[@user-re2rz8th5j]

Many thanks. Was going to change the whole flushing unit until I took your advice. worked perfect. Thank you.

[@kobigrewal1]

Thank you squire! I had recently had the same issue start with one of our villeroy boch toilets. I had a quick fiddle but didn’t have the confidence to take the flush mechanism out. Found your video just now and voila! Problem solved 😊

[@ian-barsby-automotive-artist]

Fantastic video! Thank you. Our washer had 1 big pimple. Popped it, dried it and refitted. No more leak! You are a star! ;)

[@ciderwithroadies]

This is the sort of thing that MBE's should be awarded for. Many Thanks!

[@davidrees5658]

Amazing video, absolutely sorted my problem just as you suggested! Very satisfying after months of that bloody awful hissing noise. You are a star, thank you!!

[@iandshaw]

Thanks so much for this tip. It sorted out my leaking valve. Popping the bubbles and smoothing out the washer is also weirdly satisfying!

[@chrishamiltonvids]

thanks enormously!! I embarrassingly disassembled my whole cistern on a closely coupled toilet - way too time consuming and unnecessary. Your video saved me further hair pulling

[@andycoffin6323]

Excellent video, after putting up with a leak for a month was going to replace the whole flush unit, all it needed was a £3 sealing ring. Took longer to go to the local diy store then it took to fix.

[@Russtopia]

Thank you! I have a slightly different model flusher, but the rubber seal had these water blisters. Pricking them made it functional again. I plan to order a new seal for the future though, in case it delaminates further.

[@jamesbailey1512]

Just want to send my thanks, I had the same thing with mine. I took the whole cistern, flush valve and filler off as i thought it was all broken and leaking. Little did I know i needed to pop the blisters. Amazing thank you!

[@kebabimpaler]

Thank you so much - had been driving me crazy for a long time. I struggled with the removal but there were little sort of bumps and notches on the side which when lined up seemed to release it.

[@haosiyuan163]

Oh my gosh! Fixed my leak within 1 minute. You are a genius. Without this video, I would not get any idea of this clue. You saved me a lot of time and money. Thank you very very very much!

[@alanmarriott8750]

After wading through many videos, yours was the most useful and matched the Geberit type 260 valve I have. I bought a new washer before tackling the job just in case. I struggled a bit getting the valve out of the cistern because of the restricted space to get a proper grip on it but when I did removed the valve, the old washer had pimples just as you say. Fitted the new washer and refitted valve and problem now solved! Also have a back up washer for next time. Great. Thanks very much.

[@MrSydoo]

Absolute legend - I nearly had a plumber out for this who was gong to change the flush, this, that and the other and charge me £80 an hour labour! Took 10mins and now it’s done 👍 thank you so much!

[@johngittins123]

Great tip. All fixed. Big thanks from the Wirral.

[@simonheapy6692]

I owe you a pint if I ever bump into you when the pubs are open! Great video. We had exactly the same issue after about 4.5 years. I'm expecting our other 2 toilets to start doing the same thing any day now!

[@craigpauley7268]

You are rhe man, thank you so much! We've had this issue for about 12months and it tried everything. Was also about 5years old when started this nonsense. Had a huge bubble and three small ones. Would never have found this fix 🙌

[@gordonranson5002]

As others below - my toilet leak has gotten progressively worse - I played about hoping my fiddling would help. Watched this an found I could both remove the flush mechanism as per the video and the washer was in exactly the same condition as this video. Followed the steps to burst the bubbles, reassembled - which was straightforward and low and behold, the leaking has stopped. Many thanks for this informative and helpful video.

[@michelpayen-dumontandnancy9578]

I took a slightly different approach: although at first I popped all the "blisters" as you recommended, in the end I noticed that the blisters were only on one side, and so I mounted the silicone seal back on upside-down (actually, it doesn't seem to have an "up" or a "down" side, really). It's fixed! Cheers, M.

[@michaelwray5012]

My toilet interior and valve is different, being a concealed cistern and of a different design. I took it apart with the aid of another video and found the rubber seal had precisely those water blisters you described. Pricking those with a pin before reassembling solved the problem. Thanks!

[@KPGRUND]

Have had 2 toilets leaking for months ..not any more thx to this little vid . Many thx buddy..I've bought 2 replacement washers off eBay for 2 quid each for next time they start leaking.

[@elisabeth8335]

Great video. We replaced the seal about 5 years ago. That had about 4 pimples. We didn’t think to pop them but we found a few days later that they had dried out and disappeared. This time there was one large pimple which we have popped while we send for a replacement. Thanks again

[@alexmckendrick2137]

Great fix. Works perfectly and a wee clean down of the marks on the toilet bowl where the water has been running for 2 years with "the pink stuff" means a free repair. Thank you!

[@ilyassebob]

Thanks sir !!!! SHOCK THAT SUCH SMALL PIMPLES CAN CAUSE SO MUCH WAIST IN WATER !!! Definitely a lesson for life !!! Get rid of the small disturbing things in life

[@kesslerdan1]

Wow - I saw these pimples last time I cleaned the washer but thought they were somehow part of the design. POPed them now and leak is gone (system is 8 year old) !!! This video is a diamond !!!

[@Carl-Camera]

Ha wow I thought they were there by design. THANK YOU!

[@forestpaget]

Thank you for sharing this. I was dreading dismantling the toilet and put it off for a couple of weeks but now ….. easy fix in 10 minutes! :)

[@LimJayhey15]

So had the same problem and decided to finally look into, legendary video mate, thank you. 1 bubble causing the leak…unreal

[@garchundlo]

Quite the same Geberit model, same problem, perfect solution! Thanks :)

[@catherinegarrett100]

Top man cheers, I quickly noticed it was the valve washer as it had a couple of blisters on but did not think to pop them until I found this video, its stopped the leak whilst I get a new one sorted. great video and helpfull.

[@jagmanx]

Mate - excellent video. Saved to £40+ quid on a replacement flush valve. My sister did spend the £40 quid + plumber charge for the same thing a month ago. Has been doing my head in for ages and don't know how I missed your video. Thinking about starting a class action against Gerberit for using dodgy washers ;). Ordered a spare washer just in case, but great work and thanks again!!!!

[@stscotlandgmail3474]

Outstanding video. Well done. I was just at the point of spending £38 on a new one and pulling the concealed entry toilet and cistern away from the wall. You saved me £38 and three hours work there.

[@danarice5324]

Thank you. Awesome fix on my toilets that are only 4 years old!

[@jay_behr]

Superb! I've just managed to sort my mum's toilet out by watching your video so many thanks fellah. Hope you have a great day.

[@waynelowry5368]

Worked, wondered why our water bill was so high, toilets were running through constantly just a trickle but enough to notice over a year on bills, cheers 👍🏼

[@rbanet1432]

Thank you soooo much! I was happy that I was able to fix it and really upset to find that the silicon seal is actually two seals glue together. That’s why we get water bubbles. The only purpose is design obsolescence! How many people bought the whole piece just to fix the water leak. You are a genius! Thanks again