Water level problems in my toilet pan

[kiwigeo]

Mick, by the look of your best friend, you speak from experience :eek: ! But I'm digressing. Yep, check out that S bend. Time to roll on the Ansell long gloves. It's not so bad, just look the other way and think you delivering a calf. Just think what you might find? So exciting!

Reminds me of a friend whos flatmate attempted to flush a chicken down the loo.

[Ashore]

Mick did you check out all the vents, when you cut the top off the vent you did check that it was clear, piece of wire or plumbers friend blower from vacume cleaner etc ... you may also like to try plumbers friend down s bend before venturing in yourself I have seen rearly cheep and nasty ones at Bunnies
As for the air pressure the weight of water surface area in bowl pie r squared on 4 depth of water etc to push
Try the vents on all the toilets if there all ok then look at wind problem or if your house land is pretty flat you can get mild surges in the sewer main that will give the same effect. But these usually effect all the toilets.

[Santalum]

I've noticed a similar phenomena ( sudden lowering of water level in toilet bowl) over the course of my 60 plus years, and have wondered if it is related to atmospheric conditions or moon cycles, by the way no blockage is present, the water always returns to it's normal level within hours.
Interesting subject.

[adrian]

I had the same thing happen with a toilet in my granny flat. The flat was unused for four years and the water level in the pan would fall to the point where it was almost empty. The toilet was at the point closest to the mains. I have always thought that it was caused by a combination of suction from within the pipe and air pressure outside the pipe.
Does the level fall during periods of heavy rain? If so it may be that there are a few houses upstream with their stormwater connected to the sewer.
Maybe someone with plumbing knowledge on the board could confirm whether the design of a stink pipe works as a kind of release valve for suction pressure. Do you have a stink pipe?

[HavinaGo]

Hi,

1) Do you .. or someone else nearer the loo with the level problem .. hear the blup-bloop when the other loo in the house is flushed? Seen that in houses as the first sign of the septic blocking up .. as hinted by others

2) on the "wind causing a pressure difference in the house" theory .. is there an openable window in the loo with a problem? If so, does leaving the window open help? In my mind an open window should help equalise the pressure between the loo room and outside so there should not be the need for the pressure to equalise via the S/P bend.

Good luck

[Iain]

A plumber told me that a fermenting septic will 'burp' and the resulting vacuum will create the problem, he also told me about some homes in Melb, where the appliances run into the sewerage line, will create a venturi effect and suck the bowl empty.
Sorry if this has already been said.

[Ashore]

check out "nothing at all to do with woodwork ....... This just in "
may be your problem




The original point and click interface was a Smith and Wesson.

[barnsey]

I'm not a plumber but have some exposure to hydraulics.

I get that happen at times too I'm on the side of a hill and connected to sewerage as you would probably be being in Brisbane.

It is rare that there are doors and windows closed here and occasionally it seems to happen when things are colder and the air flow is not the usual. But I do say "seems"!!

I've also seen it happen when a rather solid unit and lots of paper go down there too. Lets face it, if you've had to get the plunger out it happens as well so it's obviously one or the other.

If pushin the button doesn't fix it then it's worth exploring those two elements. If not then it ain't going to hurt anything just keep an eye on it. Sometimes cracked pipes can cause stuff to catch. Some trees can be particularly invasive. There are ways to deal with all of these so research it and give them a try but if it ain't broke don't fix it.