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I spent years replacing toilet flappers when the real problem was the fill tube
For like 5 years I'd get that ghost flushing sound and immediately run to the hardware store for a new flapper. Must have gone through 8 or 9 of them across two different toilets. Then my neighbor who used to do plumbing came over to borrow my impact driver, heard the toilet running, and asked when I last checked the fill tube height. I told him I didn't even know that was a thing. He pulled off the lid, bent the little plastic clip holding the fill tube so it aimed straight down into the overflow pipe instead of sideways, and the noise stopped right there. Zero parts, zero dollars, took him 10 seconds. Now every time I hear that sound I check the tube position first, and I've fixed three friends' toilets the same way. Anybody else have a fix that was way simpler than what they were doing for years?
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riley_miller254mo ago
Ha my buddy Matt had the exact same issue but with his water heater! He was convinced the pressure relief valve was busted cause water kept dripping out. Replaced it twice, still dripping. His dad came over one day, saw the temp was set way too high, turned it down like 10 degrees, and it never dripped again. Matt was so mad he didn't even say thank you lmao. Sometimes the simplest stuff flies right over your head when youre convinced its a big repair.
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the_faith4mo ago
Oh man @riley_miller25, this hits way too close to home! I once spent three hours trying to figure out why my car was making this weird grinding noise, replaced the whole brake pad set, and it turns out I just had a rock stuck between the rotor and the dust shield. Felt like a real genius that day. The stuff we overlook when we're too busy looking for a "real problem" is wild.
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