Troubleshooting Common Toilet Problems – Toilet Tank

Toilet Tank Components

Toilet Tank Components
The toilet tank is where all the major plumbing takes place in a toilet. The purpose of the tank is to contain the water needed to flush the toilet and to conceal the plumbing apparatus that fills and empties the tank.

Open any two toilet tanks and you'll often find very different components inside. Why? Well new technologies and materials have evolved over the past several decades, but in the end, there are just two major components with several variations. The two major components are:

Fill Valve and

Flush valve

The Fill Valve is the mechanism that fills the tank with water. It is also known as a Ballcock valve or sometimes a refill valve. It comes in four variations:

Plunger Type Fill Valve

Diaphragm Type Fill Valve

Float Cup Type Fill Valve

Floatless Type Fill Valve

Toilet Fill Valves / Ballcocks

The Flush Valve is what releases the water stored in the tank, closes the flow of water into the toilet and allows the tank to refill for the next use. It is the assembly that bolts to the bottom of the tank and includes the overflow pipe and the valve seat. The flush valve has two common variations used to seal the valve seat:

Tapered Rubber Float Ball or

Flapper Ball (tank flapper)